Debate Pattern: Multiple Agents Arguing Different Positions to Reach a Better Answer
~12 min read
Not one of the book's 7 named patterns, but a real, well-documented complementary technique: multiple agents argue distinct positions on a question, and either a judge agent or consensus resolves them to the strongest final answer.
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Key points
- •Debate is NOT one of the book's 7 named patterns — included as a real, documented complementary technique that doesn't contradict them
- •Multiple agents explicitly argue different (often opposing) positions, rather than one agent's answer being trusted at face value
- •Distinct from Aggregator: Aggregator blends independent opinions into consensus; Debate forces agents to argue against each other to expose weak reasoning
- •A judge agent (or further debate rounds) resolves the arguments into a final answer
- •Most valuable for genuinely contestable, judgment-heavy questions — considerably more expensive than a single-agent answer, so reserve it for decisions worth the cost