Understand agent orchestration

The Microsoft Agent Framework SDK’s agent orchestration framework makes it possible to design, manage, and scale complex multi-agent workflows without having to manually handle the details of agent coordination. Instead of relying on a single agent to manage every aspect of a task, you can combine multiple specialized agents. Each agent with a unique role or area of expertise can collaborate to create systems that are more robust, adaptive, and capable of solving real-world problems collaboratively.

By orchestrating agents together, you can take on tasks that would be too complex for a single agent—from running parallel analyses, to building multi-stage processing pipelines, to managing dynamic, context-driven handoffs between experts.

Why multi-agent orchestration matters

Single-agent systems are often limited in scope, constrained by one set of instructions or a single model prompt. Multi-agent orchestration addresses this limitation by allowing you to:

  • Assign distinct skills, responsibilities, or perspectives to each agent.
  • Combine outputs from multiple agents to improve decision-making and accuracy.
  • Coordinate steps in a workflow so each agent’s work builds on the last.
  • Dynamically route control between agents based on context or rules.

This approach opens the door to more flexible, efficient, and scalable solutions, especially for real-world applications that require collaboration, specialization, or redundancy.

Supported orchestration patterns

Microsoft Agent Framework provides several orchestration patterns directly in the SDK, each offering a different approach to coordinating agents. These patterns are designed to be technology-agnostic so you can adapt them to your own domain and integrate them into your existing systems.

  • Concurrent orchestration – Broadcast the same task to multiple agents at once and collect their results independently. Useful for parallel analysis, independent subtasks, or ensemble decision making.
  • Sequential orchestration – Pass the output from one agent to the next in a fixed order. Ideal for step-by-step workflows, pipelines, and progressive refinement.
  • Handoff orchestration – Dynamically transfer control between agents based on context or rules. Great for escalation, fallback, and expert routing where one agent works at a time.
  • Group chat orchestration – Coordinate a shared conversation among multiple agents (and optionally a human), managed by a chat manager that chooses who speaks next. Best for brainstorming, collaborative problem solving, and building consensus.
  • Magentic orchestration – A manager-driven approach that plans, delegates, and adapts across specialized agents. Suited to complex, open-ended problems where the solution path evolves.
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