subagents

Sub-agents

Sub-agents are agents that work under a supervisor agent to handle specific tasks. This architecture allows you to create agent workflows where each sub-agent focuses on a specific domain, coordinated by a supervisor.

Why Use Sub-agents?

• Task delegation: Assign specific tasks to agents configured for particular domains (e.g., coding, translation, data analysis)
• Workflow orchestration: Build multi-step workflows by delegating tasks to appropriate agents
• Code organization: Break down complex problems into smaller components
• Modularity: Add or swap agents without disrupting the entire system

Creating and Using Sub-agents

Creating Individual Agents

Create the agents that will serve as sub-agents:

import { Agent } from "@voltagent/core";

// Create an agent for content creation
const contentCreatorAgent = new Agent({
  name: "ContentCreator",
  instructions: "Creates short text content on requested topics",
  model: "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
});

// Create an agent for formatting
const formatterAgent = new Agent({
  name: "Formatter",
  instructions: "Formats and styles text content",
  model: "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
});

// Give sub-agents a concise purpose to control what the supervisor sees
const summarizerAgent = new Agent({
  name: "Summarizer",
  purpose: "Summarize long support tickets",
  instructions:
    "Read the conversation and produce a concise summary highlighting blockers and owners",
  model: "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
});

Creating a Supervisor Agent

Pass the agents in the subAgents array during supervisor initialization:

import { Agent } from "@voltagent/core";

const supervisorAgent = new Agent({
  name: "Supervisor",
  instructions: "Coordinates between content creation and formatting agents",
  model: "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
  subAgents: [contentCreatorAgent, formatterAgent, summarizerAgent],
});

:::tip Advanced Sub-agent Configuration By default, sub-agents use the streamText method. You can specify different methods like generateText, generateObject, or streamObject with custom schemas and options.