AI Agents35% of the exam
Agent API for headless agent integrations
When to reach an agent over the Agent API instead of a channel, SDK or flow action, and how an integration works: external client app with client credentials, sessions with a session key, sequence IDs, synchronous versus streaming replies, bypassUser, and the documented limits.
Given a scenario, identify when it's appropriate to use Agent API.
~6 min read · 13 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Decide when the Agent API is the right way to reach an agent and when a channel connection, the Agentforce Mobile SDK, Enhanced Chat v2 or the flow/Apex invocable action fits better.
- List the setup for a headless integration: external client app, client credentials flow, Run As user, token minted against My Domain.
- Explain sessions, session keys, sequence IDs, synchronous versus streaming responses and the streaming events a client must handle.
- Recall the documented constraints: Agentforce (Default) unsupported, 120-second timeout, credit consumption, Government Cloud endpoint, bypassUser.
- Key terms: Agent API (REST API to start sessions, send and receive messages, and end sessions with an agent); external client app (the OAuth app that issues the API's access token); session key (a random UUID you supply to trace the conversation); sequenceId (a number that must increase with each message in a session); bypassUser (start-session flag choosing the agent's user or the token's user).
Key facts
What the API does
- Detail
- Start sessions, send and receive messages, end sessions over REST
Prerequisite
- Detail
- Agentforce enabled with at least one active agent
Token source
- Detail
- External client app, JWT-based token; Run As user with at least API Only
Token URL
- Detail
- My Domain URL, not the lightning.force.com domain
Session key
- Detail
- Random UUID you supply; traces the conversation in event logs
sequenceId
- Detail
- Increase it for each subsequent message in a session
bypassUser true
- Detail
- Uses the agent's assigned user; false uses the token's user
Streaming
- Detail
- Accept: text/event-stream; ProgressIndicator, TextChunk, Inform, EndOfTurn
Timeout
- Detail
- 120 seconds, then HTTP 500
Unsupported agent type
- Detail
- Agentforce (Default)
In-platform alternative
- Detail
- Invocable action to chat with an agent from a flow or Apex class
Sources for this section (4)
- When is the invocable action a better choice than the Agent API?
- Why must a client increase sequenceId on every send?
- What happens when an Agent API call runs longer than 120 seconds?
- Why would you choose the synchronous endpoint?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
Keep reading with the Agentforce Specialist pack
- Core concepts
- Exam traps
- Worked scenario
The pack includes:
- All 26 lessons of the Agentforce Specialist guide, with reading progress
- Interactive decision walks and step-by-step sequence steppers
- Inline practice questions and one-click topic practice (13 questions for this lesson)
- An official source cited for every claim
- An AI tutor that answers from the guide
- Unlimited timed practice exams