It has already been mentioned, that deliberative agents possess a) inherent image of an outer world and b) goal to achieve and is thus able to produce a list of actions (plan) to reach the goal. In unfavorable conditions, when the plan is no more applicable, agent is usually able to recompute it.
The process of plan computing (or recomputing) is as follows:[3]
a sensory input is received by the belief revision function and agent's beliefs are altered
option generation function evaluates altered beliefs and intentions and creates the options available to the agent. Agent's desires are constituted.
filter function then considers current beliefs, desires and intentions and produces new intentions
action selection function then receives intentions filter function and decides what action to perform
The deliberative agent requires symbolic representation with compositional semantics (e. g. data tree) in all major functions, for its deliberation is not limited to present facts, but construes hypotheses about possible future states and potentially also holds information about past (i.e. memory). These hypothetic states involve goals, plans, partial solutions, hypothetical states of the agent's beliefs, etc. It is evident, that deliberative process may become considerably complex and hardware killing.[4]