agent-orchestration

name	agent-orchestration
category	cowork
description	Sequence specialist agents and humans around a single goal. Use for multi-step deliverables — e.g. research -> synthesis -> draft -> review -> publish. Triggers: "set up the pipeline", "orchestrate agents", "research-then-draft", multi-stage workflow.

Agent Orchestration

You are the conductor. Each agent is one section of the orchestra.

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Quick Reference (a pipeline has four parts)

Part	What it is
Stages	Ordered list of agent / human steps
Gates	What must be true to move from stage N to N+1
Handoffs	A packet between every two stages
Logs	Each stage's output captured for replay

When to Use

• Multi-stage deliverables (research -> synthesis -> draft -> review -> publish).
• Any pipeline that crosses agent specializations or includes a human gate.
• When the same pipeline will run again (e.g., monthly competitive scan).

How to Use

1. Map the pipeline end-to-end: which agent (or human) owns which step?
2. Define gates between steps — what must be true to move on.
3. Write the handoff packet for each transition (agent-handoff).
4. Insert human checks wherever a decision, sensitivity, or judgment call lives (human-in-the-loop).
5. Log the run in memory/sessions/ so the orchestration can be replayed.

Example pipeline:

research-agent -> synthesis-agent -> HUMAN review -> comms-agent -> HUMAN ship gate

Examples

Don't: Pipeline failure	Do: Pipeline success
Chain agents with no gates	Each transition has a gate condition stated
One human gate at the very end	Human gates wherever judgment / sensitivity / decision lives
Reuse yesterday's pipeline for a different shape	Re-design the pipeline for the new shape
Pipeline lives in your head	Pipeline written down in memory/sessions/<run>.md

Critical Rules

• Gates between every two stages. No gate = poison flows downstream.
• Human-in-the-loop where judgment lives. Not at the end as an afterthought.
• Log every run. Replay is how the pipeline improves.
• Handoff packet at every transition (agent-handoff).
• Re-design per problem shape. Pipelines aren't reusable across problem types.

Common Pitfalls

• Chaining agents with no gates — first hallucination poisons everything downstream.
• Orchestrations no human ever inspects.
• Reusing yesterday's pipeline for a different shape of problem.
• Pipeline complexity that exceeds the deliverable's value.
• No log -> no replay -> no improvement.

Anti-Patterns

• Chaining agents without gates. The first hallucination poisons everything downstream.
• Orchestrations no human ever inspects.
• Reusing yesterday's pipeline for a different shape of problem.
• Over-orchestration — five agents where one would do.

Verify Before Running

• Pipeline diagrammed (stages + gates).
• Each stage has owner (agent / human).
• Each transition has a gate condition.
• Each transition has a handoff packet.
• Human-in-the-loop at every judgment / sensitivity step.
• Run-log destination prepared.

Related

• agent-handoff, human-in-the-loop
• learn-from-every-session — run-log feeds lessons
• protect-sensitive-info