Workflow Enforcement and Handoff: Worked Example — Agentic Architecture & Orchestration (Claude Certified Architect)

Workflow Enforcement and Handoff: A Worked Example Using Claude Agent SDK In the context of agentic architecture with the Claude Agent SDK, workflow...

Workflow Enforcement and Handoff: A Worked Example Using Claude Agent SDK

In the context of agentic architecture with the Claude Agent SDK, workflow enforcement and handoff are critical for ensuring that multi-step, multi-agent processes execute reliably and coherently. This worked example demonstrates how to design and implement a multi-agent workflow with enforced task decomposition, context passing, and programmatic handoff between agents.

Scenario Overview

Imagine a customer support system where a Coordinator Agent manages a workflow involving two Subagents: one for Issue Diagnosis and another for Solution Recommendation. The Coordinator enforces the workflow steps, ensuring that diagnosis completes before solution recommendation begins, and manages context passing between agents.

Step 1: Defining the Workflow and Task Decomposition

The Coordinator agent decomposes the overall task into two sequential subtasks:

Diagnose Issue: Subagent 1 analyzes customer input to identify the problem.
Recommend Solution: Subagent 2 suggests a resolution based on diagnosis.

This decomposition is explicitly programmed in the Coordinator’s logic to enforce order and correctness.

Step 2: Implementing Agentic Loops and Context Passing

Each Subagent runs an agentic loop where it autonomously processes its task. The Coordinator spawns Subagent 1 with the initial customer query as context.

Subagent 1 processes the query, generates a diagnosis, and returns results.
The Coordinator captures this output and passes it as context to Subagent 2.

This context passing ensures that Subagent 2 has the necessary information to proceed.

Step 3: Enforcing Workflow with SDK Hooks

The Claude Agent SDK provides hooks to intercept tool calls and enforce workflow rules programmatically. The Coordinator uses these hooks to:

Prevent Subagent 2 from starting before Subagent 1 completes.
Validate outputs at each step to ensure they meet expected criteria.
Handle errors or unexpected outputs by triggering fallback or retry mechanisms.

This enforcement guarantees that the workflow cannot be bypassed or corrupted.

Step 4: Managing Session State, Resumption, and Forking

The Coordinator maintains session state to track progress. If the workflow is interrupted, the system can:

Resume from the last successful step by restoring context.
Fork the session to explore alternative diagnoses or solutions without losing the original workflow.

This flexibility supports robust and adaptive multi-agent orchestration.

Worked Example: Step-by-Step Implementation

Problem: Implement a Coordinator agent that enforces a two-step customer support workflow using the Claude Agent SDK.

Solution:

Define the Coordinator agent logic: Program the sequential task decomposition and context management.
Spawn Subagent 1 (Diagnosis): Pass customer query as initial context.
Wait for Subagent 1 completion: Use SDK hooks to intercept completion event and validate output.
Pass diagnosis output to Subagent 2 (Recommendation): Spawn Subagent 2 with diagnosis context.
Enforce workflow order: Reject or delay any Subagent 2 actions before Subagent 1 completes.
Manage session state: Store outputs and progress checkpoints for resumption or forking.

By following these steps, the Coordinator ensures strict workflow enforcement and seamless handoff between agents, enabling reliable autonomous task execution in a multi-agent system.

More in this topic

Ready to test your knowledge?

Put what you've learned into practice with a quick quiz and track your progress.

Test your knowledge →