create-agent-with-sanity-context

Build an Agent with Sanity Context

Give AI agents intelligent access to your Sanity content. Unlike embedding-only approaches, Sanity Context is schema-aware—agents can reason over your content structure, query with real field values, follow references, and combine structural filters with semantic search.

What this enables:

• Agents understand the relationships between your content types
• Queries use actual schema fields, not just text similarity
• Results respect your content model (categories, tags, references)
• Semantic search is available when needed, layered on structure

Sanity Context gives agents your schema and teaches them GROQ, but it can't know your domain. You close that gap through the Instructions field (dataset-specific query guidance) and optionally the system prompt (agent behavior and tone).

Three actors in this workflow:

• You — the agent executing this skill, helping the user set things up
• The user — the human you're working with, who knows their domain and data
• The production agent — the agent being built, which will serve end users

What You'll Need

Before starting, gather these credentials:

How Sanity Context Works

The Sanity Context MCP server gives AI agents structured access to Sanity content. The core integration pattern:

1. Initial Context: Fetch schema context via the /initial-context HTTP endpoint and inject it into the system prompt
2. MCP Connection: HTTP transport to the Sanity Context URL
3. Authentication: Bearer token using Sanity API read token
4. Tool Discovery: Get available tools from MCP client, pass to LLM
5. System Prompt: Tell the production agent its role, tone, and boundaries

MCP URL formats:

• https://api.sanity.io/v2026-03-03/context/mcp/:projectId/:dataset — Base URL. No document needed, configure via query params or use as-is.
• https://api.sanity.io/v2026-03-03/context/mcp/:projectId/:dataset/:slug — Document URL. Applies the configuration from a Sanity Context document.

Sanity Context documents (type sanity.agentContext) are created in Sanity Studio and configure the MCP endpoint. They have three fields:

This means Studio users can manage agent behavior without touching code — updating instructions or narrowing the content filter takes effect immediately.

URL query params override the document's configuration (useful for testing and development):

• ?instructions=<content> — Override instructions (use ?instructions="" for a blank slate)
• ?groqFilter=<expression> — Override the content filter

The integration is simple: Connect to the MCP URL, get tools, use them. The reference implementation shows one way to do this—adapt to your stack and LLM provider.

Initial context (recommended):

Always fetch the schema context via the /initial-context HTTP endpoint and inject it into the system prompt. This gives a significant latency improvement on the first message—the agent already knows the schema and available tools without needing a tool call. It also enables better prompt caching since the schema prefix is stable across conversations.

Append /initial-context to the MCP URL path (before any query params), using the same auth header:

curl https://api.sanity.io/v2026-03-03/context/mcp/:projectId/:dataset/:slug/initial-context \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SANITY_API_READ_TOKEN"

Fetch once, cache the result, and include it in your system prompt. When using this, exclude the initial_context tool from the tools passed to the LLM to avoid redundant calls.

If you don't control the system prompt (e.g. using a third-party MCP client), the initial_context MCP tool still works — the agent will call it on the first message instead.

Available MCP Tools

For development and debugging: The general Sanity MCP provides broader access to your Sanity project (schema deployment, document management, etc.). Useful during development but not intended for customer-facing applications.

Before You Start: Understand the User's Situation

A complete integration has four distinct components that may live in different places:

A deployed Studio (v5.1.0+) is always required. Not every integration needs the Sanity Context plugin or document—the base MCP URL works without them, so users can start with just agent implementation and add document configuration later—or vice versa. Frontend depends on the use case (many agents run as backend services or integrate into existing UIs).

Before writing any code, inspect the project to understand:

1. Project layout: Read the top-level package.json (check for workspaces or a pnpm-workspace.yaml), locate the lockfile, and map out the distinct apps/packages. This determines where sanity.blueprint.ts and functions/ will go — see Sanity Blueprints & Functions.
2. Their stack: What framework/runtime? (Next.js, Remix, Node server, Python, etc.)
3. Their AI library: Vercel AI SDK, LangChain, direct API calls, etc.
4. Their domain: What will the agent help with? (Shopping, docs, support, search, etc.)
5. Which components they need help with: They may only need one or two.

