Introduction

PydanticAI is a Python agent framework designed to make it less painful to build production-grade applications with Generative AI. It brings the same ergonomic design and developer experience to GenAI that FastAPI brought to web development.

Obiguard enhances PydanticAI with production-readiness features, turning your experimental agents into robust systems by providing:

  • Complete observability of every agent step, tool use, and interaction
  • Cost tracking and optimization to manage your AI spend
  • Access to 200+ LLMs through a single integration
  • Guardrails to keep agent behavior safe and compliant

PydanticAI Official Documentation

Learn more about PydanticAI’s core concepts and features

Installation & Setup

1

Install the required packages

pip install -U pydantic-ai obiguard

Generate API Key

Create a Obiguard API key with optional budget/rate limits from the Obiguard dashboard. You can attach configurations for reliability, caching, and more to this key.

3

Configure Obiguard Client

For a simple setup, first configure the Obiguard client that will be used with PydanticAI:

from obiguard import AsyncObiguard

# Set up Obiguard client with appropriate metadata for tracking
obiguard_client = AsyncObiguard(
  obiguard_api_key="vk-obg***",  # Your Obiguard virtual key
)

What are Virtual Keys? Virtual keys in Obiguard securely store your LLM provider API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) in an encrypted vault. They allow for easier key rotation and budget management. Learn more about virtual keys here.

4

Connect to PydanticAI

After setting up your Obiguard client, you can integrate it with PydanticAI by connecting it to a model provider:

from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai.models.openai import OpenAIModel
from pydantic_ai.providers.openai import OpenAIProvider

# Connect Obiguard client to a PydanticAI model via provider
agent = Agent(
  model=OpenAIModel(
    model_name="gpt-4o",
    provider=OpenAIProvider(openai_client=obiguard_client),
  ),
  system_prompt="You are a helpful assistant."
)

Basic Agent Implementation

Let’s create a simple structured output agent with PydanticAI and Obiguard. This agent will respond to a query about Formula 1 and return structured data:

from obiguard import AsyncObiguard
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
from pydantic_ai import Agent
from pydantic_ai.models.openai import OpenAIModel
from pydantic_ai.providers.openai import OpenAIProvider

# Set up Obiguard client with tracing and metadata
obiguard_client = AsyncObiguard(
    obiguard_api_key="vk-obg***",  # Your Obiguard virtual key
)

# Define structured output using Pydantic
class F1GrandPrix(BaseModel):
    gp_name: str = Field(description="Grand Prix name, e.g. `Emilia Romagna Grand Prix`")
    year: int = Field(description="The year of the Grand Prix")
    constructor_winner: str = Field(description="The winning constructor of the Grand Prix")
    podium: list[str] = Field(description="Names of the podium drivers (1st, 2nd, 3rd)")

# Create the agent with structured output type
f1_gp_agent = Agent[None, F1GrandPrix](
    model=OpenAIModel(
        model_name="gpt-4o",
        provider=OpenAIProvider(openai_client=obiguard_client),
    ),
    output_type=F1GrandPrix,
    system_prompt="Assist the user by providing data about the specified Formula 1 Grand Prix"
)

# Run the agent
async def main():
    result = await f1_gp_agent.run("Las Vegas 2023")
    print(result.output)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    import asyncio
    asyncio.run(main())

The output will be a structured F1GrandPrix object with all fields properly typed and validated:

gp_name='Las Vegas Grand Prix'
year=2023
constructor_winner='Red Bull Racing'
podium=['Max Verstappen', 'Charles Leclerc', 'Sergio Pérez']

You can also use the synchronous API if preferred:

result = f1_gp_agent.run_sync("Las Vegas 2023")
print(result.output)

Advanced Features

Working with Images

PydanticAI supports multimodal inputs including images. Here’s how to use Obiguard with a vision model:

from obiguard import AsyncObiguard
from pydantic_ai import Agent, ImageUrl
from pydantic_ai.models.openai import OpenAIModel
from pydantic_ai.providers.openai import OpenAIProvider

# Set up Obiguard client
obiguard_client = AsyncObiguard(
    obiguard_api_key="sk-obg***",  # Your Obiguard API key
)

# Create a vision-capable agent
vision_agent = Agent(
    model=OpenAIModel(
        model_name="gpt-4o",  # Vision-capable model
        provider=OpenAIProvider(openai_client=obiguard_client),
    ),
    system_prompt="Analyze images and provide detailed descriptions."
)

# Process an image
result = vision_agent.run_sync([
    'What company is this logo from?',
    ImageUrl(url='https://iili.io/3Hs4FMg.png'),
])
print(result.output)

Visit your Obiguard dashboard to see detailed logs of this image analysis request, including token usage and costs.

