orchestration-patterns

name	Orchestration Patterns
description	This skill should be used when the user asks about "orchestration patterns", "plan-then-execute", "hierarchical decomposition", "blackboard pattern", "event sourcing pattern", "which pattern to use", "parallel execution strategies", or needs to select an orchestration approach for complex multi-agent tasks. Provides comprehensive guidance on 4 orchestration patterns for coordinating multiple agents.
version	1.0.0

Orchestration Patterns

Establish the appropriate multi-agent coordination strategy by selecting from four proven orchestration patterns based on task characteristics and requirements.

Pattern Selection Framework

Choose the orchestration pattern based on task complexity and coordination needs:

Pattern	Best For	Parallelism	State Management
Plan-then-Execute	Well-defined tasks with clear steps	Level-based	Centralized
Hierarchical Decomposition	Complex objectives requiring breakdown	Bottom-up aggregation	Tree-structured
Blackboard	Collaborative problem-solving	Concurrent contributions	Shared knowledge space
Event Sourcing	Audit trails and replay capability	Event-driven	Append-only log

Pattern 1: Plan-then-Execute (P-t-E)

The most common pattern for structured, multi-phase work. Generate a comprehensive plan, validate it, then execute systematically.

When to Use

• Tasks with clear, predictable phases
• Requirements are well-defined upfront
• Need for validation before execution
• Standard software development workflows

Execution Flow

1. Strategic Planning: Use master-strategist to analyze requirements
2. Plan Validation: Security, compliance, and architecture review
3. DAG Generation: Convert plan to directed acyclic graph
4. Parallel Execution: Execute independent nodes concurrently
5. Checkpoint Creation: Save state at each phase boundary
6. Dynamic Re-planning: Adapt when blockers encountered

Implementation

Phase 1: EXPLORE (2+ agents) → Analysis, research, context gathering
Phase 2: PLAN (1-2 agents) → Strategy, architecture, task breakdown
Phase 3: CODE (2-4 agents) → Implementation, parallel development
Phase 4: TEST (2-3 agents) → Unit, integration, E2E testing
Phase 5: FIX (1-2 agents) → Bug fixes, refinements
Phase 6: DOCUMENT (1-2 agents) → Documentation, knowledge transfer

Pattern 2: Hierarchical Decomposition

Recursively break down complex objectives into atomic, executable tasks with clear ownership.

When to Use

• Large, complex objectives
• Multiple independent workstreams
• Need for parallel team-like execution
• Tasks with natural hierarchical structure

Decomposition Strategy

1. Root Task: High-level objective
2. Level 1: Major components (max 5-7 subtasks)
3. Level 2: Detailed features (max 5-7 per parent)
4. Level 3: Implementation tasks (max 5-7 per parent)
5. Level 4-5: Atomic tasks (executable by single agent)

Depth Limits

• Maximum decomposition depth: 5 levels
• Maximum subtasks per node: 7
• Minimum agents for leaf execution: 1

Aggregation

• Bottom-up result collection
• Automatic parallelization at each level
• Parent waits for all children before completing

Pattern 3: Blackboard

Shared knowledge space where multiple agents contribute specialized knowledge collaboratively.

When to Use

• Complex problems requiring diverse expertise
• No predetermined solution path
• Emergent solutions from collaboration
• Knowledge synthesis across domains

Components

1. Blackboard: Shared data structure with current problem state
2. Knowledge Sources: Specialized agents contributing expertise
3. Control Shell: Orchestrator determining contribution order

Implementation

Blackboard State:
├── problem_description: string
├── hypotheses: Hypothesis[]
├── partial_solutions: Solution[]
├── constraints: Constraint[]
└── contributions: Contribution[]

Collaboration Flow

1. Initialize blackboard with problem description
2. Knowledge sources monitor blackboard for relevance
3. Agents contribute when they can add value
4. Control shell mediates conflicts
5. Solution emerges from accumulated knowledge

Pattern 4: Event Sourcing

Event-driven task coordination with complete audit trail and replay capability.

When to Use

• Audit requirements (SOC2, compliance)
• Need for time-travel debugging
• Replay and recovery scenarios
• Complex state reconstruction needs

Event Types

interface OrchestrationEvent {
  id: string;
  type: 'AgentSpawned' | 'PhaseTransition' | 'Checkpoint' | 'Error' | 'Recovery';
  timestamp: number;
  agentId?: string;
  payload: any;
}

Event Store

• Append-only log (no mutations)
• Events are immutable facts
• State reconstructed from event replay
• Support for temporal queries

Recovery Capabilities

• Reconstruct any historical state
• Replay from any checkpoint
• Debug by examining event sequence
• Automatic state recovery on failure

Pattern Combinations

Combine patterns for complex scenarios:

P-t-E + Hierarchical

Use Plan-then-Execute at the top level with Hierarchical Decomposition for implementation phases.

Blackboard + Event Sourcing

Shared knowledge space with complete audit trail of contributions.

Agent Layer Mapping

Map agents to appropriate layers based on pattern:

Layer	P-t-E Role	Hierarchical Role	Blackboard Role
Strategic	Plan generation	Root decomposition	Problem framing
Tactical	DAG scheduling	Level coordination	Contribution selection
Operational	Task execution	Leaf implementation	Knowledge contribution
Quality	Validation gates	Aggregation verification	Solution validation

Additional Resources

Reference Files

• references/pattern-details.md - Detailed implementation guides for each pattern
• references/pattern-selection.md - Decision tree for pattern selection

Examples

• examples/plan-execute-dag.json - Sample DAG for P-t-E pattern
• examples/hierarchical-tree.json - Sample decomposition tree