Google ADK: Agent Development Kit for the Google Ecosystem

Google's code-first framework for building AI agents. Available in Python and TypeScript, optimized for Gemini but designed to be model-agnostic. Deep integration with Google Cloud and Vertex AI.

What is Google ADK?

The Agent Development Kit (ADK) is Google's official framework for building, testing, and deploying AI agents. It takes a code-first approach — you define agents in Python or TypeScript rather than using visual builders or configuration files.

ADK is optimized for Google's Gemini models (2.0 Flash, 2.5 Pro) but supports other LLM providers. It includes built-in evaluation tools for testing agent behavior, multi-agent orchestration via the new AgentTeam API, and streamlined deployment to Google Cloud Run.

20K+
GitHub Stars
Python + TS
Languages
Medium
Model Lock-in
Google ecosystem
Best For

Key Features

💻

Code-First Development

Define agents in Python or TypeScript — no YAML configs or visual builders needed.

👥

Multi-Agent Orchestration

New AgentTeam API for coordinating multiple specialized agents.

✅

Built-in Evaluation

Test agent behavior with automated evaluation framework before deploying.

🔍

Gemini Integration

Native support for Gemini 2.0 Flash and 2.5 Pro with enhanced tool use.

☁️

Google Cloud Deploy

Streamlined deployment to Cloud Run with auto-scaling and monitoring.

🔗

A2A Protocol

Agent-to-Agent communication protocol for cross-framework interoperability.

Quick Example

from google.adk import Agent, Tool

@Tool
def search_web(query: str) -> str:
    """Search the web for information."""
    return web_search(query)

agent = Agent(
    model="gemini-2.0-flash",
    tools=[search_web],
    instruction="You are a helpful research assistant."
)

response = agent.run("What's new in AI agents?")

When to Choose Google ADK

Already on Google Cloud?

ADK integrates natively with Vertex AI, Cloud Run, and other GCP services.

Need TypeScript support?

One of the few major frameworks with first-class TypeScript SDK.

Enterprise compliance?

Google Cloud's enterprise security, compliance, and SLA guarantees.

Multi-agent workflows?

New AgentTeam API makes orchestrating specialized agents straightforward.

📊

Google ADK vs Other Frameworks

See how Google ADK compares to LangGraph, CrewAI, OpenClaw, and 9 other frameworks in our definitive 2026 comparison.

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