Workflow Design Patterns
Master proven patterns for designing scalable, maintainable agent workflows
Your Progress
0 / 5 completedKey Takeaways & Summary
You've explored how workflow design patterns provide proven solutions to common orchestration challenges. From fan-out for parallelism to event-driven flows for loose coupling to hierarchical structures for managing complexity—you now have a toolkit of patterns to draw from when designing agent systems.
Patterns are Proven Solutions
Workflow patterns capture years of collective experience. Using established patterns saves time and reduces risk compared to designing from scratch.
Fan-Out Maximizes Parallelism
Distribute work to multiple agents, process concurrently, then aggregate results. Essential for high-throughput systems with independent tasks.
Map-Reduce for Distributed Processing
Specialized fan-out pattern: map chunks to processors, shuffle by key, reduce to final results. The foundation of big data systems.
Events Enable Loose Coupling
Event-driven architectures decouple publishers from subscribers. Add/remove components without changing core logic—highly maintainable and scalable.
Async Beats Sync for Workflows
Event-driven flows are inherently asynchronous. Don't block waiting for responses—let components react independently and in parallel.
Hierarchies Scale Complexity
Manager-coordinator-worker structures mirror organizational hierarchies. Each level abstracts complexity from the level above.
Balance Depth and Breadth
Shallow hierarchies (few levels) communicate faster but risk manager overload. Deep hierarchies (many levels) add coordination overhead. Find the balance.
Combine Patterns for Real Systems
Real workflows mix patterns: hierarchical structure with event-driven communication, fan-out within pipeline stages, etc. Be flexible and pragmatic.
Pattern Selection Depends on Context
Task independence → fan-out. Loose coupling → events. Complex systems → hierarchical. Analyze your requirements before choosing patterns.
Patterns are Templates, Not Rules
Adapt patterns to your needs. The "hierarchical pattern" doesn't dictate exact structure—it provides a mental model you customize for your domain.
What You've Learned
✓Three major pattern categories: structural, behavioral, and distributed
✓Fan-out/fan-in pattern for parallelizing independent tasks
✓Map-reduce specialization for distributed data processing
✓Event-driven architecture with publish-subscribe pattern
✓Hierarchical patterns for managing organizational complexity
✓How to select appropriate patterns based on requirements
💡 Final Insight
Patterns accelerate development, but understanding beats memorization. Don't just copy pattern implementations—understand why they work, when they apply, and how to adapt them. The best workflow designers know the patterns but aren't bound by them. They mix, modify, and invent when needed, guided by principles rather than rigid templates.
Pattern Selection Quick Reference
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