Lesson 2 · 8 min
Orchestrator-Worker Pattern
One Claude routes subtasks to specialized subagents.
The orchestrator-worker pattern uses one Claude session as a router and multiple short-lived subagents as workers. The router reads the goal, decomposes it, dispatches subtasks, and stitches results.
Use it when subtasks are independent and parallelizable. Avoid it when subtasks share heavy context — pay the marshalling cost only if you save more in token reduction.
Quick check
Agentic ArchitectureSelect one
Which pattern is MOST appropriate when subtasks are independent and parallelizable but share little context?
