# Agent Design Patterns - Comprehensive Research Catalog

**Research Date**: September 2025
**Sources**: Academic literature, production frameworks, enterprise implementations
**Total Patterns**: 34 cataloged patterns across 6 categories

---

## **1. CLASSIC REASONING PATTERNS** (8 patterns)

### **Pattern AP-001: ReAct (Reasoning and Acting)**
- **Description**: Interleaved reasoning and acting cycles with observation
- **Implementation Complexity**: Medium (2-3 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Tool integration and decision tracking
- **Signature Integration**: `"task -> thought, action, observation, final_answer"`
- **Production Examples**: Customer service, research workflows, data analysis

**Expected Flow**:
```
Thought: I need to search for information about X
Action: search_tool("X information")
Observation: Found information about X...
Thought: Now I need to analyze this information
Action: analyze_tool(information)
Observation: Analysis shows...
Final Answer: Based on my research and analysis...
```

**Kaizen Implementation**:
```python
@kaizen.signature("task -> thought, action, observation, final_answer")
class ReactAgent:
    def reasoning_loop(self, task):
        # Iterative thought-action-observation cycle
        pass
```

### **Pattern AP-002: Chain-of-Thought (CoT)**
- **Description**: Step-by-step reasoning with explicit thought process
- **Implementation Complexity**: Low (1-2 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Explainable AI and audit trails
- **Signature Integration**: `"problem -> step1, step2, step3, final_answer"`
- **Production Examples**: Financial analysis, legal reasoning, medical diagnosis

### **Pattern AP-003: Tree of Thoughts (ToT)**
- **Description**: Branching exploration of multiple reasoning paths
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (3-4 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Complex decision making
- **Signature Integration**: `"problem -> exploration_tree, best_path, solution"`

### **Pattern AP-004: Self-Reflection**
- **Description**: Agent evaluates and corrects its own reasoning
- **Implementation Complexity**: Medium (2-3 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Quality assurance and error correction
- **Signature Integration**: `"initial_response -> reflection, correction, final_response"`

### **Pattern AP-005: Program-Aided Language Models (PAL)**
- **Description**: Generate and execute code for problem solving
- **Implementation Complexity**: Medium (2-3 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Automated code generation and validation
- **Signature Integration**: `"problem -> code, execution_result, interpretation"`

### **Pattern AP-006: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)**
- **Description**: Enhance generation with retrieved information
- **Implementation Complexity**: Medium (2-3 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Knowledge integration
- **Signature Integration**: `"query -> retrieved_docs, augmented_response"`

### **Pattern AP-007: Tool-Using Agents**
- **Description**: Agents that can discover and use external tools
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (3-4 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Extensible capabilities
- **Signature Integration**: `"task -> tool_selection, tool_usage, result_integration"`

### **Pattern AP-008: Memory-Augmented Agents**
- **Description**: Persistent memory across interactions
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (3-4 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Conversational AI and learning
- **Signature Integration**: `"input, memory_context -> response, updated_memory"`

---

## **2. MULTI-AGENT COORDINATION PATTERNS** (6 patterns)

### **Pattern MA-001: Multi-Agent Debate**
- **Description**: Multiple agents argue different perspectives to reach consensus
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (4-5 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Decision making and validation
- **Coordination Strategy**: Round-robin with moderator synthesis

**Expected Flow**:
```
1. Present decision problem to agent team
2. Agent A presents arguments for position X
3. Agent B presents arguments for position Y
4. Agent C presents arguments for position Z
5. Moderator synthesizes and makes decision
6. Full audit trail captured for compliance
```

### **Pattern MA-002: Supervisor-Worker Hierarchy**
- **Description**: Hierarchical task delegation and coordination
- **Implementation Complexity**: Medium (3-4 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Scalable task processing
- **Coordination Strategy**: Task queue with progress monitoring

### **Pattern MA-003: Consensus-Building Teams**
- **Description**: Agents collaborate to reach shared understanding
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (4-5 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Group decision making
- **Coordination Strategy**: Iterative proposal and refinement

