| name | orchestration-patterns |
| description | Decision guide for selecting the right orchestration pattern for a process |
Orchestration Pattern Selection
Every process declares an orchestration: field in its process.md. This guide helps you choose the right pattern.
Terminology
- Slug: A short identifier for a process run instance (e.g.,
cycle-9, 2026-03-08-code-review). The slug is provided by the user or derived from the directive when the orchestrator creates the workspace.
Available Patterns
| Pattern | File | Orchestrator Role | Best For |
|---|
| hub-and-spoke | hub-and-spoke.md | Central orchestrator, all agents communicate through hub | Multi-agent pipelines with clear phases |
| discussion | discussion.md | Moderator, facilitates multi-agent discussion | Brainstorming, design review, multi-perspective analysis |
| solo | solo.md | Operator, single agent handles everything | Simple processes, single-skill tasks |
| sequential-agents | sequential-agents.md | Coordinator, explicit handoff between agents | Strict ordering, resource constraints, assembly-line work |
Decision Matrix
Start here:
-
How many agents does the process need?
- One agent: use solo
- Multiple agents: continue to question 2
-
Do agents need to discuss or debate?
- Yes, agents need multi-perspective synthesis: use discussion
- No, agents work on distinct phases: continue to question 3
-
Can phases run in parallel?
- Yes, I/O dependencies allow parallelism: use hub-and-spoke (default)
- No, strict linear ordering required: use sequential-agents
-
Still unsure?
- Default to hub-and-spoke. It handles both parallel and sequential phases, and the orchestrator can infer execution order from I/O dependencies.
Shared Lifecycle
All patterns share a common lifecycle protocol defined in lifecycle.md:
- Workspace creation, lifecycle task creation, status tracking format
- Ready-handshake protocol for agent spawn timing
- Shutdown sequence, completion gate, session continuity, resumability
Read lifecycle.md first, then the pattern-specific file for execution rules.
Pattern Details
hub-and-spoke.md — Spawn order, parallelism inference, error chain, gate protocol, intra-phase parallel dispatch
discussion.md — Moderator behavior, turn-taking, synthesis rules
solo.md — Single-agent operation, when to upgrade to multi-agent
sequential-agents.md — Handoff protocol, agent lifecycle (eager shutdown)
Overriding Defaults
A process can override pattern defaults in its process.md:
sequential: true forces linear execution even in hub-and-spoke
- Mode files (
modes/supervised.md, modes/autonomous.md) control gate behavior
- Error policy can be customized per-process (default is in hub-and-spoke.md)