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feat(hooks): add @hook decorator for simplified hook definitions#1484

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strands-agent:feat/hook-decorator
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feat(hooks): add @hook decorator for simplified hook definitions#1484
strands-agent wants to merge 4 commits intostrands-agents:mainfrom
strands-agent:feat/hook-decorator

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@strands-agent
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Description

This PR adds a @hook decorator that transforms Python functions into HookProvider implementations with automatic event type detection from type hints - mirroring the ergonomics of the existing @tool decorator.

Features

  • Simple decorator syntax: @hook extracts event type from type hints
  • Explicit event type: @hook(event=EventType) for functions without type hints
  • Multi-event support: @hook(events=[...]) or Union types (A | B)
  • Async support: Works with both sync and async hook functions
  • Metadata preservation: Function name, docstring preserved via functools.wraps
  • Direct invocation: Decorated hooks can be called directly for testing

Before (Class-based):

from strands.hooks import HookProvider, HookRegistry, BeforeToolCallEvent

class MyHooks(HookProvider):
    def register_hooks(self, registry: HookRegistry) -> None:
        registry.add_callback(BeforeToolCallEvent, self.on_tool_call)
    
    def on_tool_call(self, event: BeforeToolCallEvent) -> None:
        print(f"Tool: {event.tool_use}")

agent = Agent(hooks=[MyHooks()])

After (Decorator-based):

from strands import Agent, hook
from strands.hooks import BeforeToolCallEvent

@hook
def log_tool_calls(event: BeforeToolCallEvent) -> None:
    """Log all tool calls before execution."""
    print(f"Tool: {event.tool_use}")

agent = Agent(hooks=[log_tool_calls])

New Exports

# From strands
from strands import hook

# From strands.hooks
from strands.hooks import hook, DecoratedFunctionHook, FunctionHookMetadata, HookMetadata

Related Issues

Fixes #1483

Documentation PR

No documentation changes required - follows existing patterns established by @tool.

Type of Change

New feature (non-breaking addition)

Testing

  • Added comprehensive unit tests (20 test cases)
  • Tests cover: basic usage, explicit events, multi-events, union types, async, errors, mixed usage with class-based hooks
  • I ran hatch run prepare

Checklist

  • I have read the CONTRIBUTING document
  • I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or my feature works
  • I have updated the documentation accordingly (exports in __init__.py)
  • My changes generate no new warnings
  • Any dependent changes have been merged and published

This adds a @hook decorator that transforms Python functions into
HookProvider implementations with automatic event type detection
from type hints - mirroring the ergonomics of the existing @tool
decorator.

Features:
- Simple decorator syntax: @hook
- Automatic event type extraction from type hints
- Explicit event type specification: @hook(event=EventType)
- Multi-event support: @hook(events=[...]) or Union types
- Support for both sync and async hook functions
- Preserves function metadata (name, docstring)
- Direct invocation for testing

New exports:
- from strands import hook
- from strands.hooks import hook, DecoratedFunctionHook,
  FunctionHookMetadata, HookMetadata

Example:
    from strands import Agent, hook
    from strands.hooks import BeforeToolCallEvent

    @hook
    def log_tool_calls(event: BeforeToolCallEvent) -> None:
        print(f'Tool: {event.tool_use}')

    agent = Agent(hooks=[log_tool_calls])

Fixes strands-agents#1483
@codecov
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codecov bot commented Jan 14, 2026

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 87.75510% with 18 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.

Files with missing lines Patch % Lines
src/strands/hooks/decorator.py 87.58% 11 Missing and 7 partials ⚠️

📢 Thoughts on this report? Let us know!

- Add cast() for HookCallback type in register_hooks method
- Add HookCallback import from registry
- Use keyword-only arguments in overload signature 2 to satisfy mypy
This enhancement addresses feedback from @cagataycali - the agent instance
is now automatically injected to @hook decorated functions when they have
an 'agent' parameter in their signature.

Usage:
  @hook
  def my_hook(event: BeforeToolCallEvent, agent: Agent) -> None:
      # agent is automatically injected from event.agent
      print(f'Agent {agent.name} calling tool')

Features:
- Detect 'agent' parameter in function signature
- Automatically extract agent from event.agent when callback is invoked
- Works with both sync and async hooks
- Backward compatible - hooks without agent param work unchanged
- Direct invocation supports explicit agent override for testing

Tests added:
- test_agent_param_detection
- test_agent_injection_in_repr
- test_hook_without_agent_param_not_injected
- test_hook_with_agent_param_receives_agent
- test_direct_call_with_explicit_agent
- test_agent_injection_with_registry
- test_async_hook_with_agent_injection
- test_hook_metadata_includes_agent_param
- test_mixed_hooks_with_and_without_agent
Add 13 new test cases to improve code coverage from 89% to 98%:

- TestCoverageGaps: Optional type hint, async/sync agent injection via registry,
  direct call without agent param, hook() empty parentheses, Union types
- TestAdditionalErrorCases: Invalid annotation types, invalid explicit event list
- TestEdgeCases: get_type_hints exception fallback, empty type hints fallback

Coverage improvements:
- Lines 139-141: get_type_hints exception handling
- Line 157: Annotation fallback when type hints unavailable
- Lines 203-205: NoneType skipping in Optional[X]
- Line 216: Invalid annotation error path
- Lines 313-320: Async/sync callback with agent injection

Addresses codecov patch coverage failure in PR strands-agents#1484.
@mkmeral
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mkmeral commented Jan 28, 2026

Couple of issues found by my review agent

Critical Issues Found:
  1. Mypy Type Errors (7 errors): The code accesses event.agent on BaseHookEvent, but only HookEvent has this attribute. The type: ignore comments don't cover all error codes.

  2. Missing __get__ Descriptor Method: Unlike the @tool decorator, DecoratedFunctionHook doesn't implement the descriptor protocol. This means decorated hooks won't work correctly when defined as class methods.

  3. Merge Conflicts: The PR has conflicts with main in:

    • src/strands/__init__.py (recent ModelRetryStrategy export added)
    • src/strands/hooks/__init__.py (recent multiagent hook events added)
  4. Agent Injection Design Flaw: The agent injection feature will fail at runtime for multiagent events (BeforeNodeCallEvent, MultiAgentInitializedEvent) because they extend BaseHookEvent directly and have source instead of agent.

@cagataycali
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Closing this PR as it's superseded by #1581 from @mkmeral which implements the same @hook decorator feature with cleaner implementation and passing CI.

Great work @mkmeral! 🎉


🤖 AI agent response from the Strands team. Strands Agents. Feedback welcome!

@cagataycali cagataycali closed this Feb 1, 2026
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[Feature] @hook decorator for simplified hook definitions

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