Agents Working Together › When to Use Multiple Agents

Multi-agent systems are powerful, but they're not always the right choice. Here's how to decide:

Use multiple agents when:

• Tasks have distinct, separable concerns (research vs. writing vs. editing)
• Different parts need different tools or knowledge bases
• You want parallel processing for speed
• You need checks and balances (one agent generates, another reviews)
• You're building a system that will grow and need new capabilities over time

Stick with a single agent when:

• The task is straightforward and doesn't benefit from specialization
• Coordination overhead would outweigh the benefits
• You need the simplest possible solution
• The task requires maintaining context that would be hard to share between agents

Think of it like deciding whether to work alone or form a team. For writing a quick email, you work alone. For producing a documentary, you need a team with different skills.