A research task needs subtopics that are only known after an initial scan. Which pattern fits?
Why A is the answer
Orchestrator-workers
Orchestrator-workers lets a central model break the work down at run time and combine the results.
In detail
- The subtopics are unknown until the scan finishes, so the work cannot be planned in advance.
- In orchestrator-workers, a central model breaks the task down at run time and gives each part to a worker.
- The orchestrator then combines the workers' results.
- The orchestrator owns the final result, so it checks that the workers' results fit together.
Use case
An illustrative scenario, not a real incident.
An analyst asks for a market overview. Only after a first scan is it clear which competitors and regions matter. The orchestrator then creates one task for each, and it combines the workers' results into the report.
See it in different ways
flowchart TD
A{"Are the steps known?"} -->|Yes| B{"Does the input type change the path?"}
A -->|No| C["Orchestrator-workers or agent"]
B -->|Yes| D["Routing"]
B -->|No| E["Prompt chaining"]mindmap
root((Workflow patterns))
Fixed path
Prompt chain
One of several paths
Routing
Same task many times
Parallel
Path found at run time
Orchestrator workers
Quality loop
Evaluator optimizersequenceDiagram participant P0 as Orchestrator participant P1 as Worker A participant P2 as Worker B P0->>P0: Scan and list subtopics P0->>P1: Research subtopic A P0->>P2: Research subtopic B P1-->>P0: Findings P2-->>P0: Findings
Key point: Use orchestrator-workers when the subtasks appear at run time.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Parallel voting across several copies of the same fixed prompt
- Voting runs the same task several times for confidence. It does not divide new subtopics.
- C. Routing to one of a fixed set of specialist prompts chosen ahead of time
- Routing picks from paths that already exist, and these subtopics are not known ahead of time.
- D. Prompt chaining through a fixed list of research steps written in advance
- A prompt chain needs the list of steps in advance.