10.1 When a Multi-Agent Architecture Is Appropriate

10.1 When a Multi-Agent Architecture Is Appropriate

Quick Answer: Use a multi-agent architecture when one agent isn't enough. Signs include instructions that span many domains, routing that keeps breaking, or separately owned agents that must collaborate while customers use one front door. In Salesforce's Multi-Agent Orchestration for Agentforce, an orchestrator agent routes and delegates to connected subagents, which are complete, separate agents in the same org. Choose handoff mode when a specialist should talk to the user directly, and supervisor mode when the orchestrator must combine results from several agents.

Signs You've Outgrown a Single Agent

Salesforce describes scenarios that point to multiple agents:

• A great customer service agent now needs a new domain, such as field service.
• Several business units already run agents that now need to talk to each other.
• An instructions block covers many domains, and routing keeps breaking.

Without orchestration, users on a single chat channel must pick among a growing list of agents and repeat themselves when switching. Engineers must untangle complex routing when handoffs fail. Orchestration gives users a single front door with shared context.

When a single agent is still the better choice

Orchestrator Agents and Connected Subagents

Handoff Mode vs. Supervisor Mode

Agent Script for Connected Subagents

When you connect an agent as a subagent, the builder adds a connected_subagent block. Context moves between agents only through the inputs mapping:

connected_subagent CRM_Agent:
    label: "CRM_Agent"
    description: "Use this tool for any request about CRM information"
    loading_text: "Fetching CRM information..."
    inputs:
        EndUserLanguage: string = @variables.EndUserLanguage
        currentRecordId: string = @variables.currentRecordId

start_agent agent_router:
    model_config:
        model: "model://sfdc_ai__DefaultEinsteinHyperClassifier"
    reasoning:
        actions:
            go_to_crm: @utils.transition to @connected_subagent.CRM_Agent

Handoff-mode chaining with after_response:

after_response:
    if @variables.email_needed:
        transition to @connected_subagent.EmailAgent

Patterns include always chain, conditional chain, multi-branch, set the state then chain, and pipeline. Anything written after a transition to is silently skipped, so set variables before the transition. Missing inputs mapping is the usual dataflow error, because context doesn't flow automatically.

Escalation in Multi-Agent Solutions

A connected subagent's delegate_escalation switch decides whose escalation flow runs:

Authentication and Supported Combinations

Considerations and Limits

• Same org only. Orchestration isn't supported across multiple Salesforce orgs or with external non-Agentforce agents.
• One level of delegation from orchestrator to connected subagents.
• Timeouts: orchestrator 120 seconds (including delegation and synthesis); connected subagents 30 seconds.
• No enforced limit on connected subagents. Salesforce's testing found no latency impact with one orchestrator and 8 connected subagents, each with 8 subagents.
• Agentforce Voice isn't a supported configuration for this release.
• Variable mapping is one-directional, from orchestrator to connected subagents.
• Connect only active agents. New agent versions must be activated to be available, and a connected subagent can't be deactivated.
• Legacy-builder agents must be upgraded to the new builder first.
• File-based agents (for example SDR or Analytics) aren't supported in this release.

Design and Testing Tips

1. Pick the pattern first: handoff or supervisor.
2. Make connected subagents distinct. Overlapping descriptions cause inconsistent routing, and descriptions work like function signatures with explicit scope.
3. Design for reuse across business domains such as Sales, HR, and Finance.
4. Minimize latency: prefer handoff mode and streaming (both defaults), use the HyperClassifier for routing, and avoid redundant groundedness checks.
5. Test each agent in isolation, then run end-to-end integration tests. Testing Center's Agent Handoff Evaluation column shows whether the expected handoff occurred.