# A Mental Model for How Agentic AI Applications Work

DevFeed: [A Mental Model for How Agentic AI Applications Work](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/making-friends-with-agents-a-mental-model-for-agentic-ai-applications-35697.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://temporal.io/blog/a-mental-model-for-agentic-ai-applications>)

Author: Cornelia Davis

Published: 2025-06-04T00:00:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Temporal Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/temporal-blog.md>)

Topics: [agentic AI applications](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/agentic-ai-applications.md>), [AI Agent](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-agent.md>), [Large Language Model](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/llm.md>), [Tool](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tool.md>)

Tags: [agentic-ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agentic-ai.md>), [agents](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agents.md>), [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [developers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/developers.md>), [llms](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/llms.md>), [temporal-voices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/temporal-voices.md>), [tools](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tools.md>)

## AI overview

This developer article presents a mental model for agentic AI applications. It explains how an LLM determines an application's next steps, how agents invoke tools, and how an event loop continues until the goal is reached or the user stops it.

## Source excerpt

Demystify agentic AI: Cornelia Davis offers a clear mental model for developers on how AI agents work, integrating LLMs, tools, prompts, and durable loops.