Subgraphs

This guide explains the mechanics of using subgraphs. A subgraph is a graph that is used as a node in another graph.

Subgraphs are useful for:

• Building multi-agent systems
• Re-using a set of nodes in multiple graphs
• Distributing development: when you want different teams to work on different parts of the graph independently, you can define each part as a subgraph, and as long as the subgraph interface (the input and output schemas) is respected, the parent graph can be built without knowing any details of the subgraph

When adding subgraphs, you need to define how the parent graph and the subgraph communicate:

• Invoke a graph from a node — subgraphs are called from inside a node in the parent graph
• Add a graph as a node — a subgraph is added directly as a node in the parent and shares state keys with the parent

Setup

pip

pip install -U langgraph

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Invoke a graph from a node

A simple way to implement a subgraph is to invoke a graph from inside the node of another graph. In this case subgraphs can have completely different schemas from the parent graph (no shared keys). For example, you might want to keep a private message history for each of the agents in a multi-agent system.

If that’s the case for your application, you need to define a node function that invokes the subgraph. This function needs to transform the input (parent) state to the subgraph state before invoking the subgraph, and transform the results back to the parent state before returning the state update from the node.

from typing_extensions import TypedDict
from langgraph.graph.state import StateGraph, START

class SubgraphState(TypedDict):
    bar: str

# Subgraph

def subgraph_node_1(state: SubgraphState):
    return {"bar": "hi! " + state["bar"]}

subgraph_builder = StateGraph(SubgraphState)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_1)
subgraph_builder.add_edge(START, "subgraph_node_1")
subgraph = subgraph_builder.compile()

# Parent graph

class State(TypedDict):
    foo: str

def call_subgraph(state: State):
    # Transform the state to the subgraph state
    subgraph_output = subgraph.invoke({"bar": state["foo"]})  
    # Transform response back to the parent state
    return {"foo": subgraph_output["bar"]}

builder = StateGraph(State)
builder.add_node("node_1", call_subgraph)
builder.add_edge(START, "node_1")
graph = builder.compile()

Full example: different state schemas

from typing_extensions import TypedDict
from langgraph.graph.state import StateGraph, START

# Define subgraph
class SubgraphState(TypedDict):
    # note that none of these keys are shared with the parent graph state
    bar: str
    baz: str

def subgraph_node_1(state: SubgraphState):
    return {"baz": "baz"}

def subgraph_node_2(state: SubgraphState):
    return {"bar": state["bar"] + state["baz"]}

subgraph_builder = StateGraph(SubgraphState)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_1)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_2)
subgraph_builder.add_edge(START, "subgraph_node_1")
subgraph_builder.add_edge("subgraph_node_1", "subgraph_node_2")
subgraph = subgraph_builder.compile()

# Define parent graph
class ParentState(TypedDict):
    foo: str

def node_1(state: ParentState):
    return {"foo": "hi! " + state["foo"]}

def node_2(state: ParentState):
    # Transform the state to the subgraph state
    response = subgraph.invoke({"bar": state["foo"]})
    # Transform response back to the parent state
    return {"foo": response["bar"]}


builder = StateGraph(ParentState)
builder.add_node("node_1", node_1)
builder.add_node("node_2", node_2)
builder.add_edge(START, "node_1")
builder.add_edge("node_1", "node_2")
graph = builder.compile()

for chunk in graph.stream({"foo": "foo"}, subgraphs=True):
    print(chunk)

((), {'node_1': {'foo': 'hi! foo'}})
(('node_2:577b710b-64ae-31fb-9455-6a4d4cc2b0b9',), {'subgraph_node_1': {'baz': 'baz'}})
(('node_2:577b710b-64ae-31fb-9455-6a4d4cc2b0b9',), {'subgraph_node_2': {'bar': 'hi! foobaz'}})
((), {'node_2': {'foo': 'hi! foobaz'}})

Full example: different state schemas (two levels of subgraphs)

This is an example with two levels of subgraphs: parent -> child -> grandchild.

# Grandchild graph
from typing_extensions import TypedDict
from langgraph.graph.state import StateGraph, START, END

class GrandChildState(TypedDict):
    my_grandchild_key: str

def grandchild_1(state: GrandChildState) -> GrandChildState:
    # NOTE: child or parent keys will not be accessible here
    return {"my_grandchild_key": state["my_grandchild_key"] + ", how are you"}


grandchild = StateGraph(GrandChildState)
grandchild.add_node("grandchild_1", grandchild_1)

grandchild.add_edge(START, "grandchild_1")
grandchild.add_edge("grandchild_1", END)

grandchild_graph = grandchild.compile()