• Components in different repos (most common): You may only have access to one component. Complete what you can, then tell the user what steps remain for the other repos.
• Co-located components: All in the same project—work through them based on what the user wants to tackle first.
• No Studio in the codebase? Ask the user if Studio setup is done elsewhere, or if they want to skip the Sanity Context plugin and document for now—the base URL works without them.

The reference patterns use Next.js + Vercel AI SDK, but adapt to whatever the user is working with.

Workflow

Always present the full workflow. Even if the user's request seems narrow, inform them of all four steps — you don't have to implement everything, but they should know what's available. A working chatbot without Insights is only half the value. Walk the user through all four steps, explaining what each unlocks:

1. Build the Agent — Get a working chatbot connected to their content
2. Studio Setup — Configure the plugin and create a Sanity Context document
3. Conversation Insights — Track and classify conversations (this is what makes the data useful)
4. Tune the Agent — Refine instructions and system prompt using the tuning skills

After completing each step, proactively present the next one. Only stop when all steps are done or the user explicitly defers.

Quick Validation (Optional)

Before building the production agent, validate that the MCP endpoint is reachable. If the user doesn't have a read token yet, offer to create one from the terminal — detect the projectId from sanity.config.ts or sanity.cli.ts if available:

npx sanity tokens add "Sanity Context" --role=viewer --yes --json

This outputs JSON with the token value. If not inside a Sanity project directory, pass --project-id=<id> explicitly.

Then test the endpoint:

curl -X POST

This confirms the token works and the endpoint is reachable. The base URL (no slug) works without a Sanity Context document—add a slug to apply a document's configuration.

Step 1: Build the Agent (Adapt to user's stack)

The user already has an agent or MCP client? They just need to connect it to their Sanity Context URL with a Bearer token. The tools will appear automatically.

Building from scratch? Help the user set up the MCP connection and LLM integration. The reference implementations use Vercel AI SDK with Anthropic, but the pattern works with any LLM provider (OpenAI, local models, etc.). Start with the basics and add advanced patterns as needed.

Framework-specific guides:

• Next.js: See references/nextjs-agent.md
• SvelteKit: See references/sveltekit-agent.md
• Other stacks (Express, Remix, Python, LangChain): See references/adapting-to-stacks.md

System prompts (applies to all frameworks): See references/system-prompts.md for structure and domain-specific examples (e-commerce, docs, support, content curation).

The framework guides cover:

• Core setup (required): MCP connection, authentication, basic chat route
• Frontend (optional): Chat component for the framework, including markdown rendering (LLM responses are markdown — a renderer like react-markdown or marked is needed to display formatted output)
• Advanced patterns (optional): Client-side tools, auto-continuation, custom directive rendering

Step 2: Set up Sanity Studio

Help the user configure the @sanity/context/studio plugin in their Studio and create a Sanity Context document. This document controls what the production agent can see (via groqFilter) and what guidance it receives (via instructions).

See references/studio-setup.md

Step 3: Conversation Insights (Recommended)

Recommend the user sets up Insights. Without tracking, there's no way to know if the agent is actually helping users or failing silently. Insights shows you what users ask, where the agent struggles, and what content is missing — data you need to improve the agent over time.

What this unlocks:

• See which conversations succeed and which fail
• Discover content gaps — topics users ask about that the agent can't answer well
• Debug specific conversations with full transcripts
• Compare performance across multiple agents

Setup is two parts — do both:

1. Telemetry — Add one integration to your existing streamText call (saves conversations)
2. Classification — Deploy a scheduled function that analyzes conversations with AI

Telemetry without classification just stores raw conversations. Classification is what extracts success scores, sentiment, and content gaps — the actual insights. Always set up both.

Follow references/conversation-classification.md to set this up. The guide covers both parts end-to-end. The dashboard appears in Studio automatically once deployed.

Step 4: Tune Your Agent (Recommended)

Once the production agent works:

1. Tune the Instructions field using the dial-your-context skill — an interactive session where you explore the user's dataset together, verify findings, and produce concise Instructions that teach the production agent what the schema alone doesn't make obvious: counter-intuitive field names, second-order reference chains, data quality issues, required filters, and query patterns. The skill can also help configure a groqFilter to scope what content the production agent sees.

