orchestra-research/ai-research-skills

langchain

Framework for building LLM-powered applications with agents, chains, and RAG.

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How to use

  1. Copy the installation command and review the source package before installing it in your own agent environment.
  2. Check the source document for required tools, credentials and supported hosts.
  3. Describe your input and desired deliverable; review the output against the source material.
npx skills add https://github.com/orchestra-research/ai-research-skills --skill langchain

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  • Repository stars and installation counts describe activity, not an independent quality or security test.
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LangChain - Build LLM Applications with Agents & RAG

The most popular framework for building LLM-powered applications.

When to use LangChain

Use LangChain when:

  • Building agents with tool calling and reasoning (ReAct pattern)
  • Implementing RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) pipelines
  • Need to swap LLM providers easily (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google)
  • Creating chatbots with conversation memory
  • Rapid prototyping of LLM applications
  • Production deployments with LangSmith observability

Metrics:

  • 119,000+ GitHub stars
  • 272,000+ repositories use LangChain
  • 500+ integrations (models, vector stores, tools)
  • 3,800+ contributors

Use alternatives instead:

  • LlamaIndex: RAG-focused, better for document Q&A
  • LangGraph: Complex stateful workflows, more control
  • Haystack: Production search pipelines
  • Semantic Kernel: Microsoft ecosystem

Quick start

Installation

bash
# Core library (Python 3.10+)
pip install -U langchain

# With OpenAI
pip install langchain-openai

# With Anthropic
pip install langchain-anthropic

# Common extras
pip install langchain-community  # 500+ integrations
pip install langchain-chroma     # Vector store

Basic LLM usage

python
from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic

# Initialize model
llm = ChatAnthropic(model="claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929")

# Simple completion
response = llm.invoke("Explain quantum computing in 2 sentences")
print(response.content)

Create an agent (ReAct pattern)

python
from langchain.agents import create_agent
from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic

# Define tools
def get_weather(city: str) -> str:
    """Get current weather for a city."""
    return f"It's sunny in {city}, 72°F"

def search_web(query: str) -> str:
    """Search the web for information."""
    return f"Search results for: {query}"

# Create agent (<10 lines!)
agent = create_agent(
    model=ChatAnthropic(model="claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929"),
    tools=[get_weather, search_web],
    system_prompt="You are a helpful assistant. Use tools when needed."
)

# Run agent
result = agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What's the weather in Paris?"}]})
print(result["messages"][-1].content)

Core concepts

1. Models - LLM abstraction

python
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic
from langchain_google_genai import ChatGoogleGenerativeAI

# Swap providers easily
llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4o")
llm = ChatAnthropic(model="claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929")
llm = ChatGoogleGenerativeAI(model="gemini-2.0-flash-exp")

# Streaming
for chunk in llm.stream("Write a poem"):
    print(chunk.content, end="", flush=True)

2. Chains - Sequential operations

python
from langchain.chains import LLMChain
from langchain.prompts import PromptTemplate

# Define prompt template
prompt = PromptTemplate(
    input_variables=["topic"],
    template="Write a 3-sentence summary about {topic}"
)

# Create chain
chain = LLMChain(llm=llm, prompt=prompt)

# Run chain
result = chain.run(topic="machine learning")

3. Agents - Tool-using reasoning

ReAct (Reasoning + Acting) pattern:

python
from langchain.agents import create_tool_calling_agent, AgentExecutor
from langchain.tools import Tool

# Define custom tool
calculator = Tool(
    name="Calculator",
    func=lambda x: eval(x),
    description="Useful for math calculations. Input: valid Python expression."
)

# Create agent with tools
agent = create_tool_calling_agent(
    llm=llm,
    tools=[calculator, search_web],
    prompt="Answer questions using available tools"
)

# Create executor
agent_executor = AgentExecutor(agent=agent, tools=[calculator], verbose=True)

# Run with reasoning
result = agent_executor.invoke({"input": "What is 25 * 17 + 142?"})

4. Memory - Conversation history

python
from langchain.memory import ConversationBufferMemory
from langchain.chains import ConversationChain

