Multi-agent coordination patterns: Five approaches and when to use them

A practical guide to five multi-agent coordination patterns: generator-verifier, orchestrator-subagent, agent teams, message bus, and shared state. Each pattern is explained with its mechanics, ideal use cases, and failure modes. Decision criteria help teams choose between patterns based on task independence, workflow predictability, context persistence needs, and whether agents need to share intermediate findings. The post recommends starting with orchestrator-subagent and evolving toward other patterns as specific bottlenecks emerge. Production systems often combine multiple patterns as building blocks.