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The desk's saved threads
A thread is one customer's saved conversation, held by the checkpointer, and it holds exactly what the model saw, masked card number and all.
Last updated: 27 Sep, 2026 · LangChain 1.4
This lesson starts a fresh program, so the in-memory checkpointer is empty: the threads from the morning are gone. Send two messages on a thread and read what the checkpointer kept. The desk still runs on DeskModel, so the counts below are exact.
Reading a thread with get_state
state = agent.get_state({"configurable": {"thread_id": "ravi-1"}})
state.values["messages"] # every message saved for that threadProject files used on this pageThis lesson builds on a project from earlier lessons. The code below imports these files. Click a file to see its code, or follow the link to the lesson that wrote it. To run the code yourself, keep them in the same folder.
- written in Several tool calls at once
- written in Three tools and a model that picks
- written in Documents and splitting
- written in Embeddings and a vector store
- written in Retrieval as a tool
- written in Three tools and a model that picks
- written in The desk's guardrails
- written in The desk's guardrails
- written in The desk's guardrails
View the code here
shop_model.py
import re
from langchain.chat_models import BaseChatModel
from langchain.messages import AIMessage, ToolMessage
from langchain_core.outputs import ChatGeneration, ChatResult
class ShopModel(BaseChatModel):
tools: list = []
@property
def _llm_type(self):
return "shop"
def bind_tools(self, tools, **kwargs):
return self.model_copy(update={"tools": tools}) # a copy holding the tools
def _generate(self, messages, stop=None, run_manager=None, **kwargs):
message = self.decide(messages) # the reply comes from decide
return ChatResult(generations=[ChatGeneration(message=message)])
def decide(self, messages):
results = [] # the tool results at the end
for m in reversed(messages):
if not isinstance(m, ToolMessage):
break
results.insert(0, m.text)
if results: # results are back: answer with them
return AIMessage(" ".join(results))
text = messages[-1].text
orders = re.findall(r"\b[A-Z]\d+\b", text)
tool = "refund_order" if "refund" in text.lower() else "lookup_order"
if orders and tool in [t.name for t in self.tools]: # one call per order id
calls = [{"name": tool, "args": {"order_id": o}, "id": f"call_{o}"}
for o in orders]
return AIMessage("", tool_calls=calls)
if orders: # that tool is not bound
return AIMessage(f"I have no way to look up {orders[0]} yet.")
return AIMessage("Hello. Which order is this about?")
desk_tools.py
from dataclasses import dataclass
from langchain.tools import ToolRuntime, tool
ORDERS = {"A17": ("ravi", "shipped on 3 March"), "C40": ("mei", "waiting for stock")}
@dataclass
class Customer:
name: str
@tool
def lookup_order(order_id: str, runtime: ToolRuntime[Customer]) -> str:
"""Look up one of the customer's orders by its id, such as A17."""
owner, status = ORDERS.get(order_id, (None, None))
if owner != runtime.context.name:
return f"{order_id} is not one of your orders."
return f"{order_id} {status}."
@tool
def refund_order(order_id: str, runtime: ToolRuntime[Customer]) -> str:
"""Refund one of the customer's orders in full. This cannot be undone."""
owner, _ = ORDERS.get(order_id, (None, None))
if owner != runtime.context.name:
return f"{order_id} is not one of your orders, so it cannot be refunded."
return f"Refunded {order_id}."
policies.py
from langchain_core.documents import Document
from langchain_text_splitters import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter
POLICIES = {
"refunds.md": "Refunds go back to the card you paid with. They take up to 5 working days to arrive."
"\n\nYou can ask for a refund within 30 days of delivery. Opened items can be refunded if they are faulty.",
"shipping.md": "Standard shipping takes 3 to 5 working days. Shipping is free on orders over 50 euros."
"\n\nExpress shipping arrives the next working day and costs 9 euros.",
"accounts.md": "To reset your password, use the reset link on the sign-in page. Support staff never ask for your password.",
}
docs = [Document(page_content=text, metadata={"source": name}) for name, text in POLICIES.items()]
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=120, chunk_overlap=0, add_start_index=True)
chunks = splitter.split_documents(docs)
word_embeddings.py
import re
import zlib
from langchain_core.embeddings import Embeddings
COMMON = {"a", "an", "and", "are", "can", "do", "does", "for", "how", "i",
"if", "is", "it", "my", "of", "on", "the", "to", "what", "with", "you", "your"}
class WordEmbeddings(Embeddings):
def embed_query(self, text):
vector = [0.0] * 256
for word in re.findall(r"[a-z]+", text.lower()):
if word not in COMMON:
vector[zlib.crc32(word.rstrip("s").encode()) % 256] += 1.0
return vector
def embed_documents(self, texts):
return [self.embed_query(text) for text in texts]
search.py
from langchain.tools import tool
from langchain_core.vectorstores import InMemoryVectorStore
from policies import chunks
from word_embeddings import WordEmbeddings
store = InMemoryVectorStore(WordEmbeddings())
store.add_documents(chunks)
@tool
def search_policies(query: str) -> str:
"""Search the shop's policies on refunds, shipping and accounts.
