multi-agent-patterns

Multi-agent architectures distribute work across specialized LLM contexts using supervisor, peer-to-peer swarm, or hierarchical patterns. Each pattern handles task decomposition, routing, and coordination differently—supervisors centralize decisions, swarms coordinate through handoffs, hierarchical approaches delegate through layers—enabling capabilities beyond single-agent limits across isolated contexts.

Three core patterns structure multi-agent coordination: supervisor/orchestrator centralizes routing decisions, peer-to-peer swarm enables autonomous handoffs between agents, and hierarchical delegation chains tasks through levels. Each isolates context, implements consensus mechanisms, and handles synchronization and failures—choose based on whether you need centralized control, autonomous collaboration, or layered authority.

Use multi-agent architectures when tasks decompose into parallel subtasks, require specialized tool sets or domain expertise per agent, demand context isolation, or exceed a single agent's processing capacity. Multi-agent designs handle task complexity through explicit coordination protocols and handle failures robustly across distributed contexts.

Multi-agent patterns implement consensus mechanisms and synchronization protocols within coordination frameworks. Supervisor patterns use centralized decision logic, swarm patterns use peer handoffs, and hierarchical patterns use delegation chains—all require explicit context isolation and failure handling to ensure reliable coordination across agent interactions.

Yes. Task decomposition and routing are core features—supervisor/orchestrator patterns route tasks to specialized workers based on tool sets or domain requirements, while swarm and hierarchical patterns distribute work through peer handoffs or delegation chains. Context isolation ensures each agent operates independently with appropriate tool access.

Robust failure handling is built into multi-agent patterns through explicit synchronization and recovery protocols. Supervisors can reroute failed tasks, swarms can reassign work through handoff logic, and hierarchical systems can escalate or retry at delegation boundaries—each pattern requires failure strategies tailored to its coordination model.