Tools and Tool Calls

PydanticAI provides a powerful tools system that integrates seamlessly with Obiguard. Here’s how to create an agent with tools:

import random
from obiguard import AsyncObiguard
from pydantic_ai import Agent, RunContext
from pydantic_ai.models.openai import OpenAIModel
from pydantic_ai.providers.openai import OpenAIProvider

# Set up Obiguard client
obiguard_client = AsyncObiguard(
    obiguard_api_key="sk-obg***",  # Your Obiguard API key
)

# Create an agent with dependency injection (player name)
dice_agent = Agent(
    model=OpenAIModel(
        model_name="gpt-4o",
        provider=OpenAIProvider(openai_client=obiguard_client),
    ),
    deps_type=str,  # Dependency type (player name as string)
    system_prompt=(
        "You're a dice game host. Roll the die and see if it matches "
        "the user's guess. If so, tell them they're a winner. "
        "Use the player's name in your response."
    ),
)

# Define a plain tool (no context needed)
@dice_agent.tool_plain
def roll_die() -> str:
    """Roll a six-sided die and return the result."""
    return str(random.randint(1, 6))

# Define a tool that uses the dependency
@dice_agent.tool
def get_player_name(ctx: RunContext[str]) -> str:
    """Get the player's name."""
    return ctx.deps

# Run the agent
dice_result = dice_agent.run_sync('My guess is 4', deps='Anne')
print(dice_result.output)

Obiguard logs each tool call separately, allowing you to analyze the full execution path of your agent, including both LLM calls and tool invocations.

Multi-agent Applications

PydanticAI excels at creating multi-agent systems where agents can call each other. Here’s how to integrate Obiguard with a multi-agent setup:

This multi-agent system uses three specialized agents: search_agent - Orchestrates the flow and validates flight selections extraction_agent - Extracts structured flight data from raw text seat_preference_agent - Interprets user’s seat preferences

With Obiguard integration, you get:

  • Unified tracing across all three agents
  • Token and cost tracking for the entire workflow
  • Ability to set usage limits across the entire system
  • Observability of both AI and human interaction points

Here’s a diagram of how these agents interact:

import datetime
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import Literal

from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
from rich.prompt import Prompt

from pydantic_ai import Agent, ModelRetry, RunContext
from pydantic_ai.messages import ModelMessage
from pydantic_ai.usage import Usage, UsageLimits
from obiguard import AsyncObiguard

# Set up Obiguard clients with shared trace ID for connected tracing
obiguard_client = AsyncObiguard(
    obiguard_api_key="sk-obg***",  # Your Obiguard API key
)

# Define structured output types
class FlightDetails(BaseModel):
    """Details of the most suitable flight."""
    flight_number: str
    price: int
    origin: str = Field(description='Three-letter airport code')
    destination: str = Field(description='Three-letter airport code')
    date: datetime.date

class NoFlightFound(BaseModel):
    """When no valid flight is found."""

class SeatPreference(BaseModel):
    row: int = Field(ge=1, le=30)
    seat: Literal['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F']

class Failed(BaseModel):
    """Unable to extract a seat selection."""

# Dependencies for flight search
@dataclass
class Deps:
    web_page_text: str
    req_origin: str
    req_destination: str
    req_date: datetime.date

# This agent is responsible for controlling the flow of the conversation
from pydantic_ai.models.openai import OpenAIModel
from pydantic_ai.providers.openai import OpenAIProvider

search_agent = Agent[Deps, FlightDetails | NoFlightFound](
    model=OpenAIModel(
        model_name="gpt-4o",
        provider=OpenAIProvider(openai_client=obiguard_client),
    ),
    output_type=FlightDetails | NoFlightFound,  # type: ignore
    retries=4,
    system_prompt=(
        'Your job is to find the cheapest flight for the user on the given date. '
    ),
    instrument=True,  # Enable instrumentation for better tracing
)

# This agent is responsible for extracting flight details from web page text
extraction_agent = Agent(
    model=OpenAIModel(
        model_name="gpt-4o",
        provider=OpenAIProvider(openai_client=obiguard_client),
    ),
    output_type=list[FlightDetails],
    system_prompt='Extract all the flight details from the given text.',
)

# This agent is responsible for extracting the user's seat selection
seat_preference_agent = Agent[None, SeatPreference | Failed](
    model=OpenAIModel(
        model_name="gpt-4o",
        provider=OpenAIProvider(openai_client=obiguard_client),
    ),
    output_type=SeatPreference | Failed,  # type: ignore
    system_prompt=(
        "Extract the user's seat preference. "
        'Seats A and F are window seats. '
        'Row 1 is the front row and has extra leg room. '
        'Rows 14, and 20 also have extra leg room. '
    ),
)

@search_agent.tool
async def extract_flights(ctx: RunContext[Deps]) -> list[FlightDetails]:
    """Get details of all flights."""
    # Pass the usage to track nested agent calls
    result = await extraction_agent.run(ctx.deps.web_page_text, usage=ctx.usage)
    return result.output

@search_agent.output_validator
async def validate_output(
    ctx: RunContext[Deps], output: FlightDetails | NoFlightFound
) -> FlightDetails | NoFlightFound:
    """Procedural validation that the flight meets the constraints."""
    if isinstance(output, NoFlightFound):
        return output

    errors: list[str] = []
    if output.origin != ctx.deps.req_origin:
        errors.append(
            f'Flight should have origin {ctx.deps.req_origin}, not {output.origin}'
        )
    if output.destination != ctx.deps.req_destination:
        errors.append(
            f'Flight should have destination {ctx.deps.req_destination}, not {output.destination}'
        )
    if output.date != ctx.deps.req_date:
        errors.append(f'Flight should be on {ctx.deps.req_date}, not {output.date}')

    if errors:
        raise ModelRetry('\n'.join(errors))
    else:
        return output

