Build Log Managed agent

How we built a research-brief agent on a managed cloud

Someone asks for a research brief on the site. A managed agent does the research on the model provider's cloud, turns it into a clean email, and sends it to your inbox. There is no server of ours behind it, and you pay per research session, not per month.

Published June 2026 by Balázs Turán, Creative Data Engineers.

What we built
  • A request form on the site, behind a Cloudflare Turnstile bot check, that turns one ask into a tracked request.
  • A managed agent on Anthropic's cloud (Claude Sonnet 4.6, with web search) that does the research. No VPS or server of ours to run.
  • A signed webhook that hands the finished brief back to our code, which renders it into a clean HTML email.
  • The brief sent to your inbox through Resend. Reading it is the only human step.
Why we built it

Company research is slow to do by hand, every time

Pulling together a research brief on a company takes an hour of reading and copying, and you start from scratch each time. We wanted a way to ask once and get a finished brief back, without standing up a server to run it. So we built it on a managed agent: the AI runs on the model provider's cloud, does the research when a request comes in, and we pay for the work, not for a machine that waits.

The split we set: our code takes the request and verifies it, the managed agent does the research, our code turns the result into an email, and a person reads the brief. The heavy lifting runs on someone else's cloud, so there is nothing of ours to keep patched and online between requests.

The system

From form to inbox, end to end

Two stages run in order: take the request, then research and deliver. A form on the site becomes a verified, tracked request, a managed agent researches it on the provider's cloud, and our code turns the result into an email that lands in your inbox.

Our code Data store Outside service / AI You (manual)

Hover or focus any box for a plain-language explanation.

A Take the request A form on the site becomes a tracked, verified request submit record INPUT Request form form plus a bot check EDGE FUNCTION Intake verify, record, kick off DATA STORE Request record the request, pending open a research session B Research and deliver The agent researches, the result becomes an email, you read it signed webhook build the email send MANAGED AGENT Research agent Claude Sonnet 4.6, web search OUR CODE Extract and render parse, build the email EMAIL SERVICE Deliver email it out YOU You read it the brief lands

This is one tool in a larger kit. The same engineering, reading the sources that matter and turning them into something you can act on, runs our AI search work. See AI Search Visibility →

What it produces

A brief that drafts your first move

The agent does not stop at facts. The email is a one-page outreach brief: what the company does, the angle to take, and a ready-to-send opening line you can drop straight into a first message to the founder.

A research brief email titled Outreach Brief for a company, with a branded header and a What they do section
An outreach brief, emailed. The company in brief, the angle, and an opener ready to send.
What we learned

Three decisions that make it hold up

1

A managed agent means no infrastructure to run. The research runs on the provider's cloud, so there is no VPS to patch, scale, or pay for between requests. The cost follows the number of briefs.

2

A signed webhook closes the loop safely. When the agent finishes, it calls back with a signature our code checks before trusting the brief. That is what lets an outside cloud hand work back to us without opening a hole.

3

The only human step is reading the brief. Everything from the form to the email is handled by code and the agent. A person picks up a finished brief, not a research task.

FAQ

Questions we get about the agent

What is a managed agent?

A managed agent is an AI agent that runs on the model provider's cloud instead of a server you maintain. It does its work when a request comes in, and you pay for the work it does, not for a machine sitting idle.

Where does it run, and what does it cost?

It runs on Anthropic's cloud, on Claude Sonnet 4.6, with web search. There is no VPS or server of ours behind it. You pay per research session, so the cost tracks the number of briefs, not a flat monthly bill.

Is the research reliable?

The agent researches with live web search and hands back a sourced brief. The intake is verified with a bot check, and a signed webhook closes the loop, so the brief that arrives is the one the agent produced. You read the brief and judge it, which is the one human step.

Can you build one for us?

Yes. It runs on the same engineering as our AI Search Visibility work. Book a call and we will scope it.

This is the kind of system we build for clients

The research agent runs on the same skills we bring to client work: take a request cleanly, do the research, and hand back something a team can use. That is the heart of our AI Search Visibility work.

We also teach operators to build systems like this, hands-on. Balázs runs the build sessions at Agent-J+.