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In Microsoft Agent Framework, a triage agent routes customer conversations to billing…
Study guide skill: Implement orchestrated multi-agent solutions
Question B4-023
In Microsoft Agent Framework, a triage agent routes customer conversations to billing, technical, or returns specialists. Once a conversation is routed, the specialist must take full ownership of the task with the full context so far, and control shouldn't return to the triage agent. Which pattern fits?
Select one answer.
Answer: B
In handoff orchestration, the receiving agent takes full ownership of the task and gets the whole conversation with full context, with no central authority managing the flow. With agent-as-tools, the primary agent delegates subtasks and control returns to it, so it keeps ownership. Concurrent runs agents in parallel on the same task, and sequential runs them in a fixed order.
Deep dive
How it works
Agent Framework has five built-in multi-agent orchestrations: sequential (one after another in a defined order), concurrent (in parallel), handoff (agents transfer control to each other based on context), group chat (collaboration in a shared conversation) and magentic (a manager agent coordinates specialists).
The handoff page compares handoff with the agent-as-tools pattern, and the comparison matches the triage scenario point by point:
- Task ownership: in handoff, the agent receiving the handoff takes full ownership of the task. In agent-as-tools, the primary agent keeps overall responsibility, and the other agents are tools for subtasks.
- Context: in handoff, the conversation is handed off entirely, and the receiving agent has full context of what has been done so far. In agent-as-tools, the primary agent manages the context and might pass only the relevant parts.
- Control flow: handoff has no central authority managing the workflow. In agent-as-tools, control returns to the primary agent when each subtask is done.
Handoff relationships are configurable, for example whether user responses return to the agent that asked or route through the start agent, so you can keep specialists from bouncing back to triage.
The other options, and when you'd use them
- Sequential: Agents run one after another in a fixed order, which doesn't fit routing to one of three specialists by context.
- Agent-as-tools: The triage agent would keep ownership, and control would return to it after each subtask, the opposite of the requirement.
- Concurrent: All agents work on the same task in parallel, instead of one specialist taking over.
Exam tip
Specialist takes over with full context, no return = handoff. Primary agent stays in charge and delegates = agent-as-tools.
References
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