Level 4 — Multi-Agent Pattern: A Manager Coordinates Sub-Agents
~12 min read
A manager agent coordinates multiple sub-agents, deciding the next step iteratively. The human lays out the hierarchy and roles up front; the LLM now controls the actual execution flow across multiple agents, not just a single tool call.
Level 4 — Multi-Agent Pattern: A Manager Coordinates Sub-Agents is a Pro topic
Sign in, then upgrade to Pro or Power to unlock this topic and the full AI Engineering curriculum.
Key points
- •A manager agent coordinates multiple sub-agents, deciding the next step iteratively rather than a human hardcoding the sequence
- •A human defines the hierarchy, roles, and available tools per sub-agent up front — the LLM controls the actual execution flow within that structure
- •This is a real step beyond single-agent tool calling — an entire multi-step, multi-agent process is orchestrated by the model itself
- •New complexity at this level: sub-agent failures, growing coordination overhead, and harder debugging across multiple LLM-driven decisions
- •Worth the complexity for tasks that genuinely decompose into distinct specialized roles, not as a default over simpler levels