Ions

An Ion is a composable unit that performs one job inside an Aion. Each Ion groups the agentic primitives and configuration needed for that job. An Ion might connect the application to a network, control how the application handles work, or make a live implementation available. You arrange Ions in Composer and connect them into runtime flows called Sequences. An Ion is not the same thing as an AI agent. An agent is one capability an Ion can provide.

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The three Ion categories

Choose an Ion category by the responsibility it has in the application: The category describes the Ion’s job, not every interface it exposes. Adding an agent, MCP, or event capability does not create another Ion category.

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Ions and Sequences

A Sequence is the ordered list of Ions used when work enters through a Distribution Ion. The request follows the Composer connections between Ions that have an enabled A2A Sequence capability. Other Project-graph relationships can connect Ions without placing them in the request flow. Read the graph from either Distribution Ion:

• Slack Sequence: Slack → Policy → Support
• A2A Sequence: A2A → Policy → Support

Each Distribution anchors its own Sequence. The shared Policy and Support Behavior Ions let both entrypoints reuse the same application flow. The dashed connection records the Deployment Ion that makes the Support implementation available; Sequence execution never enters the Deployment Ion. This separation lets you:

• add a Distribution Ion for another network without duplicating application behavior
• reuse a Behavior Ion across several Sequences
• update a Deployment Ion without redesigning the application’s network entrypoints

In Composer, an Ion’s Capabilities tab shows whether it can participate in this flow. The Playground Distribution below has a2a.sequence enabled and selected as its primary A2A Sequence capability: The graph above is the configuration view. At runtime, only connected Ions with the A2A Sequence capability enabled participate in the ordered request and response path. In this longer example, a Telegram Bot Distribution passes a request through Brand Policy, x402, and Stock Portfolio Behavior Ions: The request advances through the Behavior Ions in order. The response returns through the same Behavior Ions in reverse, giving each one an opportunity to augment or reject it.

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Capabilities

A capability is a service surface an Ion can make available as part of its job. An Ion is not an AI agent; it is the building block that groups the capabilities and configuration needed for one job. An agent is simply one capability of an Ion, exposed through A2A. An implementation declares the capabilities it supports. The Ion’s runtime configuration determines which supported capabilities are enabled and supplies any settings or authentication they require. An Ion can carry one capability, combine several, or expose none. Its category still describes the goal it serves: Distribution, Behavior, or Deployment.

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Ions, Projects, and Aions

Ions live in Project graphs. A Project stores the Ions, their connections, and the configuration used to work on them together. A Project is not an Aion. An Aion follows its Identity, while Projects organize the Ions used to implement it:

• One Project can contain Ions serving several Aion Identities.
• One Aion can use Ions and Sequences assembled in more than one Project.

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What to do next

• To create and connect Ions, follow Build an Aion.
• To understand the visual editing workflow, read Composer.
• To design network ingress, read Distribution Ions.
• To add reusable application logic, read Behavior Ions.
• To make an implementation available, read Deployment Ions.