Build AI Agents in Node.js That Handle 10K Requests/Day

Build AI Agents in Node.js That Handle 10K Requests/Day Most AI agent tutorials teach you to build a toy. A chatbot that answers trivia questions. A script that summarizes text. Cool for a weekend project — useless in production. I've spent the last 18 months shipping AI agents that handle 10,000+ requests per day for SaaS companies. Agents that book appointments, process refunds, triage support tickets, and orchestrate multi-step workflows without human intervention. Here's everything I learned about building AI agents with Node.js that actually survive contact with real users. What Are AI Agents (And What They're Not) An AI agent is not a chatbot with extra steps. A chatbot responds to messages. An agent acts. The difference comes down to three properties: Autonomy — the agent decides what to do next based on context Tool use — it can call external APIs, query databases, send emails Looping — it keeps working until the task is complete, not just one response Think of it this way: a c