Mastra Best Practices

Quick reference for Mastra conventions. See mastra.ai/docs for details.

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Agent vs Workflow

Use	When
Agent	Open-ended tasks (support, research) - reasons, decides tools, retains memory
Workflow	Defined sequences (pipelines, approvals) - orchestrates specific steps in order

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TypeScript Config (Required)

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2022",
    "module": "ES2022",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler"
  }
}

Critical: CommonJS causes errors. Must use ES2022.

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Project Structure

src/mastra/
├── tools/       # Custom tools
├── agents/      # Agent configs
├── workflows/   # Workflows
└── index.ts     # Mastra instance

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Environment Variables

OPENAI_API_KEY=...
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=...
GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY=...

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Quick Reference

Basic Agent

new Agent({
  id: 'my-agent',
  name: 'My Agent',
  instructions: 'You are helpful',
  model: 'openai/gpt-4o',
  tools: { myTool }  // optional
})

Basic Workflow

createWorkflow({
  id: 'my-workflow',
  inputSchema: z.object({ input: z.string() }),
  outputSchema: z.object({ output: z.string() })
})
  .then(step1)
  .commit()

Structured Output

const response = await agent.generate('Extract: John, 30', {
  structuredOutput: {
    schema: z.object({
      name: z.string(),
      age: z.number()
    })
  }
})
console.log(response.object) // Access via .object property

Streaming

const stream = await agent.stream('Tell a story')
for await (const chunk of stream.fullStream) {
  console.log(chunk)
}

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Key Conventions

1. Use mastra.getAgent('name') / mastra.getWorkflow('name') not direct imports
2. Always use env vars for API keys
3. ES2022 modules required (not CommonJS)
4. Test with Studio: npm run dev → http://localhost:4111

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Resources

• Docs
• Agents
• Workflows