botbook/src/06-gbdialog/keywords-multi-agent.md

Multi-Agent Keywords

This section covers keywords for building multi-agent systems where multiple specialized bots collaborate to handle complex tasks.

Overview

Multi-agent orchestration enables:

• Task specialization - Each bot focuses on what it does best
• Collaborative problem-solving - Bots work together on complex tasks
• Scalable architectures - Add new specialists without modifying existing bots
• Resilient systems - Failures are isolated and handled gracefully

Keyword Summary

Keyword	Syntax	Description
ADD BOT	ADD BOT "name" TRIGGER ON "keywords"	Add bot to session with triggers
DELEGATE TO BOT	result = DELEGATE "msg" TO BOT "name"	Send task to another bot
BROADCAST TO BOTS	BROADCAST "message" TO BOTS	Send message to all bots
TRANSFER CONVERSATION	TRANSFER CONVERSATION TO "botname"	Hand off conversation
BOT REFLECTION	BOT REFLECTION true	Enable agent self-analysis
BOT REFLECTION INSIGHTS	insights = BOT REFLECTION INSIGHTS()	Get reflection results

ADD BOT

Adds a bot to the current session with optional triggers, tools, and schedules.

' Add bot with keyword triggers
ADD BOT "billing-bot" TRIGGER ON "billing,invoice,payment"

' Add bot with tool access
ADD BOT "analyst-bot" TOOLS "calculate,forecast,report"

' Add bot with scheduled execution
ADD BOT "monitor-bot" SCHEDULE "0 */1 * * *"

' Add bot with multiple configurations
ADD BOT "support-bot" TRIGGER ON "help,support" TOOLS "ticket,escalate"

Trigger Types

Type	Description	Example
TRIGGER ON	Keyword-based activation	TRIGGER ON "billing,payment"
TOOLS	Tool-based activation	TOOLS "calculate,search"
SCHEDULE	Cron-based activation	SCHEDULE "0 9 * * *"

DELEGATE TO BOT

Sends a task to another bot and optionally waits for a response.

' Fire-and-forget delegation
DELEGATE "Process this order" TO BOT "order-processor"

' Get response from delegation
result = DELEGATE "Calculate ROI" TO BOT "finance-bot"
TALK "Result: " + result

' Delegation with timeout
result = DELEGATE "Analyze report" TO BOT "analyst-bot" TIMEOUT 60

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
message	String	Task or message to send
botname	String	Target bot name
TIMEOUT	Number	Optional timeout in seconds (default: 30)

BROADCAST TO BOTS

Sends a message to all bots in the current session.

' Notify all bots of an event
BROADCAST "New customer signup: " + customerid TO BOTS

' Emergency signal
BROADCAST "MAINTENANCE_MODE" TO BOTS

' Data update notification
BROADCAST "PRICE_UPDATE:" + JSON(prices) TO BOTS

TRANSFER CONVERSATION

Hands off the entire conversation to another bot. The current bot exits.

' Simple transfer
TALK "Let me connect you with our billing specialist."
TRANSFER CONVERSATION TO "billing-bot"

' Transfer with context
SET CONTEXT "issue" AS "refund request"
SET CONTEXT "amount" AS "$150"
TRANSFER CONVERSATION TO "refunds-bot"

' Conditional transfer
IF issueType = "technical" THEN
    TRANSFER CONVERSATION TO "tech-support-bot"
ELSE
    TRANSFER CONVERSATION TO "general-support-bot"
END IF

BOT REFLECTION

Enables agent self-analysis for continuous improvement.

' Enable reflection
BOT REFLECTION true

' Disable reflection
BOT REFLECTION false

' Monitor specific metric
BOT REFLECTION ON "conversation_quality"
BOT REFLECTION ON "response_accuracy"
BOT REFLECTION ON "user_satisfaction"

Reflection Metrics

Metric	Description
conversation_quality	Overall conversation effectiveness
response_accuracy	Correctness of responses
user_satisfaction	Estimated user satisfaction
tone_appropriateness	Whether tone matches context
resolution_rate	Whether issues were resolved

BOT REFLECTION INSIGHTS

Retrieves the results of reflection analysis.

' Get insights
insights = BOT REFLECTION INSIGHTS()

' Access properties
PRINT "Quality Score: " + insights.qualityScore
PRINT "Issues: " + insights.issuesCount

' Iterate suggestions
FOR EACH suggestion IN insights.suggestions
    PRINT "Suggestion: " + suggestion
NEXT suggestion

' Use for alerting
IF insights.qualityScore < 0.5 THEN
    SEND MAIL admin, "Low Quality Alert", insights.summary
END IF

Insights Object

Property	Type	Description
qualityScore	Number	Overall quality (0-1)
summary	String	Text summary
issues	Array	Identified issues
issuesCount	Number	Count of issues
suggestions	Array	Improvement suggestions
criticalIssues	Number	Critical problem count
timestamp	DateTime	When analyzed

Common Patterns

Router Pattern

A central bot routes queries to specialists.

' router-bot/start.bas
HEAR userquery

' Classify the query
category = LLM "Classify into: billing, technical, sales, general. Query: " + userquery

SWITCH category
    CASE "billing"
        result = DELEGATE userquery TO BOT "billing-bot"
    CASE "technical"
        result = DELEGATE userquery TO BOT "tech-bot"
    CASE "sales"
        result = DELEGATE userquery TO BOT "sales-bot"
    CASE ELSE
        result = LLM userquery
END SWITCH

TALK result

Expert Panel Pattern

Multiple bots provide perspectives.

question = "Should we expand into Europe?"

' Get multiple expert opinions
marketView = DELEGATE question TO BOT "market-analyst"
financeView = DELEGATE question TO BOT "finance-expert"
riskView = DELEGATE question TO BOT "risk-assessor"

' Synthesize
synthesis = LLM "Combine these expert views: " + marketView + financeView + riskView
TALK synthesis

Escalation Pattern

Automatic escalation when confidence is low.

' First-line bot
confidence = LLM "Rate confidence (0-100) for: " + userquery

IF confidence < 50 THEN
    TALK "Let me connect you with a specialist."
    SET CONTEXT "escalation_reason" AS "low_confidence"
    TRANSFER CONVERSATION TO "senior-support-bot"
ELSE
    response = LLM userquery
    TALK response
END IF

Configuration

config.csv Options

name,value
a2a-enabled,true
a2a-timeout,30
a2a-max-hops,5
a2a-retry-count,3
reflection-enabled,true
reflection-interval,10
reflection-min-messages,3

Option	Default	Description
a2a-enabled	true	Enable agent-to-agent communication
a2a-timeout	30	Default delegation timeout (seconds)
a2a-max-hops	5	Maximum delegation chain depth
a2a-retry-count	3	Retry attempts on failure
reflection-enabled	true	Enable bot reflection
reflection-interval	10	Messages between reflections

Best Practices

1. Use descriptive bot names - billing-bot not bot2
2. Set appropriate timeouts - Long tasks need longer timeouts
3. Handle failures gracefully - Always have fallback paths
4. Avoid circular delegation - Bot A → Bot B → Bot A
5. Keep chains short - Max 3-4 delegation hops
6. Log delegations - Helps debug multi-agent flows
7. Review reflection insights - Act on improvement suggestions

See Also

• ADD BOT - Detailed ADD BOT reference
• DELEGATE TO BOT - Delegation details
• BOT REFLECTION - Reflection details
• Multi-Agent Orchestration - Complete guide
• A2A Protocol - Protocol details