Practical overview
When it fits
Use it during architecture planning when designing a multi-agent system from the ground up or considering how to extend an existing agent service.
Who it is for
- Software architects familiar with agentic services
- Software engineers with experience building and deploying agents
- Data scientists involved in agentic-service design and development
Documented uses
- Plan how specialized agents coordinate to solve complex tasks.
- Extend an existing single-agent service toward a multi-agent architecture.
- Organize design decisions around agent registry, memory and inter-agent communication.
- Consider operational and organizational controls through observability, evaluation, security and governance guidance.
Requirements & limits
The repository is public and lists an MIT license.
- The guide is described as agnostic across technology stacks and frameworks, but its recommendations are also opinionated.
- The README expects readers to be familiar with agentic-service design and development.
- The repository lists Python as its primary language, while describing the project itself as a conceptual guide with practical resources rather than an agent implementation.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Explore the multi-agent reference architecture
Use the guide’s chapters to examine architecture and operational design concerns for systems of specialized agents.
Before you start
- Familiarity with agentic-service design and development.
- Experience building and deploying agents.
Steps
Open the repository README.
For an overview, follow the Introduction, Building blocks, and Design options chapters listed in the README.
Consult the Reference Architecture chapter for the architecture reference.
Use the listed Agents registry, Memory, Agents communication, Observability, Evaluation, Security, and Governance chapters to explore those concerns.
Expected outcome
A structured route through the reference architecture and its listed design topics.
Guide limitations
- This is a conceptual guide with practical resources, not an implementation of an individual agent.
- The guidance is intentionally broad and technology-stack agnostic; the README notes that the field is evolving.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 15 October 2026
- Original website title
- microsoft/multi-agent-reference-architecture · Official homepage title · retained in its source language