Definition

Multi-Agent System

A multi-agent system splits work across several specialized agents instead of one overloaded prompt. The book gives four patterns: supervisor, pipeline, swarm, and hierarchical, with most production systems being supervisor-based hybrids. Signals you need it: a contradictory system prompt, more than fifteen tools, or a context window that keeps filling. Its warning: teams go multi-agent too early, and every added agent adds latency, cost, and failure modes.