Multi Advisor
Orchestrates intelligent skill selection and execution for multi advisor workflows. Applies the 5 Laws of Elegant Defense to guide data naturally through the orchestration pipeline, preventing errors before they occur. Selects optimal skills based on multi-factor scoring including text similarity, historical performance, and system availability.
TL;DR Checklist
- Parse all inputs at boundary before processing (Law 2)
- Handle edge cases with early returns at function top (Law 1)
- Fail immediately with descriptive errors on invalid states (Law 4)
- Return new data structures, never mutate inputs (Law 3)
- Implement minimum 2-level fallback chain for all skill executions
- Log all skill selections with context for full audit trail
- Validate skill metadata and dependencies before selection
- Update confidence scores after each execution for learning
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Orchestration Flow │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
User Request ↓ ┌─────────────────┐ │ Parse Request │ │ & Extract │ │ Features │ └────────┬────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Evaluate Available Skills │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ Skill A │ │ Skill B │ │ Skill C │ │ │ │ - Match Score│ │ - Match Score│ │ - Match Score│ │ │ │ - Confidence │ │ - Confidence │ │ - Confidence │ │ │ │ - History │ │ - History │ │ - History │ │ │ └──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────┴─────────────────┘ │ │ ↓ │ │ Select Best Skill │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────┐ │ Execute Skill │ └────────┬────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────┐ │ Handle Result │ └────────┬────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Error Handling & Fallback │ │ │ │ Success? ────────► Return Result │ │ │ │ Fail? ────────┐ │ │ ↓ │ │ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Fallback Chain │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 1. Retry with adjusted parameters │ │ │ │ 2. Try Alternative Skill (if available) │ │ │ │ 3. Defer to Human Operator (if critical) │ │ │ │ 4. Log & Return Error │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Orchestrating multi-step workflows that require skill delegation
- Implementing adaptive skill routing based on confidence scores
- Building fallback mechanisms for failed skill executions
- Creating intelligent task decomposition and parallel execution
- Designing skill dependency graphs with automatic resolution
- Implementing skill selection with historical performance weighting
- Building agent systems that need to self-organize around tasks
When NOT to Use
Avoid this skill for:
- Direct task execution without orchestration needs - use individual skills instead
- High-frequency trading scenarios where latency must be minimized - the selection overhead may be prohibitive
- Simple linear workflows without branching or fallback requirements
- Cases where skill metadata is unavailable or unreliable
Core Workflow
Parse and Analyze Request - Extract intent, entities, and constraints from user input. Checkpoint: All required parameters must be present and in valid format before proceeding.
Score Available Skills - Calculate match scores using multi-factor algorithm:
- Text similarity between request and skill triggers
- Historical success rate for similar tasks
- Skill availability and health status
- Required dependencies and their availability
Checkpoint: Skip to fallback if no skill scores above threshold.
Select Optimal Skill - Choose skill with highest score that meets minimum confidence. Checkpoint: Verify skill has not been disabled or deprecated.
Execute with Fallback - Run skill execution wrapped in retry and fallback logic. Checkpoint: Log all execution attempts for audit trail.
Return or Fallback - Either return successful result or apply fallback chain:
- Retry with adjusted parameters
- Try alternative skill from
related-skills - Defer to human operator for critical tasks
Checkpoint: Record outcome with timing and confidence metadata.
Implementation Patterns
Pattern 1: Skill Selection Logic
def route_to_best_advisor(
task_context: Dict[str, Any],
advisor_registry: List[Dict[str, Any]],
min_confidence: float = 0.75
) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
"""Route a task to the most suitable advisor using multi-factor scoring.
Implements Law 1 (Early Exit) and Law 2 (Parse at boundary):
- Validates task context and registry upfront
- Computes weighted scores without mutating inputs
"""
if not task_context.get("intent") or not advisor_registry:
raise ValueError("Task intent and advisor registry are required")
task_features = _extract_intent_features(task_context["intent"])
scored_advisors = []
for advisor in advisor_registry:
if not advisor.get("active"):
continue
similarity = _cosine_similarity(task_features, advisor["trigger_vectors"])
historical_success = advisor.get("success_rate", 0.0)
availability_score = 1.0 if advisor.get("health") == "healthy" else 0.3
# Multi-factor weighted scoring
composite_score = (
0.4 * similarity +
0.35 * historical_success +
0.25 * availability_score
)
if composite_score >= min_confidence:
scored_advisors.append({
"advisor_id": advisor["id"],
"name": advisor["name"],
"confidence": round(composite_score, 3),
"factors": {"similarity": similarity, "history": historical_success, "availability": availability_score}
})
if not scored_advisors:
return None
# Atomic Predictability (Law 3) - Return new sorted list
scored_advisors.sort(key=lambda x: x["confidence"], reverse=True)
return scored_advisors[0]
Pattern 2: Execution with Fallback
def execute_advisor_with_resilience(
selected_advisor: Dict[str, Any],
task_payload: Dict[str, Any],
fallback_advisors: List[Dict[str, Any]],
max_retries: int = 2
) -> Dict[str, Any]:
"""Execute the selected advisor with automatic fallback chaining.