# Sample flight data (in a real application, this would be from a web scraper)
flights_web_page = """
1. Flight SFO-AK123
- Price: $350
- Origin: San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Destination: Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
- Date: January 10, 2025

2. Flight SFO-AK456
- Price: $370
- Origin: San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Destination: Fairbanks International Airport (FAI)
- Date: January 10, 2025

... more flights ...
"""

# Main application flow
async def main():
    # Restrict how many requests this app can make to the LLM
    usage_limits = UsageLimits(request_limit=15)

    deps = Deps(
        web_page_text=flights_web_page,
        req_origin='SFO',
        req_destination='ANC',
        req_date=datetime.date(2025, 1, 10),
    )
    message_history: list[ModelMessage] | None = None
    usage: Usage = Usage()

    # Run the agent until a satisfactory flight is found
    while True:
        result = await search_agent.run(
            f'Find me a flight from {deps.req_origin} to {deps.req_destination} on {deps.req_date}',
            deps=deps,
            usage=usage,
            message_history=message_history,
            usage_limits=usage_limits,
        )
        if isinstance(result.output, NoFlightFound):
            print('No flight found')
            break
        else:
            flight = result.output
            print(f'Flight found: {flight}')
            answer = Prompt.ask(
                'Do you want to buy this flight, or keep searching? (buy/*search)',
                choices=['buy', 'search', ''],
                show_choices=False,
            )
            if answer == 'buy':
                seat = await find_seat(usage, usage_limits)
                await buy_tickets(flight, seat)
                break
            else:
                message_history = result.all_messages(
                    output_tool_return_content='Please suggest another flight'
                )

async def find_seat(usage: Usage, usage_limits: UsageLimits) -> SeatPreference:
    message_history: list[ModelMessage] | None = None
    while True:
        answer = Prompt.ask('What seat would you like?')
        result = await seat_preference_agent.run(
            answer,
            message_history=message_history,
            usage=usage,
            usage_limits=usage_limits,
        )
        if isinstance(result.output, SeatPreference):
            return result.output
        else:
            print('Could not understand seat preference. Please try again.')
            message_history = result.all_messages()

async def buy_tickets(flight_details: FlightDetails, seat: SeatPreference):
    print(f'Purchasing flight {flight_details=!r} {seat=!r}...')

Obiguard preserves all the type safety of PydanticAI while adding production monitoring and reliability.

Production Features

1. Enhanced Observability

Obiguard provides comprehensive observability for your PydanticAI agents, helping you understand exactly what’s happening during each execution.

Traces provide a hierarchical view of your agent’s execution, showing the sequence of LLM calls, tool invocations, and state transitions.

2. Guardrails for Safe Agents

Guardrails ensure your PydanticAI agents operate safely and respond appropriately in all situations.

Why Use Guardrails?

PydanticAI agents can experience various failure modes:

  • Generating harmful or inappropriate content
  • Leaking sensitive information like PII
  • Hallucinating incorrect information
  • Generating outputs in incorrect formats

While PydanticAI provides type safety for outputs, Obiguard’s guardrails add additional protections for both inputs and outputs.

Obiguard’s guardrails can:

  • Detect and redact PII in both inputs and outputs
  • Filter harmful or inappropriate content
  • Validate response formats against schemas
  • Check for hallucinations against ground truth
  • Apply custom business logic and rules

Learn More About Guardrails

Explore Obiguard’s guardrail features to enhance agent safety.

3. Model Interoperability

PydanticAI supports multiple LLM providers, and Obiguard extends this capability by providing access to over 200 LLMs through a unified interface. You can easily switch between different models without changing your core agent logic:

Obiguard provides access to LLMs from providers including:

  • OpenAI (GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo, etc.)
  • Anthropic (Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3 Opus, etc.)
  • Mistral AI (Mistral Large, Mistral Medium, etc.)
  • Google Vertex AI (Gemini 1.5 Pro, etc.)
  • Cohere (Command, Command-R, etc.)
  • AWS Bedrock (Claude, Titan, etc.)
  • Local/Private Models

Supported Providers

See the full list of LLM providers supported by Obiguard.

Set Up Enterprise Governance for PydanticAI

Why Enterprise Governance? If you are using PydanticAI inside your organization, you need to consider several governance aspects:

  • Cost Management: Controlling and tracking AI spending across teams
  • Access Control: Managing which teams can use specific models
  • Usage Analytics: Understanding how AI is being used across the organization
  • Security & Compliance: Maintaining enterprise security standards
  • Reliability: Ensuring consistent service across all users

Obiguard adds a comprehensive governance layer to address these enterprise needs.

Enterprise Features Now Available

Your PydanticAI integration now has:

  • Departmental budget controls
  • Model access governance
  • Usage tracking & attribution
  • Security guardrails
  • Reliability features

Frequently Asked Questions

Resources