Visualizing multi-agent communication: substrate-centric designs may break at scale
RulinShao · x · 2026-10-19
Zhenting Qi shared visualizations of communication patterns in multi-agent systems and a taxonomy: in agent-centric designs the coordination structure lives among agents, while in substrate-centric designs (e.g., shared context, shared filesystem) it lives in the artifacts agents produce. Qi notes substrate-centric approaches work at small scale but could break down as more agents join. Rulin Shao bets on systems giving agents more freedom to decide how to communicate and collaborate — even letting agents modify or create better coordination systems on the fly once safety controls improve.
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