# 🚀 Write your own agent!

An **agent** is a Python class that knows how to play one or more games.

Don't worry about writing a perfect strategy. Start with something that works,
print the incoming game state, and improve it one step at a time.

## Quick start

1. Copy [example.py](example.py).
2. Rename the file and the `ExampleAgent` class.
3. Update the agent's name, author and version.
4. Implement `play_tic_tac_toe()`.
5. Import your agent in `client.py` and let it play a game.

That's enough to get started.

## Understanding the game

Whenever your agent has to make a move, it receives the current game state as
a Python dictionary.

Start by printing it:

```py
print(payload)
```

Run a few games and watch how the payload changes after every move. Once you
understand what you're receiving, you can start writing your own strategy!

Your function should return:

```py
{"move": 7}
```

where the number is the square you want to play.

## Testing your agent

Open [client.py](../client.py) and replace one of the players with your own agent.
For example:

```py
from agents.my_agent import MyAgent
from agents.chaos import AgentOfChaos

players = [
    MyAgent(),
    AgentOfChaos(),
]
```

The repository includes `AgentOfChaos`, a very simple opponent that plays
random moves. It's useful for testing your own agent while you're developing it.

>  ⚠️ Don't try to build the perfect player immediately! Agents are easy to
> improve while you test against other agents. Plus, imperfect agents are
> typically the most interesting.

Run the client, inspect the output, tweak your algorithm, and repeat. You don't
need to understand the rest of the project before you can start experimenting.

## What's next?

Once you're happy with your agent, you can:

- [🖊 Compare your agent against other agents with the ELO tracker](../elo_tracker/README.md)
- [🌐 Publish your agent so other people can play against it](../pyserver/README.md)