sadd:multi-agent-patterns

Multi-agent architectures distribute work across multiple agent invocations, each with its own focused context. When designed well, this distribution enables capabilities beyond single-agent limits. When designed poorly, it introduces coordination overhead that negates benefits. The critical insight is that sub-agents exist primarily to isolate context, not to anthropomorphize role division.

Multi-agent systems address single-agent context limitations through distribution. Three dominant patterns exist: supervisor/orchestrator for centralized control, peer-to-peer/swarm for flexible handoffs, and hierarchical for layered abstraction. The critical design principle is context isolation—sub-agents exist primarily to partition context rather than to simulate organizational roles.

Effective multi-agent systems require explicit coordination protocols, consensus mechanisms that avoid sycophancy, and careful attention to failure modes including bottlenecks, divergence, and error propagation.

Progetta architetture multi-agente per attività complesse. Da utilizzare quando vengono superati i limiti del contesto del singolo agente, quando le attività si scompongono naturalmente in sottoattività o quando la specializzazione degli agenti migliora la qualità. Fonte: neolabhq/context-engineering-kit.