Agentic Platform Engineering: AI Agents as the Self-Service Layer in 2026

import anthropic
import json
 
client = anthropic.Anthropic()
 
TRANSLATE_PROMPT = """A developer wants to provision infrastructure. Translate
their request into a specific platform golden-path template and parameters.
 
Developer request: "{request}"
 
Available golden-path templates and when to use them:
{template_catalog}
 
Platform guardrails that must be respected (non-negotiable defaults):
{platform_guardrails}
 
Determine:
1. Which template matches this request
2. What parameters to fill, based on what the developer said
3. What is genuinely ambiguous and needs a clarifying question before proceeding
   (don't guess at things that materially affect cost or reliability)
 
Respond with ONLY valid JSON:
{{"template": "...", "parameters": {{}}, "clarifying_questions": [...],
  "ready_to_generate": true/false}}"""
 
 
def translate_request(request: str, template_catalog: dict, guardrails: dict) -> dict:
    response = client.messages.create(
        model="claude-sonnet-5",
        max_tokens=1000,
        messages=[{
            "role": "user",
            "content": TRANSLATE_PROMPT.format(
                request=request, template_catalog=template_catalog, platform_guardrails=guardrails
            )
        }]
    )
    text = response.content[0].text.strip()
    if text.startswith("```"):
        text = text.split("```")[1].replace("json", "", 1).strip()
    return json.loads(text)

PLATFORM_GUARDRAILS = {
    "production_databases": {"multi_az": "required", "backup_retention_min_days": 7},
    "public_endpoints": {"requires_waf": True, "requires_security_review": True},
    "cost_ceiling_needs_approval": 500,    # monthly $ threshold requiring explicit sign-off
}
 
def enforce_guardrails(generated_config: dict, guardrails: dict) -> dict:
    """The agent proposes, but hard platform policy always overrides
    what a developer's natural-language request implied."""
    if generated_config.get("environment") == "production":
        generated_config["multi_az"] = True    # Non-negotiable, regardless of what was asked
        generated_config["backup_retention_period"] = max(
            generated_config.get("backup_retention_period", 0),
            guardrails["production_databases"]["backup_retention_min_days"]
        )
    if estimate_monthly_cost(generated_config) > guardrails["cost_ceiling_needs_approval"]:
        generated_config["requires_manual_approval"] = True
    return generated_config