Lesson 640 of 1596
Multi-Agent Coordination Patterns: Orchestration vs Choreography
Multi-agent systems can be orchestrated (central coordinator) or choreographed (peer-to-peer). The choice shapes failure modes, observability, and operational complexity.
Creators · Agentic AI · ~24 min read
The premise
Multi-agent systems require explicit coordination patterns; the choice between orchestration and choreography shapes long-term operational characteristics.
What AI does well here
- Choose orchestration for use cases needing strong observability and centralized control
- Choose choreography for use cases needing scale, fault tolerance, and loose coupling
- Implement explicit handoff protocols between agents (not implicit through shared state)
- Build observability that traces requests across multi-agent boundaries
What AI cannot do
- Get distributed-systems benefits without distributed-systems complexity
- Substitute for clear ownership of each agent's behavior
- Avoid the operational cost of coordination (always present in some form)
Key terms in this lesson
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