### **Pattern MA-004: Producer-Consumer Pipelines**
- **Description**: Streaming data processing with agent specialization
- **Implementation Complexity**: Medium (3-4 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Data processing workflows
- **Coordination Strategy**: Queue-based with backpressure handling

### **Pattern MA-005: Specialized Domain Networks**
- **Description**: Agents with different domain expertise collaborate
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (5-6 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Expert system integration
- **Coordination Strategy**: Capability routing with expert selection

### **Pattern MA-006: Human-AI Collaborative Workflows**
- **Description**: Mixed human and AI agent teams
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (5-6 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Augmented decision making
- **Coordination Strategy**: Human-in-the-loop with escalation patterns

---

## **3. ENTERPRISE WORKFLOW PATTERNS** (6 patterns)

### **Pattern EW-001: Approval Workflows**
- **Description**: Multi-level approval with audit trails
- **Implementation Complexity**: Medium (3-4 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Critical - Compliance and governance
- **Signature Integration**: `"request -> analysis, recommendation, approval_decision"`

**Enterprise Requirements**:
- Complete audit trail for compliance
- Role-based access control integration
- Escalation and timeout handling
- Digital signature and non-repudiation
- Integration with enterprise identity systems

### **Pattern EW-002: Escalation Patterns**
- **Description**: Automatic escalation based on complexity or failure
- **Implementation Complexity**: Medium (2-3 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Risk management
- **Signature Integration**: `"issue -> severity_assessment, escalation_decision, action"`

### **Pattern EW-003: Audit and Compliance Workflows**
- **Description**: Automated compliance checking and reporting
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (4-5 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Critical - Regulatory compliance
- **Signature Integration**: `"activity -> compliance_check, risk_assessment, audit_report"`

### **Pattern EW-004: Multi-Tenant Isolation**
- **Description**: Secure separation of tenant data and operations
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (4-5 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Critical - SaaS and enterprise deployment
- **Signature Integration**: `"tenant_request -> isolation_check, processing, tenant_response"`

### **Pattern EW-005: Resource Allocation and Load Balancing**
- **Description**: Dynamic resource allocation across agent pools
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (5-6 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Scalability and cost optimization
- **Signature Integration**: `"workload -> resource_assessment, allocation_strategy, execution"`

### **Pattern EW-006: Performance Monitoring and Optimization**
- **Description**: Real-time performance monitoring with automatic optimization
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (5-6 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Production reliability
- **Signature Integration**: `"execution_metrics -> analysis, optimization_recommendations, adjustments"`

---

## **4. ADVANCED RAG PATTERNS** (5 patterns)

### **Pattern RAG-001: Multi-Hop Reasoning RAG**
- **Description**: Iterative retrieval with reasoning refinement
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (4-5 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Complex research and analysis
- **Signature Integration**: `"query -> initial_retrieval, reasoning, refined_query, final_retrieval, synthesized_answer"`

### **Pattern RAG-002: Self-Correcting RAG**
- **Description**: RAG with validation and error correction
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (4-5 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Quality assurance
- **Signature Integration**: `"query -> retrieval, initial_answer, validation, correction, final_answer"`

### **Pattern RAG-003: Federated RAG**
- **Description**: Distributed retrieval without data centralization
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (6-8 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Critical - Privacy and compliance
- **Signature Integration**: `"query -> federated_search, privacy_aggregation, secure_response"`

### **Pattern RAG-004: GraphRAG**
- **Description**: Knowledge graph integration with retrieval
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (6-8 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Complex knowledge synthesis
- **Signature Integration**: `"query -> graph_traversal, entity_retrieval, relationship_analysis, knowledge_synthesis"`

### **Pattern RAG-005: Agentic RAG**
- **Description**: RAG with agent-based reasoning and tool usage
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (6-8 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Intelligent research workflows
- **Signature Integration**: `"query -> retrieval_planning, multi_source_search, tool_integration, synthesized_insights"`

---

## **5. MCP INTEGRATION PATTERNS** (5 patterns)

### **Pattern MCP-001: Agent as MCP Server**
- **Description**: Expose agent capabilities as MCP tools
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (3-4 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Service-oriented architecture
- **Configuration**: Auto-exposure with authentication and monitoring

