Orchestrator–workers
A coordinator splits the case into the sub-tasks the case itself defines, hands each to a worker, and assembles the result.
Category
How an agentic system works
Related terms
The orchestrator–workers pattern has one coordinator split a case into the sub-tasks that case itself defines, hand each to a worker, and assemble what comes back.
When it is the right shape
When the work cannot be listed in advance. A credit referral for a group of firms arrives with a different set of documents each time, so the coordinator plans one reading task per document instead of following a fixed list. If the sub-tasks are the same on every case, a fixed workflow or parallel checks are simpler and are used instead.
What keeps it reviewable
Each worker has its own narrow tools and read-only access by default, the coordinator has a limit on how many tasks it may create, and the assembled draft is checked against its sources before anyone relies on it. The SME credit referrals use case pairs it with check and revise for that reason.
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