Supervisor
A coordinating agent classifies incoming requests and routes each to the right specialised agent — each specialist runs its own multi-step loop with its own prompt, tools, and possibly model.
Intent & Description
🎯 Intent
Place a coordinating agent above a set of specialised agents and route work to them.
📋 Context
A mix of request types — billing questions, technical support, sales enquiries — each benefits from its own system prompt, tool palette, and possibly its own model. Each type is a multi-step interaction, not a single response, so a flat router is too coarse: the lanes want their own inner agent loop.
💡 Solution
A supervisor classifies requests and dispatches them to the appropriate specialised agent. Each specialist has its own prompt, tools, and possibly its own model. The supervisor may receive results back and decide whether to escalate or respond.
Real-world Use Case
- Different request types want their own loop, prompt, tools, and possibly model.
- A flat router would be too coarse because lanes need their own multi-step behaviour.
- A coordinating layer can dispatch and decide whether to escalate or respond.
Source
📌 TL;DR
Classify the request, dispatch to the right specialist — each lane runs its own multi-step loop with its own prompt and tools, the supervisor just routes and escalates.
Advantages
- Each lane can be tuned, tested, and deployed in isolation.
- Capability grows by adding new specialist lanes, not by enlarging one mega-prompt.
Disadvantages
- Multi-agent architecture before simpler patterns are working is premature — try a single agent first.
- Coordination failures between supervisor and specialists are often invisible until production.