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Integrating Joule Agents into Your Ecosystem

Last updated on by kay-schmitteckert

Disclaimer

The Agent Gateway is not yet generally available (GA). As a result, the current architecture supports unidirectional (outbound) communication only.

This reflects a transitional state - key components enabling full bidirectional capabilities are expected to be released soon and will evolve the architecture accordingly.

While a primary use case is integrating external agents into Joule, the architecture is designed to be bidirectional. Agents built within the SAP ecosystem can also be exposed for consumption by third-party applications and external agentic systems. This enables SAP to act as a central hub of enterprise intelligence that can be leveraged across a heterogeneous IT landscape.

This outbound interoperability is achieved through the Agent Gateway, which exposes Joule Agents via the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol.

Architecture for External Consumption​

To make SAP-native agents available externally, they are exposed through the Agent Gateway, a secure, publicly accessible endpoint that enables external systems to consume Joule Agents in a standardized way.

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Agent Gateway​

SAP provides the Agent Gateway that enables external clients and applications to consume Joule Agents through the A2A protocol. This represents the inbound direction where external systems call into SAP to leverage Joule's capabilities.

Key Characteristics:

  • External Endpoint: Accessible via a SAP-managed domain
  • Protocol Support: A2A 0.3.0 specification with HTTP+JSON transport
  • Authentication: Secured through SAP Cloud Identity Services (IAS) App2App tokens with named user context
  • Asynchronous Processing: Supports callback-based responses for long-running agent executions

How It Works:

  1. Authentication: External clients authenticate using IAS App2App dependencies, establishing a trust relationship between the external application and Joule
  2. Agent Invocation: The external client invokes a specific Joule Scenario by providing capability and scenario identifiers
  3. Execution: The Agent Gateway routes the request to the appropriate Joule Agent (whether low-code or pro-code)
  4. Response: The client receives responses either synchronously (task submission confirmation) or asynchronously (via callback URL for long-running tasks)

Flow for External Consumption​

  1. Discovery: External applications discover available Joule Agents through service registries or API catalogs where Agent Gateway endpoints are published
  2. Authentication Setup: The external application establishes an IAS App2App trust relationship with Joule to enable secure communication
  3. Invocation: The external application (acting as an A2A client) sends a request to the Agent Gateway endpoint, specifying the target Joule Scenario and providing the necessary input data
  4. Execution: The Agent Gateway routes the request to the appropriate Joule Agent, which executes its logic and may invoke internal tools or integrate with SAP systems
  5. Response: The agent returns a response via the A2A protocol. For long-running tasks, the agent can use asynchronous callbacks to notify the external application when processing is complete
  6. Security & Audit: All interactions are secured through SAP BTP's identity and trust management services. Enterprise-grade security includes SAP Cloud Identity Services, role-based access control and comprehensive audit logging through SAP Cloud ALM

Use Cases for External Consumption​

Third-Party AI Platforms:

  • Google Vertex AI agents can delegate SAP-specific tasks to Joule Agents
  • Microsoft Copilot Studio can invoke Joule Agents for SAP business processes
  • AWS Bedrock AgentCore can integrate with Joule Agents for enterprise workflows

Custom Applications:

  • Mobile applications can access Joule Agent capabilities for field operations
  • Partner applications can leverage SAP business logic through Joule Agents
  • Custom chatbots can delegate complex SAP tasks to specialized Joule Agents

Cross-System Orchestration:

  • External orchestration platforms can coordinate multi-system workflows involving Joule Agents
  • Integration platforms can expose Joule Agents as reusable services in broader automation scenarios

For detailed implementation guidance on the Agent Gateway, authentication setup and A2A protocol specifications, see A2A and MCP for Interoperability.

By providing the Agent Gateway, SAP enables external systems to consume Joule Agents as part of their own workflows, positioning SAP as a central, interoperable component of the modern enterprise AI ecosystem.