| name | multi-agent-rag-orchestration |
| title | Multi-Agent RAG Orchestration |
| description | Coordinate planner and specialist agents to decompose, retrieve, and synthesize complex RAG answers. |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Grep","Glob","Bash"] |
| category | rag-agents |
| tags | ["multi-agent","orchestration","planner","decomposition"] |
Overview
Multi-agent orchestration splits a complex question across specialized agents, such as a planner, one or more retrievers, and a synthesizer. Each agent owns a narrow job, and a coordinator sequences them and merges the results into a single grounded answer.
Problem Statement
Some questions require several independent lookups, cross-source reasoning, or distinct skills that a single prompt handles poorly. Cramming everything into one agent produces long, unfocused prompts and answers that quietly drop parts of the question.
Key Concepts
- Planner: Decomposes the query into ordered or parallel subtasks.
- Specialist agents: Narrowly scoped workers, such as per-source retrievers.
- Coordinator: Sequences agents, handles failures, and enforces limits.
- Synthesizer: Merges partial results into one grounded, cited answer.
Implementation Guide
Step 1: Decompose the Query
Have a planner break the question into subtasks that can be handled independently, with explicit dependencies where order matters.
Why: Clear decomposition prevents subtasks from overlapping or dropping parts of the original question.
Step 2: Assign Narrow Specialist Agents
Give each subtask to an agent with a single responsibility and only the tools it needs.
Why: Narrow scope keeps prompts short, decisions debuggable, and behavior predictable.
Step 3: Synthesize and Attribute
Merge partial answers in a synthesis step that resolves conflicts and preserves source citations.
Why: A dedicated synthesis step avoids contradictory fragments and keeps the final answer traceable.
For a worked pattern, see the Multi-Agent RAG example and the LangGraph multi-agent guide.
When to Use This Skill
- Questions need several independent lookups or cross-source reasoning
- Subtasks require distinct skills or tools that one agent handles poorly
- You need parallelism across retrievers to cut wall-clock latency
When NOT to Use This Skill
- Single-agent routing already answers the query well
- The added coordination cost and latency are not justified
- Subtasks are tightly coupled and cannot be cleanly separated
Related Skills
Metrics & Success Criteria
- Decomposition Quality: Subtasks fully cover the original question
- Answer Completeness: Multi-part questions are answered in full
- Latency: Parallel agents keep end-to-end time acceptable
- Traceability: Each answer segment maps back to a source