# Add memory to track conversation
memory = ConversationBufferMemory()

conversation = ConversationChain(
    llm=llm,
    memory=memory,
    verbose=True
)

# Multi-turn conversation
conversation.predict(input="Hi, I'm Alice")
conversation.predict(input="What's my name?")  # Remembers "Alice"

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

Basic RAG pipeline

python
from langchain_community.document_loaders import WebBaseLoader
from langchain.text_splitter import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter
from langchain_openai import OpenAIEmbeddings
from langchain_chroma import Chroma
from langchain.chains import RetrievalQA

# 1. Load documents
loader = WebBaseLoader("https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/")
docs = loader.load()

# 2. Split into chunks
text_splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(
    chunk_size=1000,
    chunk_overlap=200
)
splits = text_splitter.split_documents(docs)

# 3. Create embeddings and vector store
vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(
    documents=splits,
    embedding=OpenAIEmbeddings()
)

# 4. Create retriever
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever(search_kwargs={"k": 4})

# 5. Create QA chain
qa_chain = RetrievalQA.from_chain_type(
    llm=llm,
    retriever=retriever,
    return_source_documents=True
)

# 6. Query
result = qa_chain({"query": "What are Python decorators?"})
print(result["result"])
print(f"Sources: {result['source_documents']}")

Conversational RAG with memory

python
from langchain.chains import ConversationalRetrievalChain

# RAG with conversation memory
qa = ConversationalRetrievalChain.from_llm(
    llm=llm,
    retriever=retriever,
    memory=ConversationBufferMemory(
        memory_key="chat_history",
        return_messages=True
    )
)

# Multi-turn RAG
qa({"question": "What is Python used for?"})
qa({"question": "Can you elaborate on web development?"})  # Remembers context

Advanced agent patterns

Structured output

python
from langchain_core.pydantic_v1 import BaseModel, Field

# Define schema
class WeatherReport(BaseModel):
    city: str = Field(description="City name")
    temperature: float = Field(description="Temperature in Fahrenheit")
    condition: str = Field(description="Weather condition")

# Get structured response
structured_llm = llm.with_structured_output(WeatherReport)
result = structured_llm.invoke("What's the weather in SF? It's 65F and sunny")
print(result.city, result.temperature, result.condition)

Parallel tool execution

python
from langchain.agents import create_tool_calling_agent

# Agent automatically parallelizes independent tool calls
agent = create_tool_calling_agent(
    llm=llm,
    tools=[get_weather, search_web, calculator]
)

# This will call get_weather("Paris") and get_weather("London") in parallel
result = agent.invoke({
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Compare weather in Paris and London"}]
})

Streaming agent execution

python
# Stream agent steps
for step in agent_executor.stream({"input": "Research AI trends"}):
    if "actions" in step:
        print(f"Tool: {step['actions'][0].tool}")
    if "output" in step:
        print(f"Output: {step['output']}")

Common patterns

Multi-document QA

python
from langchain.chains.qa_with_sources import load_qa_with_sources_chain

# Load multiple documents
docs = [
    loader.load("https://docs.python.org"),
    loader.load("https://docs.numpy.org")
]

# QA with source citations
chain = load_qa_with_sources_chain(llm, chain_type="stuff")
result = chain({"input_documents": docs, "question": "How to use numpy arrays?"})
print(result["output_text"])  # Includes source citations

Custom tools with error handling

python
from langchain.tools import tool

@tool
def risky_operation(query: str) -> str:
    """Perform a risky operation that might fail."""
    try:
        # Your operation here
        result = perform_operation(query)
        return f"Success: {result}"
    except Exception as e:
        return f"Error: {str(e)}"

