Architecture
The Agent Swarm Protocol is designed with modularity and flexibility in mind, allowing agents to work together regardless of their implementation details.
System Overview
┌─────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ Client Apps │◄────────►│ Orchestrator │◄────────►│ Agents │
│ │ │ │ │ │
└─────────────────┘ └───────────────────┘ └─────────────────┘
▲ ▲ ▲
│ │ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌───────────────────┐ │
│ │ │ │
└────────────────────►│ Agent SDK │◄───────────────┘
│ │
└───────────────────┘
The architecture consists of four main components:
- Orchestrator: The central hub that routes tasks and messages
- Agents: Specialized components that perform specific tasks
- Client Applications: End-user applications that interact with the agent swarm
- SDK: A unified interface for connecting to the orchestrator
Core Components
Orchestrator
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Orchestrator │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐ │
│ │ WebSocket │ │ Task Router │ │
│ │ Server │◄──────►│ │ │
│ └─────────────┘ └────────────────────┘ │
│ ▲ ▲ │
│ │ │ │
│ ▼ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Connection │ │ Agent Registry │ │
│ │ Manager │ │ │ │
│ └─────────────┘ └────────────────────┘ │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The orchestrator is responsible for:
- Managing WebSocket connections from clients and agents
- Routing tasks to appropriate agents based on capabilities
- Maintaining a registry of connected agents and their capabilities
- Handling timeouts and errors in the task execution process
Agents
Agents are specialized components that register with the orchestrator and process specific task types. Each agent:
- Has unique capabilities and task handlers
- Can execute tasks and return results
- Can communicate with other agents via the orchestrator
- Maintains its own internal state and logic
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Agent │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │
│ │ Connection │ │ Task Handlers │ │
│ │ Client │◄────►│ │ │
│ └─────────────┘ └────────────────┘ │
│ ▲ ▲ │
│ │ │ │
│ ▼ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │
│ │ Message │ │ Internal Logic │ │
│ │ Handler │ │ │ │
│ └─────────────┘ └────────────────┘ │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
SDK
The SDK provides a consistent interface for both client applications and agents to interact with the orchestrator. It includes:
- Connection management to the orchestrator
- Task creation and sending
- Base classes for agent implementation
- Helper utilities for common tasks
Communication Flow
Task Execution Flow
┌────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌───────┐
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ Client │────►│ Orchestrator│────►│ Agent │────►│Result │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
└────────┘ └─────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └───────┘
│ ▲ │
│ │ │
│ │ │
└─────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────┘
Task Lifecycle
- Task Creation: A client creates a task with a type and data
- Task Routing: The orchestrator routes the task to an appropriate agent
- Task Execution: The agent processes the task using its internal logic
- Result Return: The result is sent back through the orchestrator to the client
Agent-to-Agent Communication
┌────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌────────────┐
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ Agent A │────►│ Orchestrator│────►│ Agent B │
│ │ │ │ │ │
└────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └────────────┘
▲ │
│ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
Message Exchange
Agents can communicate with each other by:
- Sending Tasks: An agent can send a task to another agent through the orchestrator
- Direct Messaging: Agents can exchange messages directly through the orchestrator
- Shared State: In some cases, agents may access shared state maintained by the orchestrator
Scalability Considerations
The Agent Swarm Protocol architecture supports scalability in several ways:
- Horizontal Scaling: Multiple instances of the same agent type can be connected to handle increased load
- Agent Specialization: Complex problems can be broken down into smaller tasks handled by specialized agents
- Stateless Orchestrator: The core orchestrator has minimal state, allowing for clustered deployment
- Distributed Processing: Tasks can be processed in parallel by different agents
Security Model
The Agent Swarm Protocol includes several security features:
- Authentication: Agents and clients can authenticate with the orchestrator
- Authorization: Task execution can be restricted based on capabilities and permissions
- Isolation: Agents operate independently, limiting the impact of compromised agents
- Message Validation: All messages are validated before processing
Implementation Stack
The reference implementation of the Agent Swarm Protocol is built on:
- Node.js: For the orchestrator and agent runtime
- WebSocket: For real-time communication between components
- TypeScript: For type safety and code organization
- Jest: For testing the implementation
However, the protocol itself is language-agnostic, and implementations can be created in any language that supports WebSockets.