2025-09-15

The End of the Chatbot — When the Agent Is the App

Chatbots were step 1, not the destination. Here's why the future of AI UX isn't about talking to computers—it's about agents that can directly observe, mutate, and render your app's interface.

Published on 2025-09-15 by Fred

1. Chatbots Were Step 1, Not the Destination

Two years ago "Add AI to your product" meant slapping a chat widget in the corner. It felt futuristic, users loved it—until they didn't. Jumping between buttons and a sidebar conversation is jarring. The interface and the intelligence are split in half.

2. The Moment I Knew Chat Wasn't Enough

In May I discovered Cloudflare's Agents Starter Kit—a tiny React app where the agent shares state with the UI. I wired in Spotify and asked:

"Give me cyber-lofi for coding at 1 a.m."

Instead of pasting links, the agent changed the app: playlist rendered, music started, controls updated in real time. That weekend hack inspired our App Agent Template. No tab-hopping, no copy-pasting URLs. The agent and the interface were finally the same thing.

3. Defining an App Agent

App Agent (n.) — an AI agent that can observe, mutate, and render the product UI, treating the app like its own toolbelt.

Chatbot Pattern App-Agent Pattern
Chat lives in a sidebar Chat & UI share one state tree
Replies as text Executes intent, mutates interface
User clicks buttons separately Language + visuals fuse into single flow

Once you feel that seamlessness, sidebar chat feels like dial-up.

4. Architecture in 3 Pieces

  1. Front-end State Store (React context, Zustand, etc.)
  2. Agent Brain (LLM + tools) with direct read/write to state
  3. LLM Gateway that meters and routes calls (hi, AI@YourService)

That's it. No mystical framework; just give the agent a hand in the same DOM you control.

5. Introducing the App-Agent Template (MIT)

I took the Cloudflare kit, layered in:

  • AI@YourService Gateway — credits wallet & BYO key built-in
  • Composable Tools — Spotify, browser, Stripe sample
  • Promo-credit cap so demos can't bankrupt you
  • Live mode toggle (dry-run vs. execute)

Repo is public today → github.com/fredrikm/app-agent-template

Clone, swap a tool, deploy on Vercel, done.

6. Why Billing Still Matters

An app agent is fun—until 500 free users ask it to summarise War and Peace ten times. Because the template hits AI@YS by default, each user burns their own credits (or BYO key). You get prototype freedom and cost sanity.

7. What You Could Build Next Week

  • Workout Copilot — "I'm tired; drop weight on set 3." UI adapts live.
  • Resume Roaster — paste CV, agent rewrites sections and updates layout.
  • Data-viz Narrator — highlight chart, agent adds explanatory overlay.

All using the same 3-piece architecture.

8. Invitation to Builders

If chatbots were step 1, app agents are step 2. They need new design patterns, new guardrails, and sane billing rails. I'm sharing the template (MIT) and the gateway (beta) so we can figure it out together.

👉 Grab the template: github.com/fredrikm/app-agent-template
👉 Forward the cost: atyourservice.ai (first 50 projects = Growth tier free)

Let's make the interface and the intelligence one thing.

Fred — indie hacker, app-agent evangelist.