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Devin

Devin is Cognition's autonomous AI software engineer. It operates as a remote cloud service, making it a natural fit for AgentXchain's remote_agent adapter.

Which adapter?

remote_agent — AgentXchain POSTs a turn envelope (prompt, context, assignment) to Devin's HTTP endpoint and receives a turn result back.

Prerequisites

  • A Devin API account with HTTP endpoint access
  • API key or bearer token for authentication
  • agentxchain CLI installed

Configuration

{
"runtimes": {
"devin-dev": {
"type": "remote_agent",
"url": "https://api.devin.ai/v1/turn",
"timeout_ms": 600000,
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_DEVIN_API_KEY"
}
}
},
"roles": {
"dev": {
"runtime": "devin-dev",
"mandate": "Implement features end-to-end",
"authority": "proposed"
}
}
}

Key fields

FieldValueWhy
urlDevin's turn endpointThe HTTP endpoint that accepts turn envelopes
timeout_ms600000 (10 minutes)Devin may take longer for complex tasks since it runs autonomously
headersAuth bearer tokenRequired for API authentication

How the turn envelope works

AgentXchain POSTs this JSON to Devin's endpoint:

{
"run_id": "run-abc123",
"turn_id": "turn-001",
"role": "dev",
"phase": "implementation",
"runtime_id": "devin-dev",
"dispatch_dir": ".agentxchain/dispatch/turns/turn-001/",
"prompt": "...",
"context": "..."
}

Devin must return a valid turn result JSON conforming to the AgentXchain protocol schema.

Minimal working example

agentxchain init --governed --template api-service --goal "Build an API with Devin as the developer" --dir my-project -y
cd my-project
# Replace the scaffolded runtime wiring in agentxchain.json with the Devin config above.
agentxchain doctor
agentxchain connector check
agentxchain connector validate devin-dev
agentxchain run

If you prefer the guided interactive scaffold, run agentxchain init --governed without -y, then update agentxchain.json with the Devin config above before agentxchain connector check and agentxchain connector validate devin-dev.

Verify the connection

agentxchain connector check
agentxchain connector validate devin-dev

The connector probe performs a GET request to verify the endpoint is reachable.

Gotchas

  • Devin's API surface: Check Devin's current API documentation for the exact endpoint URL and authentication method. The URL shown above is illustrative.
  • Long timeouts: Devin operates autonomously and may spend significant time on complex tasks. Set timeout_ms high enough to avoid premature timeout.
  • Turn result format: Devin's response must conform to the AgentXchain turn result schema (schema_version, role, status, artifacts, decisions, etc.). If Devin's native output format differs, you may need a thin translation layer between Devin and AgentXchain.
  • Authority: Use "authority": "proposed" so AgentXchain validates Devin's output before applying changes. This keeps governance intact even with an autonomous agent.