**Expected Configuration**:
```python
agent.expose_as_mcp_server(
    port=8080,
    auth_provider="enterprise_sso",
    tools=["analyze", "research", "summarize"],
    monitoring_enabled=True
)
```

### **Pattern MCP-002: Agent as MCP Client**
- **Description**: Agent consumes external MCP services
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (3-4 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - External integration
- **Configuration**: Auto-discovery with capability matching

### **Pattern MCP-003: Multi-Server Orchestration**
- **Description**: Coordinate across multiple MCP servers
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (5-6 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Distributed service integration
- **Configuration**: Service mesh with load balancing

### **Pattern MCP-004: Internal-External Coordination**
- **Description**: Mix of internal and external MCP servers
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (4-5 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Hybrid deployment
- **Configuration**: Service registry with discovery

### **Pattern MCP-005: Auto-Discovery and Dynamic Routing**
- **Description**: Automatic server discovery and intelligent tool routing
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (6-8 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Very High - Zero-configuration deployment
- **Configuration**: Capability-based routing with failover

---

## **6. ENTERPRISE COORDINATION PATTERNS** (4 patterns)

### **Pattern EC-001: Leader Election and Consensus**
- **Description**: Distributed consensus algorithms for agent coordination
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (6-8 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Distributed system reliability

### **Pattern EC-002: Circuit Breaker and Fault Tolerance**
- **Description**: Resilient agent coordination with failure handling
- **Implementation Complexity**: High (4-5 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Critical - Production reliability

### **Pattern EC-003: Event-Driven Multi-Agent Systems**
- **Description**: Event-based coordination with publish-subscribe
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (5-6 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: High - Scalable coordination

### **Pattern EC-004: Multi-Tenant Agent Coordination**
- **Description**: Secure agent coordination across tenant boundaries
- **Implementation Complexity**: Very High (6-8 weeks)
- **Enterprise Value**: Critical - SaaS deployment

---

## **PATTERN IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP**

### **Phase 1: Foundation Patterns (Months 1-2)**
1. **Chain-of-Thought** (AP-002) - Low complexity, high value
2. **Basic RAG** (AP-006) - Core retrieval capabilities
3. **Tool-Using Agents** (AP-007) - MCP foundation
4. **Memory-Augmented** (AP-008) - Conversation capabilities

### **Phase 2: Coordination Patterns (Months 3-4)**
5. **ReAct** (AP-001) - Advanced reasoning loops
6. **Multi-Agent Debate** (MA-001) - Decision making
7. **Supervisor-Worker** (MA-002) - Task delegation
8. **Approval Workflows** (EW-001) - Enterprise compliance

### **Phase 3: Advanced Patterns (Months 5-6)**
9. **Tree of Thoughts** (AP-003) - Complex reasoning
10. **Self-Reflection** (AP-004) - Quality assurance
11. **Consensus Building** (MA-003) - Group decisions
12. **Multi-Hop RAG** (RAG-001) - Advanced research

### **Phase 4: Enterprise Scale (Months 7-8)**
13. **Federated RAG** (RAG-003) - Privacy-preserving
14. **GraphRAG** (RAG-004) - Knowledge synthesis
15. **Agentic RAG** (RAG-005) - Intelligent research
16. **Auto-Discovery MCP** (MCP-005) - Zero-config deployment

---

## **IMPLEMENTATION DEPENDENCIES**

### **Core Infrastructure Required**:
- **Signature Programming System** - Foundation for all patterns
- **MCP First-Class Integration** - Tool usage and service exposure
- **Multi-Agent Coordination** - Communication and state management
- **Distributed Transparency** - Monitoring and audit capabilities
- **Enterprise Security** - Authentication, authorization, compliance

### **Pattern Interdependencies**:
- **Multi-Agent patterns** depend on basic agent patterns
- **Enterprise patterns** depend on security and monitoring
- **Advanced RAG** depends on basic RAG and tool integration
- **MCP patterns** depend on service discovery and coordination

This comprehensive catalog provides implementation-ready specifications for all 34 agent design patterns, enabling systematic development of Kaizen's complete capability suite.