Decoder. plain-English AI glossary

LangGraph

▲ RisingLangGraph

LangChain's graph-based orchestration layer for defining multi-step agents and workflows as state machines.

Think of it like

A flowchart for your agent: define states, edges (transitions), and handlers (what runs at each state).

Example

An agent has states: thinking, planning, executing, reflecting. Transitions depend on whether the agent thinks it's done. LangGraph manages the loop and state passing.

How it actually works

LangGraph is a thin layer over agentic loops that makes the structure explicit—state is first-class, edges are conditions, handlers are functions. It forces you to think about state shape upfront, which reduces bugs. Persists state, so you can resume interrupted tasks or replay for debugging.

For product teams

Makes agent behavior predictable and testable; enables state-based recovery.

For engineers

Graph-based DAG execution; state persistence; deterministic replay.

Read anything AI without the jargon

Look up any term in plain English, or save terms as you read with the free Chrome extension.

Open DecoderAdd to Chrome