Pass the customer's question, word for word, as the query."""
found = [doc for doc, score in store.similarity_search_with_score(query, k=2) if score >= 0.3]
if not found:
return "No policy covers this."
return "\n".join(f"[{doc.metadata['source']}] {doc.page_content}" for doc in found)
desk_model.py
import re
from langchain.messages import AIMessage
from shop_model import ShopModel
class DeskModel(ShopModel):
def decide(self, messages):
last = messages[-1]
if last.type == "tool" and last.text == "No policy covers this.":
return AIMessage("Our policies do not cover that. A person will reply.")
if last.type == "tool" or re.findall(r"\b[A-Z]\d+\b", last.text):
return super().decide(messages)
query = {"name": "search_policies", "args": {"query": last.text}, "id": "call_p"}
return AIMessage("", tool_calls=[query])
password_check.py
from langchain.agents.middleware import before_agent
from langchain.messages import AIMessage
@before_agent(can_jump_to=["end"])
def no_passwords(state, runtime):
if "password" in state["messages"][-1].text.lower():
answer = AIMessage("I cannot help with passwords. Please use the reset link.")
return {"messages": [answer], "jump_to": "end"}
desk.py
from langchain.agents import create_agent
from langchain.agents.middleware import HumanInTheLoopMiddleware, ModelCallLimitMiddleware, PIIMiddleware
from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import InMemorySaver
from desk_model import DeskModel
from password_check import no_passwords
from search import search_policies
from desk_tools import Customer, lookup_order, refund_order
agent = create_agent(
DeskModel(),
system_prompt="You are the support assistant for a small online shop. Answer in one or two short sentences, using only what the tools returned. If a tool says an order is not the customer's, say exactly that. Add nothing the tools did not say.",
tools=[lookup_order, refund_order, search_policies],
context_schema=Customer,
middleware=[
no_passwords,
PIIMiddleware("credit_card", strategy="mask"),
ModelCallLimitMiddleware(run_limit=6),
HumanInTheLoopMiddleware(interrupt_on={"refund_order": True}),
],
checkpointer=InMemorySaver(),
)
chat.py
from langgraph.types import Command
from desk import Customer, agent
def say(who, text, thread):
config = {"configurable": {"thread_id": thread}}
result = agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": text}]}, config,
context=Customer(who), version="v2")
if result.interrupts:
print(f"{who}: {text}\n paused for approval: {result.interrupts[0].value['action_requests'][0]['args']}")
result = agent.invoke(Command(resume={"decisions": [{"type": "approve"}]}), config,
context=Customer(who), version="v2")
text = "(approved)"
print(f"{who}: {text}\n desk: {result.value['messages'][-1].text}")
Two messages on one thread
Send two messages on the same thread. Both are Ravi's, on ravi-1.
from chat import say
say("ravi", "My card 4111 1111 1111 1111 was charged. Where is A17?", "ravi-1")
say("ravi", "How long does a refund take?", "ravi-1") # same threadOutput
ravi: My card 4111 1111 1111 1111 was charged. Where is A17? desk: A17 shipped on 3 March. ravi: How long does a refund take? desk: [refunds.md] Refunds go back to the card you paid with. They take up to 5 working days to arrive.
Reading the thread back
Read the thread back with get_state. It returns everything the checkpointer saved for that thread id. The last two lines read Mei's thread, mei-1, for comparison.
from desk import agent
state = agent.get_state({"configurable": {"thread_id": "ravi-1"}})
print(len(state.values["messages"]), "messages saved")
print(state.values["messages"][0].text) # the first message, as stored
mei = agent.get_state({"configurable": {"thread_id": "mei-1"}})
print(len(mei.values.get("messages", [])), "messages on mei-1") # another customer's threadOutput
8 messages saved My card **** **** **** 1111 was charged. Where is A17? 0 messages on mei-1
What the thread kept
- Two questions left eight messages: each one added a question, a tool call, a tool result and an answer.
- The first message is the card question, and the number in it is masked, because masking happened before the checkpointer ran.
- Mei's thread,
mei-1, holds no messages in this program: a thread holds only what was sent on its own id, so nothing Ravi sent reached it.
Passing a thread id vs reusing another's
| Pass the right thread id | Reuse another's thread id | |
|---|---|---|
| What the model sees | Only that thread's messages | Another customer's messages |
| The card number | Masked before saving | Masked before saving |
| The result | Customers stay separate | One customer sees another's orders |
When threads stay separate
- Keeping each customer's conversation separate on a shared desk.
- Auditing what the model saw, after the fact.
Watch out. The thread id is what separates two customers. Forget to pass one, or reuse another customer's, and the desk answers one person with another's orders.
Related
- Previous: A morning at the desk
- Next: Testing the desk agent
- Reference: Short-term memory
Try it yourself
- Print
state.values["messages"][-1].textand compare it with whatsayprinted. - Ask Ravi a third question and count the messages again.
- Call
say("mei", "Where is C40?", "ravi-1"), then readravi-1back: Mei's question is saved after Ravi's messages, which is why each customer needs a thread id of their own.
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