Module Check: Systems That Run Themselves
You have covered a lot of ground in this module. You started by asking when one agent is not enough, explored the power of specialists and supervisors, learned how agents communicate through handoffs and messages, traced work through workflows and pipelines, studied the triggers that start automation, and confronted the failure modes that make robust design essential. This final lesson pulls everything together into one comprehensive review and challenge.
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
Module Review Questions
A software company uses an AI system where Agent A writes code, Agent B tests it, Agent C documents it, and Agent D reviews security vulnerabilities — all coordinated by a supervisor. What type of system is this?
The supervisor agent sends a task to the Writing Agent but forgets to include the target audience and word count limit. The Writing Agent produces a 2,000-word essay for experts, when a 300-word summary for middle schoolers was needed. Which part of the handoff failed?
An e-commerce site automatically sends a shipment confirmation email the instant a customer's order status changes to 'shipped.' What type of trigger does this workflow use?
An automated system detects a network error and retries endlessly for six hours, making 100,000 failed attempts and generating enormous costs. What safeguard would have prevented this?
A news workflow researches five story topics and then combines them into one edition. The research phase runs all five research agents at the same time. What architecture pattern is the research phase using?
Match each module concept to the one-sentence definition that best describes it.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Synthesis Challenge
Systems That Run Themselves — Final Synthesis
- You are the lead AI systems designer for a city's public library. The library director asks you to design an automated multi-agent system that runs a weekly 'New Arrivals Digest' — a newsletter delivered every Monday morning to all library card holders, summarizing new books, new digital resources, and upcoming events, personalized by each reader's borrowing history.
- Using everything you learned in this module, complete the following:
- PART 1 — ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW: Describe your multi-agent system in 3-5 sentences. Name the supervisor agent and at least four specialist agents. Explain which architecture pattern (sequential pipeline, parallel fan-out, or supervisor loop) you use for the main workflow and why.
- PART 2 — TRIGGER SPECIFICATION: Describe the trigger. Is it event-based, schedule-based, or a combination? Write the trigger specification precisely.
- PART 3 — HANDOFF DESIGN: Choose the handoff between two specific agents in your system. Write out the complete handoff message — what the sending agent passes, what context is included, and what instructions the receiving agent gets.
- PART 4 — FAILURE MODE AND SAFEGUARD: Identify the single most dangerous failure mode in your system (the one that would cause the worst outcome for library readers). Describe the safeguard you would put in place and why it addresses that specific risk.
- PART 5 — REFLECTION: In two to three sentences, explain what you would do differently if the library director said: 'The newsletter must be perfect — I want a human to review it before it goes out.' How does this change your architecture?