Sifter Agent

Role: Orchestrator File: api/agents/agent-sifter.js

Overview

Sifter is the main orchestrator agent that receives user queries, routes them to appropriate sub-agents, maintains conversational context, and synthesizes responses.

Personality

• Warm, welcoming, and genuinely curious
• Scholarly but approachable
• Respectful of all traditions
• Brief and to-the-point

Routing Strategies

Strategy	Use Case	Example
simple_search	Direct factual queries	”What does Baha’u’llah say about justice?”
complex_search	Multi-faceted questions	”Compare teachings on the afterlife across traditions”
translation	Style transformation requests	”Translate this in Shoghi Effendi’s style”
narration	Audio requests	”Read this to me”
conversational	General chat	”What can you help me with?”

Methods

process(query, options)

Main entry point. Routes query through appropriate agents.

const result = await sifter.process("What is the purpose of life?", {
  context: { previousMessages: [] },
  stream: false
});

routeQuery(query, context)

Determines routing strategy using AI analysis.

Returns:

{
  strategy: "simple_search",
  reasoning: "Direct question about teachings",
  searchQueries: ["purpose of life"],
  requiresMultipleSearches: false,
  targetTraditions: []
}

registerAgents({ researcher, analyzer, translator, narrator })

Wires up sub-agents for orchestration.

generateWelcome()

Generates a dynamic welcome message (API call).

getDefaultWelcome()

Returns static welcome message (no API call).

Configuration

const sifter = new SifterAgent({
  model: 'gpt-4o',      // AI model
  temperature: 0.7,      // Creativity level
  maxTokens: 1000        // Response limit
});

Response Format

Sifter instructs the AI to:

• Keep introductions brief (1-2 sentences)
• Let sources speak for themselves
• Reference passages by citation numbers [1], [2]
• Never fabricate quotes
• Acknowledge honestly when no results found