Phase 0: Why Multi-Agent, and the Primitives · ~60 minutes · Python (stdlib)

The Multi-Agent Primitive Model

Four primitives, nothing more — the agent, the handoff, the shared state, the orchestrator — span a four-dimensional design space, and the major multi-agent frameworks shipping in 2026 (AutoGen, LangGraph, CrewAI, OpenAI Agents SDK, Microsoft Agent Framework) are points in it.

Hiring signal: Can operate the multi-agent primitive model in production

Introduction

This lesson builds them from zero, runs a toy system on all four, then maps every major framework onto the same axes so you can read any new release in one paragraph.

Type: Learn Languages: Python (stdlib) Prerequisites: Phase 14 (Agent Engineering), Phase 16 · 01 (Why Multi-Agent) Time: ~60 minutes

Objective

Learning objectives

Unlock the full lesson

You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers The Problem, The Concept, Build, Check Yourself, Key Terms & Next — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.

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Key terms in this lesson

Agent