# Child graph
class ChildState(TypedDict):
    my_child_key: str

def call_grandchild_graph(state: ChildState) -> ChildState:
    # NOTE: parent or grandchild keys won't be accessible here
    grandchild_graph_input = {"my_grandchild_key": state["my_child_key"]}
    grandchild_graph_output = grandchild_graph.invoke(grandchild_graph_input)
    return {"my_child_key": grandchild_graph_output["my_grandchild_key"] + " today?"}

child = StateGraph(ChildState)
# We're passing a function here instead of just compiled graph (`grandchild_graph`)
child.add_node("child_1", call_grandchild_graph)
child.add_edge(START, "child_1")
child.add_edge("child_1", END)
child_graph = child.compile()

# Parent graph
class ParentState(TypedDict):
    my_key: str

def parent_1(state: ParentState) -> ParentState:
    # NOTE: child or grandchild keys won't be accessible here
    return {"my_key": "hi " + state["my_key"]}

def parent_2(state: ParentState) -> ParentState:
    return {"my_key": state["my_key"] + " bye!"}

def call_child_graph(state: ParentState) -> ParentState:
    child_graph_input = {"my_child_key": state["my_key"]}
    child_graph_output = child_graph.invoke(child_graph_input)
    return {"my_key": child_graph_output["my_child_key"]}

parent = StateGraph(ParentState)
parent.add_node("parent_1", parent_1)
# We're passing a function here instead of just a compiled graph (`child_graph`)
parent.add_node("child", call_child_graph)
parent.add_node("parent_2", parent_2)

parent.add_edge(START, "parent_1")
parent.add_edge("parent_1", "child")
parent.add_edge("child", "parent_2")
parent.add_edge("parent_2", END)

parent_graph = parent.compile()

for chunk in parent_graph.stream({"my_key": "Bob"}, subgraphs=True):
    print(chunk)

((), {'parent_1': {'my_key': 'hi Bob'}})
(('child:2e26e9ce-602f-862c-aa66-1ea5a4655e3b', 'child_1:781bb3b1-3971-84ce-810b-acf819a03f9c'), {'grandchild_1': {'my_grandchild_key': 'hi Bob, how are you'}})
(('child:2e26e9ce-602f-862c-aa66-1ea5a4655e3b',), {'child_1': {'my_child_key': 'hi Bob, how are you today?'}})
((), {'child': {'my_key': 'hi Bob, how are you today?'}})
((), {'parent_2': {'my_key': 'hi Bob, how are you today? bye!'}})

Add a graph as a node

When the parent graph and subgraph can communicate over a shared state key (channel) in the schema, you can add a graph as a node in another graph. For example, in multi-agent systems, the agents often communicate over a shared messages key.

If your subgraph shares state keys with the parent graph, you can follow these steps to add it to your graph:

1. Define the subgraph workflow (subgraph_builder in the example below) and compile it
2. Pass compiled subgraph to the add_node method when defining the parent graph workflow

from typing_extensions import TypedDict
from langgraph.graph.state import StateGraph, START

class State(TypedDict):
    foo: str

# Subgraph

def subgraph_node_1(state: State):
    return {"foo": "hi! " + state["foo"]}

subgraph_builder = StateGraph(State)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_1)
subgraph_builder.add_edge(START, "subgraph_node_1")
subgraph = subgraph_builder.compile()

# Parent graph

builder = StateGraph(State)
builder.add_node("node_1", subgraph)  
builder.add_edge(START, "node_1")
graph = builder.compile()

Full example: shared state schemas

from typing_extensions import TypedDict
from langgraph.graph.state import StateGraph, START

# Define subgraph
class SubgraphState(TypedDict):
    foo: str  # shared with parent graph state
    bar: str  # private to SubgraphState

def subgraph_node_1(state: SubgraphState):
    return {"bar": "bar"}

def subgraph_node_2(state: SubgraphState):
    # note that this node is using a state key ('bar') that is only available in the subgraph
    # and is sending update on the shared state key ('foo')
    return {"foo": state["foo"] + state["bar"]}

subgraph_builder = StateGraph(SubgraphState)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_1)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_2)
subgraph_builder.add_edge(START, "subgraph_node_1")
subgraph_builder.add_edge("subgraph_node_1", "subgraph_node_2")
subgraph = subgraph_builder.compile()

# Define parent graph
class ParentState(TypedDict):
    foo: str

def node_1(state: ParentState):
    return {"foo": "hi! " + state["foo"]}

builder = StateGraph(ParentState)
builder.add_node("node_1", node_1)
builder.add_node("node_2", subgraph)
builder.add_edge(START, "node_1")
builder.add_edge("node_1", "node_2")
graph = builder.compile()

for chunk in graph.stream({"foo": "foo"}):
    print(chunk)

