Roles before tools
Shared intake routes events to the right manager. Specialists return through their manager; Secretary brings the verified results together.
System design · Multi-agent coordination
Many agents.
One clear next step.
I designed a system that turns academic and recruiting events into bounded tasks, verified records, and a digest I can act on. This walkthrough follows an illustrative recruiting event through the system.
Illustrative workflow · Fictional data
A workflow in motion
42 seconds · Captioned01 / 07
An event enters the system.
A shared Email Fetcher receives a recruiting event. Secretary does not read the raw inbox itself.
The design choices
Useful autonomy needs boundaries.
Drafts before actions
External actions need exact owner approval, manager authorization, and a runtime check. Missing permission keeps the action pending.
Records before memory
Separate domain workbooks and a shared Tasks hub keep responsibilities explicit. A confirmed result updates the record before it reaches the digest.
Read the walkthrough
- 0:00
An event enters the system.
A shared Email Fetcher receives a recruiting event. Secretary does not read the raw inbox itself.
- 0:06
Route only what matters.
Typed classification creates an Event Log entry. The domain and urgency decide which manager should receive it.
- 0:12
Give each agent a bounded job.
The Recruitment Manager routes work through its managers to specialists with a defined task and role-scoped permissions.
- 0:18
Return evidence, not just a reply.
Specialists update their own domain records and return receipts through their manager. Digest Delta captures what changed.
- 0:24
A draft can wait. A send needs GO.
The follow-up stays a draft until the owner approves the exact recipient and message. Missing approval blocks the send.
- 0:30
Permission is checked again.
An approved action also needs manager authorization and the runtime gate. Confirm the result independently before updating its status.
- 0:36
Many agents. One ranked digest.
Secretary combines verified records, Digest Delta, and manager summaries into priorities, evidence, and clear next actions.