2. Shape the system prompt (optional) using the shape-your-agent skill — if the user controls the production agent's system prompt, this helps define tone, boundaries, and guardrails. Skip this if the user doesn't control the system prompt.

Sanity Blueprints & Functions

Scheduled classification uses Sanity Blueprints to deploy Sanity Functions.

Placement principles

Before adding files, search the project for an existing sanity.blueprint.ts. If one exists with deployed functions, add the new function there — even if it's not next to the lockfile. An existing working setup takes precedence over the default placement rules below. Only follow these rules when creating a new blueprint from scratch.

Find the project's lockfile (yarn.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml, or package-lock.json). Two rules for new blueprints:

1. sanity.blueprint.ts must be in the same directory as the lockfile. The CLI detects the package manager from the lockfile. If no lockfile is present, pass --fn-installer pnpm (or npm/yarn) to the deploy command.
2. Function src paths are resolved relative to the blueprint file. By default a function named classify-conversations maps to functions/classify-conversations/ next to the blueprint. Use the src property in defineScheduledFunction to point to a different directory.

In a monorepo with no existing blueprint, the lockfile is at the workspace root — so sanity.blueprint.ts and functions/ go there too, alongside the root package.json. However, if a blueprint already exists in a subdirectory (e.g. apps/studio/) and functions are successfully deploying from there, use that location. The CLI can work from subdirectories when configured correctly (e.g. with --fn-installer pnpm).

Dependencies: Functions use the package.json next to the blueprint for dependencies by default (project-level). Each function can alternatively have its own package.json (function-level), but a function uses one or the other — never both. See Sanity Functions: Dependencies.

Commands

Run from the directory containing sanity.blueprint.ts:

GROQ with Semantic Search

Sanity Context supports text::semanticSimilarity() for semantic ranking:

Always use order(_score desc) when using score() to get best matches first.

Adapting to Different Stacks

The MCP connection pattern is framework and LLM-agnostic. Whether Next.js, Remix, Express, or Python FastAPI—the HTTP transport works the same. Any LLM provider that supports tool calling will work.

See references/adapting-to-stacks.md for:

• Framework-specific route patterns (Express, Remix, Python)
• AI library integrations (LangChain, direct API calls)

See references/system-prompts.md for domain-specific examples (e-commerce, docs, support, content curation).

Best Practices

• Start simple: Build the basic integration first, then add advanced patterns as needed
• Schema design: Use descriptive field names—agents rely on schema understanding
• GROQ queries: Always include _id in projections so agents can reference documents
• Content filters: Use groqFilter to scope what the production agent sees — start broad, then narrow based on what it actually needs. The filter is a full GROQ expression (e.g., _type in ["product", "article"])
• Instructions field: Keep it concise — only include what the auto-generated schema doesn't make obvious. Don't duplicate schema information. See the dial-your-context skill.
• System prompts: Be explicit about forbidden behaviors and formatting rules. Less is more — an over-engineered prompt can interfere with the Instructions content. See the shape-your-agent skill.
• Package versions: Always use the latest version of @sanity/context — run npm info @sanity/context version to get it. For other packages, check the reference package.json files or use npm info <package> version. AI SDK and Sanity packages update frequently, and using outdated versions will cause errors that are hard to debug.

Troubleshooting

Sanity Context returns errors or no schema

Sanity Context requires a deployed Studio. See Deploy Your Studio for instructions.

"401 Unauthorized" from MCP

The SANITY_API_READ_TOKEN is missing or invalid. Generate a new token from the terminal:

npx sanity tokens add "Sanity Context" --role=viewer --yes --json

Or create one at sanity.io/manage → Project → API → Tokens with Viewer role.

"No documents found" / Empty results

Check the Sanity Context document's content filter (groqFilter):

• Is the GROQ filter correct?
• Are the document types spelled correctly?
• Are there published documents matching the filter?

Tools not appearing

1. Check that mcpClient.tools() returns tools (log it)
2. Ensure the MCP URL is correct (project ID, dataset, and optionally slug)
3. If using a slug-based URL, verify the Sanity Context document is published