08 Agent Architectures

Phase 2 - Agent Core
Stage 8 of 14. Previous: Stage 7 - RAG and Memory. Next: Stage 9 - Building Agents.

Goal

Learn common agent architecture patterns and when each pattern is appropriate.

Learn

• ReAct agents
• RAG agents
• Routing and prompt chaining
• Planner-executor workflows
• Evaluator-optimizer loops
• DAG agents and tree-of-thought patterns
• When a simpler workflow is better than an agent

Build

Compare at least two architectures for the same task and document the tradeoffs in cost, quality, latency, and debuggability.

Exit Criteria

• You can avoid overbuilding when a single LLM call or fixed workflow is enough.
• You can choose an architecture based on task uncertainty and failure modes.
• You can explain the tradeoff between autonomy and control.

Checkpoint

Use the Stage 8 checkpoint before moving on.