Agentic AI Systems 🐔
Agentic systems explained with chickens — because AI orchestration doesn't have to be scary
Main Agent spawns Subagents like a hen with her chicks 🐔🪺🐦
🦄 Foundations • ⚙️ Workflows • 🐔 Autonomous • 🛠️ Implementation • 🗺️ Guides
Overview
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mindmap
root((🐔 Agentic Systems))
🦄 Foundations
Augmented LLM
⚙️ Workflows
🏎️ Baseline
⛓️ Chaining
🚦 Routing
🛤️ Parallel
🦑 Orchestrator
🩻 Evaluator
🐔 Autonomous Agent
The Alternative
Multi-Window
🛠️ Implementation
🐦 Subagent
🦴 Command
📚 Skill
🪝 Hook
🗺️ Navigation
🦄 FoundationsThe building block for everything
⚙️ WorkflowsPredefined orchestration — code controls the flow
| 🐔 Autonomous AgentDynamic autonomy — LLM controls the flow
🛠️ ImplementationClaude Code components & architecture
🗺️ Guides & 📖 Reference
|
Quick Decision
%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {'lineColor': '#64748b'}}}%%
flowchart LR
START((🎯 Task)) --> DEST{Destructive?}
DEST -->|Yes| WIZ[🧙 Wizard]
DEST -->|No| COMP{Complex?}
COMP -->|No| BASE[🏎️ Baseline]
COMP -->|Yes| PRED{Predictable<br/>steps?}
PRED -->|Yes| WORK{Need<br/>specialists?}
PRED -->|No| AGENT[🐔 Autonomous]
WORK -->|No| CHAIN[⛓️ Chain]
WORK -->|Yes| ORCH[🦑 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 subtasks | 🛤️ Parallelization |
| Multiple specialists | 🦑 Orchestrator-Workers |
| Quality iteration | 🩻 Evaluator-Optimizer |
| Open-ended / unknown steps | 🐔 Autonomous Agent |
| Destructive operations | 🧙 Wizard |
| Long-running (>10 min) | 🖥️ Multi-Window Context |
Anthropic Taxonomy
%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {'lineColor': '#64748b'}}}%%
flowchart LR
subgraph WORKFLOWS["⚙️ WORKFLOWS"]
direction TB
W1[🏎️ Baseline]
W2[⛓️ Prompt Chaining]
W3[🚦 Routing]
W4[🛤️ Parallelization]
W5[🦑 Orchestrator]
W6[🩻 Evaluator]
end
subgraph AGENTS["🐔 AUTONOMOUS AGENT"]
direction TB
A1[🐔 The Alternative]
A2[🖥️ Multi-Window variant]
end
CODE[📝 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[🙋♀️ User] -->|request| MA[🐔 Main Agent]
MA -->|🪺 spawn| SA1[🐦 Subagent]
MA -->|🪺 spawn| SA2[🐦 Subagent]
SA1 -->|result| MA
SA2 -->|result| MA
MA -->|response| U2[💁♀️ 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 🐔 Main Agent.
Repository Structure
.
├── README.md # 🏠 You are here
│
├── foundations/ # 🦄 Core concepts
│ └── augmented-llm.md
│
├── workflows/ # ⚙️ Predefined orchestration
│ ├── 00-baseline.md
│ ├── 01-prompt-chaining.md
│ ├── 02-routing.md
│ ├── 03-parallelization.md
│ ├── 04-orchestrator-workers.md
│ └── 05-evaluator-optimizer.md
│
├── agents/ # 🐔 Autonomous Agent (the alternative)
│ ├── autonomous.md # The pattern
│ └── multi-window.md # Variant
│
├── implementation/ # 🛠️ Claude Code specifics
│ ├── components/ # 🐦🦴📚🪝
│ └── architecture/ # 5-layer system
│
├── guides/ # 🗺️ Selection & use cases
│ └── use-cases/ # 6 validated examples
│
└── reference/ # 📖 Glossary, standards
References
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Building Effective Agents | anthropic.com/engineering |
| Claude Code Docs | docs.anthropic.com |
| Agent SDK | docs.anthropic.com/agent-sdk |
| Anthropic Cookbook | github.com/anthropics |
Contributing
Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md.
Requirements: Official sources • Code examples • Mermaid diagrams • Established format