{'node_1': {'foo': 'hi! foo'}}
{'node_2': {'foo': 'hi! foobar'}}

Add persistence

You only need to provide the checkpointer when compiling the parent graph. LangGraph will automatically propagate the checkpointer to the child subgraphs.

from langgraph.graph import START, StateGraph
from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import MemorySaver
from typing_extensions import TypedDict

class State(TypedDict):
    foo: str

# Subgraph

def subgraph_node_1(state: State):
    return {"foo": state["foo"] + "bar"}

subgraph_builder = StateGraph(State)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_1)
subgraph_builder.add_edge(START, "subgraph_node_1")
subgraph = subgraph_builder.compile()

# Parent graph

builder = StateGraph(State)
builder.add_node("node_1", subgraph)
builder.add_edge(START, "node_1")

checkpointer = MemorySaver()
graph = builder.compile(checkpointer=checkpointer)

If you want the subgraph to have its own memory, you can compile it with the appropriate checkpointer option. This is useful in multi-agent systems, if you want agents to keep track of their internal message histories:

subgraph_builder = StateGraph(...)
subgraph = subgraph_builder.compile(checkpointer=True)

View subgraph state

When you enable persistence, you can inspect the graph state (checkpoint) via the appropriate method. To view the subgraph state, you can use the subgraphs option.

You can inspect the graph state via graph.get_state(config). To view the subgraph state, you can use graph.get_state(config, subgraphs=True).

Viewing subgraph state requires that LangGraph can statically discover the subgraph — i.e., it is added as a node or invoked from a node function. It does not work when a subgraph is called inside a tool function or other indirection (e.g., the subagents pattern). Note that interrupts themselves still propagate to the top-level graph regardless of nesting.

View interrupted subgraph state

from langgraph.graph import START, StateGraph
from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import MemorySaver
from langgraph.types import interrupt, Command
from typing_extensions import TypedDict

class State(TypedDict):
    foo: str

# Subgraph

def subgraph_node_1(state: State):
    value = interrupt("Provide value:")
    return {"foo": state["foo"] + value}

subgraph_builder = StateGraph(State)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_1)
subgraph_builder.add_edge(START, "subgraph_node_1")

subgraph = subgraph_builder.compile()

# Parent graph

builder = StateGraph(State)
builder.add_node("node_1", subgraph)
builder.add_edge(START, "node_1")

checkpointer = MemorySaver()
graph = builder.compile(checkpointer=checkpointer)

config = {"configurable": {"thread_id": "1"}}

graph.invoke({"foo": ""}, config)
parent_state = graph.get_state(config)

subgraph_state = graph.get_state(config, subgraphs=True).tasks[0].state

# resume the subgraph
graph.invoke(Command(resume="bar"), config)

Stream subgraph outputs

To include outputs from subgraphs in the streamed outputs, you can set the subgraphs option in the stream method of the parent graph. This will stream outputs from both the parent graph and any subgraphs.

for chunk in graph.stream(
    {"foo": "foo"},
    subgraphs=True, 
    stream_mode="updates",
):
    print(chunk)

Stream from subgraphs

from typing_extensions import TypedDict
from langgraph.graph.state import StateGraph, START

# Define subgraph
class SubgraphState(TypedDict):
    foo: str
    bar: str

def subgraph_node_1(state: SubgraphState):
    return {"bar": "bar"}

def subgraph_node_2(state: SubgraphState):
    # note that this node is using a state key ('bar') that is only available in the subgraph
    # and is sending update on the shared state key ('foo')
    return {"foo": state["foo"] + state["bar"]}

subgraph_builder = StateGraph(SubgraphState)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_1)
subgraph_builder.add_node(subgraph_node_2)
subgraph_builder.add_edge(START, "subgraph_node_1")
subgraph_builder.add_edge("subgraph_node_1", "subgraph_node_2")
subgraph = subgraph_builder.compile()

# Define parent graph
class ParentState(TypedDict):
    foo: str

def node_1(state: ParentState):
    return {"foo": "hi! " + state["foo"]}

builder = StateGraph(ParentState)
builder.add_node("node_1", node_1)
builder.add_node("node_2", subgraph)
builder.add_edge(START, "node_1")
builder.add_edge("node_1", "node_2")
graph = builder.compile()

for chunk in graph.stream(
    {"foo": "foo"},
    stream_mode="updates",
    subgraphs=True, 
):
    print(chunk)

((), {'node_1': {'foo': 'hi! foo'}})
(('node_2:e58e5673-a661-ebb0-70d4-e298a7fc28b7',), {'subgraph_node_1': {'bar': 'bar'}})
(('node_2:e58e5673-a661-ebb0-70d4-e298a7fc28b7',), {'subgraph_node_2': {'foo': 'hi! foobar'}})
((), {'node_2': {'foo': 'hi! foobar'}})

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