Implements Law 4 (Fail Fast/Loud) and fallback orchestration:
- Validates payload before dispatch
- Retries on transient failures, falls back to secondary advisors
- Returns structured execution metadata
"""
if not _validate_payload(task_payload, selected_advisor["schema"]):
raise ExecutionError(f"Payload validation failed for {selected_advisor['name']}")
execution_log = []
current_advisor = selected_advisor
for attempt in range(max_retries + 1):
try:
response = _dispatch_to_advisor(current_advisor, task_payload)
# Success path - Atomic result construction
return {
"status": "success",
"advisor_used": current_advisor["name"],
"result": response["data"],
"confidence": current_advisor["confidence"],
"attempts": attempt + 1,
"latency_ms": response["latency_ms"],
"log": execution_log
}
except TransientNetworkError as e:
execution_log.append(f"Attempt {attempt+1} failed: {str(e)}")
if attempt == max_retries:
break
continue
except AdvisorSpecificError as e:
# Fail fast on invalid state - do not retry
raise ExecutionError(f"Invalid state in {current_advisor['name']}: {e}") from e
# Fallback chain execution
for fallback in fallback_advisors:
try:
execution_log.append(f"Falling back to {fallback['name']}")
response = _dispatch_to_advisor(fallback, task_payload)
return {
"status": "fallback_success",
"advisor_used": fallback["name"],
"result": response["data"],
"confidence": fallback["confidence"],
"attempts": max_retries + 1,
"latency_ms": response["latency_ms"],
"log": execution_log
}
except Exception as e:
execution_log.append(f"Fallback {fallback['name']} failed: {str(e)}")
raise ExecutionError(f"All advisors and fallbacks exhausted for task: {task_payload.get('id')}")
MUST DO
- Always validate skill metadata before selection (Early Exit)
- Implement fallback chain with at least 2 levels (Fallback Skill + Human)
- Log all skill selections with full context for auditability
- Return new data structures instead of mutating inputs (Atomic Predictability)
- Fail immediately with descriptive errors on invalid states
- Update confidence scores after each execution for adaptive routing
- Reference
code-philosophy(5 Laws of Elegant Defense) in all logic
MUST NOT DO
- Select skills based on a single factor (e.g., only confidence score)
- Disable fallback mechanisms "temporarily" - this creates fragile systems
- Skip validation of skill dependencies before execution
- Return partial results - either complete success or clear failure
- Use magic numbers for confidence thresholds - make them configurable
- Cache skill selections without considering context changes
TL;DR Checklist
- Parse all inputs at boundary before processing (Law 2)
- Handle edge cases with early returns at function top (Law 1)
- Fail immediately with descriptive errors on invalid states (Law 4)
- Return new data structures, never mutate inputs (Law 3)
- Implement minimum 2-level fallback chain for all skill executions
- Log all skill selections with context for full audit trail
- Validate skill metadata and dependencies before selection
- Update confidence scores after each execution for learning
TL;DR for Code Generation
- Use guard clauses - return early on invalid input before doing work
- Return simple types (dict, str, int, bool, list) - avoid complex nested objects
- Cyclomatic complexity < 10 per function - split anything larger
- Handle null/empty cases explicitly at function top (Early Exit)
- Never mutate input parameters - return new dicts/objects
- Fail fast with descriptive errors - don't try to "patch" bad data
- Reference code-philosophy laws in comments for complex logic
- Include timing and confidence metadata in all return values
Output Template
When applying this skill, produce:
- Selected Skills - List of skill names with confidence scores
- Selection Rationale - Why each skill was chosen (match score, history, availability)
- Execution Plan - Order of execution with dependencies
- Fallback Strategy - Which fallback skills will be tried and in what order
- Risk Assessment - Any potential failure points and their impact
- Timing Estimates - Expected latency including fallback scenarios
Related Skills
| Skill | Purpose |
|---|---|
multi-agent-patterns |
Higher-level multi-agent orchestration and coordination patterns |
agent-evaluation |
Evaluating advisor quality and cross-advisor consensus |
Constraints
MUST DO
- Define clear input/output contracts for every step in the orchestration flow with explicit validation
- Implement structured logging at each stage capturing context, inputs, outputs, timing, and errors
- Build in fallback paths: if the primary strategy fails, degrade gracefully to a simpler approach
- Validate all preconditions before starting — do not proceed if required resources or permissions are missing
MUST NOT DO
- Do not create deep nesting of orchestration steps (>5 levels) — flatten workflows where possible
- Avoid silent failure modes: every step must either succeed, fail explicitly, or escalate to a higher handler
- Never use shared mutable state between parallel workflow branches — communicate via immutable messages only
- Do not hardcode execution order when the dependency graph naturally determines it; derive order from explicit dependencies
Live References
Authoritative documentation links for this skill's domain. The model follows markdown links at load time to resolve external references and inline content.