Tool
Agentic AIOrchestrationWorkflowsAI-Agents

Agentic AI Systems

Last updated December 2, 2025
Author:ThibautMelen

πŸ” Agentic systems explained with chickens. Workflows, agents & orchestration made simple. Mermaid diagrams included

Agentic AI Systems πŸ”

Agentic systems explained with chickens β€” because AI orchestration doesn't have to be scary

Main Agent spawns Subagents like a hen with her chicks πŸ”πŸͺΊπŸ¦

Claude Code Anthropic Research SuperNovae Awesome License PRs Welcome Mermaid

🧱 Foundations β€’ βš™οΈ Workflows β€’ πŸ‰ Agents β€’ πŸ› οΈ Implementation β€’ πŸ—ΊοΈ Guides


Overview

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#8b5cf6', 'primaryTextColor': '#fff', 'primaryBorderColor': '#7c3aed', 'lineColor': '#a78bfa', 'secondaryColor': '#ec4899', 'tertiaryColor': '#6366f1', 'noteTextColor': '#fff', 'noteBkgColor': '#8b5cf6', 'textColor': '#fff' }}}%%
mindmap
  root((πŸ” Agentic Systems))
    🧱 Foundations
      Augmented LLM
    βš™οΈ Workflows
      🏎️ Baseline
      ⛓️ Chaining
      🚦 Routing
      πŸ›€οΈ Parallel
      πŸ¦‘ Orchestrator
      🩻 Evaluator
    πŸ‰ Agents
      Autonomous
      Multi-Window
    πŸ› οΈ Implementation
      🐦 Subagent
      🦴 Command
      πŸ“š Skill
      πŸͺ Hook

πŸ—ΊοΈ Navigation

🧱 Foundations

The building block for everything

🧱 Augmented LLMLLM + Retrieval + Tools + Memory

βš™οΈ Workflows

Predefined orchestration β€” code controls the flow

#WorkflowUse When
0🏎️ BaselineSimple, 1-step task
1⛓️ Prompt ChainingSequential steps
2🚦 RoutingClassify & dispatch
3πŸ›€οΈ ParallelizationIndependent tasks
4πŸ¦‘ OrchestratorExpert delegation
5🩻 EvaluatorQuality iteration

πŸ‰ Agents

Dynamic autonomy β€” LLM controls the flow

AgentUse When
πŸ‰ AutonomousOpen-ended problems
πŸ–₯️ Multi-WindowCross-session state

πŸ› οΈ Implementation

Claude Code components & architecture

ComponentLocation
🐦 Subagent.claude/agents/*.md
🦴 Command.claude/commands/*.md
πŸ“š Skill.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md
πŸͺ Hook.claude/settings.json

πŸ—ΊοΈ Guides & πŸ“– Reference

ResourceDescription
Selection GuideChoose the right pattern
Use Cases6 validated examples
GlossaryA-Z definitions
Visual StandardsColors & emojis

Quick Decision

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {'lineColor': '#64748b'}}}%%
flowchart LR
    START((🎯 Task)) --> DEST{Destructive?}
    DEST -->|Yes| WIZ[πŸ§™ Wizard]
    DEST -->|No| COMP{Complex?}
    COMP -->|No| BASE[🏎️ Baseline]
    COMP -->|Yes| PRED{Predictable<br/>steps?}
    PRED -->|Yes| WORK{Need<br/>specialists?}
    PRED -->|No| AGENT[πŸ‰ Agent]
    WORK -->|No| CHAIN[⛓️ Chain]
    WORK -->|Yes| ORCH[πŸ¦‘ Orchestrator]

    classDef default fill:#f8fafc,stroke:#64748b,stroke-width:1px,color:#1e293b
    classDef decision fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#f59e0b,stroke-width:2px,color:#92400e
    classDef baseline fill:#64748b,stroke:#475569,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef wizard fill:#14b8a6,stroke:#0d9488,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef workflow fill:#8b5cf6,stroke:#7c3aed,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef agent fill:#ec4899,stroke:#db2777,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff

    START:::decision
    DEST:::decision
    COMP:::decision
    PRED:::decision
    WORK:::decision
    BASE:::baseline
    WIZ:::wizard
    CHAIN:::workflow
    ORCH:::workflow
    AGENT:::agent
Situation→ Use
Simple task (1 step)🏎️ Baseline
Sequential (2-4 steps)⛓️ Prompt Chaining
Categorize inputs🚦 Routing
Independent subtasksπŸ›€οΈ Parallelization
Multiple specialistsπŸ¦‘ Orchestrator-Workers
Quality iteration🩻 Evaluator-Optimizer
Open-ended / unknown stepsπŸ‰ Autonomous Agent
Destructive operationsπŸ§™ Wizard
Long-running (>10 min)πŸ–₯️ Multi-Window Context

Anthropic Taxonomy

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {'lineColor': '#64748b'}}}%%
flowchart LR
    subgraph WORKFLOWS["βš™οΈ WORKFLOWS"]
        direction TB
        W1[🏎️ Baseline]
        W2[⛓️ Prompt Chaining]
        W3[🚦 Routing]
        W4[πŸ›€οΈ Parallelization]
        W5[πŸ¦‘ Orchestrator]
        W6[🩻 Evaluator]
    end

    subgraph AGENTS["πŸ‰ AGENTS"]
        direction TB
        A1[πŸ‰ Autonomous]
        A2[πŸ–₯️ Multi-Window]
    end

    CODE[πŸ“ Code controls] --> WORKFLOWS
    WORKFLOWS --> LLM[🧠 LLM controls]
    LLM --> AGENTS

    classDef workflowBox fill:#ede9fe,stroke:#8b5cf6,stroke-width:2px,color:#5b21b6
    classDef agentBox fill:#fce7f3,stroke:#ec4899,stroke-width:2px,color:#9d174d
    classDef control fill:#f1f5f9,stroke:#64748b,stroke-width:1px,color:#475569

    WORKFLOWS:::workflowBox
    AGENTS:::agentBox
    CODE:::control
    LLM:::control

Key distinction: Workflows have predefined paths (code controls). Agents decide their own path (LLM controls).


Critical Rule

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {'lineColor': '#64748b'}}}%%
flowchart LR
    U1[πŸ™‹β€β™€οΈ User] -->|request| MA[πŸ” Main Agent]
    MA -->|πŸͺΊ spawn| SA1[🐦 Subagent]
    MA -->|πŸͺΊ spawn| SA2[🐦 Subagent]
    SA1 -->|result| MA
    SA2 -->|result| MA
    MA -->|response| U2[πŸ’β€β™€οΈ User]

    SA1 x--x|"❌ CANNOT spawn"| SA3[🐦]

    classDef user fill:#6366f1,stroke:#4f46e5,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef main fill:#f59e0b,stroke:#d97706,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef sub fill:#ec4899,stroke:#db2777,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef blocked fill:#ef4444,stroke:#dc2626,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff,stroke-dasharray: 5 5

    U1:::user
    U2:::user
    MA:::main
    SA1:::sub
    SA2:::sub
    SA3:::blocked

🐦 Subagents cannot spawn other 🐦 subagents. All delegation flows through πŸ” Main Agent.


Repository Structure

.
β”œβ”€β”€ README.md                      # 🏠 You are here
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ foundations/                   # 🧱 Core concepts
β”‚   └── augmented-llm.md
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ workflows/                     # βš™οΈ Predefined orchestration
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ 00-baseline.md
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ 01-prompt-chaining.md
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ 02-routing.md
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ 03-parallelization.md
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ 04-orchestrator-workers.md
β”‚   └── 05-evaluator-optimizer.md
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ agents/                        # πŸ‰ Autonomous systems
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ autonomous.md
β”‚   └── multi-window.md
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ implementation/                # πŸ› οΈ Claude Code specifics
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ components/                # πŸ¦πŸ¦΄πŸ“šπŸͺ
β”‚   └── architecture/              # 5-layer system
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ guides/                        # πŸ—ΊοΈ Selection & use cases
β”‚   └── use-cases/                 # 6 validated examples
β”‚
└── reference/                     # πŸ“– Glossary, standards

References

ResourceLink
Building Effective Agentsanthropic.com/engineering
Claude Code Docsdocs.anthropic.com
Agent SDKdocs.anthropic.com/agent-sdk
Anthropic Cookbookgithub.com/anthropics

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Requirements: Official sources β€’ Code examples β€’ Mermaid diagrams β€’ Established format


Built with Claude Code | Based on Anthropic documentation | 2025
Independent community resource β€” not affiliated with Anthropic


ThibautMelen  ❀️  SuperNovae Studio Β πŸ΄β€β˜ οΈ