# Agent handles errors gracefully
agent = create_agent(model=llm, tools=[risky_operation])

LangSmith observability

python
import os

# Enable tracing
os.environ["LANGCHAIN_TRACING_V2"] = "true"
os.environ["LANGCHAIN_API_KEY"] = "your-api-key"
os.environ["LANGCHAIN_PROJECT"] = "my-project"

# All chains/agents automatically traced
agent = create_agent(model=llm, tools=[calculator])
result = agent.invoke({"input": "Calculate 123 * 456"})

# View traces at smith.langchain.com

Vector stores

Chroma (local)

python
from langchain_chroma import Chroma

vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(
    documents=docs,
    embedding=OpenAIEmbeddings(),
    persist_directory="./chroma_db"
)

Pinecone (cloud)

python
from langchain_pinecone import PineconeVectorStore

vectorstore = PineconeVectorStore.from_documents(
    documents=docs,
    embedding=OpenAIEmbeddings(),
    index_name="my-index"
)

FAISS (similarity search)

python
from langchain_community.vectorstores import FAISS

vectorstore = FAISS.from_documents(docs, OpenAIEmbeddings())
vectorstore.save_local("faiss_index")

# Load later
vectorstore = FAISS.load_local("faiss_index", OpenAIEmbeddings())

Document loaders

python
# Web pages
from langchain_community.document_loaders import WebBaseLoader
loader = WebBaseLoader("https://example.com")

# PDFs
from langchain_community.document_loaders import PyPDFLoader
loader = PyPDFLoader("paper.pdf")

# GitHub
from langchain_community.document_loaders import GithubFileLoader
loader = GithubFileLoader(repo="user/repo", file_filter=lambda x: x.endswith(".py"))

# CSV
from langchain_community.document_loaders import CSVLoader
loader = CSVLoader("data.csv")

Text splitters

python
# Recursive (recommended for general text)
from langchain.text_splitter import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(
    chunk_size=1000,
    chunk_overlap=200,
    separators=["\n\n", "\n", " ", ""]
)

# Code-aware
from langchain.text_splitter import PythonCodeTextSplitter
splitter = PythonCodeTextSplitter(chunk_size=500)

# Semantic (by meaning)
from langchain_experimental.text_splitter import SemanticChunker
splitter = SemanticChunker(OpenAIEmbeddings())

Best practices

  1. Start simple - Use create_agent() for most cases
  2. Enable streaming - Better UX for long responses
  3. Add error handling - Tools can fail, handle gracefully
  4. Use LangSmith - Essential for debugging agents
  5. Optimize chunk size - 500-1000 chars for RAG
  6. Version prompts - Track changes in production
  7. Cache embeddings - Expensive, cache when possible
  8. Monitor costs - Track token usage with LangSmith

Performance benchmarks

OperationLatencyNotes
Simple LLM call~1-2sDepends on provider
Agent with 1 tool~3-5sReAct reasoning overhead
RAG retrieval~0.5-1sVector search + LLM
Embedding 1000 docs~10-30sDepends on model

LangChain vs LangGraph

FeatureLangChainLangGraph
Best forQuick agents, RAGComplex workflows
Abstraction levelHighLow
Code to start<10 lines~30 lines
ControlSimpleFull control
Stateful workflowsLimitedNative
Cyclic graphsNoYes
Human-in-loopBasicAdvanced

Use LangGraph when:

  • Need stateful workflows with cycles
  • Require fine-grained control
  • Building multi-agent systems
  • Production apps with complex logic

References

  • [Agents Guide](references/agents.md) - ReAct, tool calling, streaming
  • [RAG Guide](references/rag.md) - Document loaders, retrievers, QA chains
  • [Integration Guide](references/integration.md) - Vector stores, LangSmith, deployment

Resources

  • GitHub: https://github.com/langchain-ai/langchain ⭐ 119,000+
  • Docs: https://docs.langchain.com
  • API Reference: https://reference.langchain.com/python
  • LangSmith: https://smith.langchain.com (observability)
  • Version: 0.3+ (stable)
  • License: MIT

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