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Brainstorm (Round-Robin) Pattern

The brainstorm pattern puts multiple agents in a shared conversation where they take turns in a fixed, repeating order (round-robin), building on each other's messages.

Pattern Architecture

graph TD
    M[Chat Manager] --> A1[Agent A<br/>Product Manager]
    M --> A2[Agent B<br/>Designer]
    M --> A3[Agent C<br/>Engineer]
    A1 --> SC[Shared Conversation]
    A2 --> SC
    A3 --> SC
    SC --> M

    style M fill:#607D8B,color:white
    style A1 fill:#2196F3,color:white
    style A2 fill:#FF9800,color:white
    style A3 fill:#4CAF50,color:white

When to Use

  • The task benefits from multiple perspectives debating the same problem
  • Agents need to build on each other's ideas
  • You want predictable, democratic conversations where every voice is heard equally
  • Examples: brainstorming, collaborative planning, requirements gathering

When to Avoid

  • Agents don't need to see each other's output (use Concurrent)
  • Tasks have a clear linear flow (use Sequential)
  • You need dynamic routing (use Handoff)
  • You need iterative quality refinement (use Maker-Checker)

Context Passing Strategy

All agents share the same conversation thread — a single messages list that grows with every turn. This is the "shared memory" approach.

sequenceDiagram
    participant M as Manager
    participant PM as Product Manager
    participant D as Designer
    participant E as Engineer
    participant Conv as Shared Messages

    M->>PM: Your turn to speak
    PM->>Conv: "I think we should focus on..."
    M->>D: Your turn to speak
    Note over D,Conv: Designer sees PM's<br/>message in full history
    D->>Conv: "Building on that, the UX should..."
    M->>E: Your turn to speak
    Note over E,Conv: Engineer sees PM's AND<br/>Designer's messages
    E->>Conv: "Technically, we could implement..."

Why shared conversation?

  • Agents naturally build on each other's ideas
  • Context accumulates — later agents have richer information
  • Simulates a real team discussion

Trade-off: The message list grows with every turn, which can hit token limits in long discussions. For production systems, consider summarization between rounds.

What We're Building

Brainstorm Exercise

graph TD
    T[Topic: Mobile app<br/>idea for seniors] --> PM[Product Manager<br/>Business viability]
    T --> D[Designer<br/>UX and accessibility]
    T --> E[Engineer<br/>Technical feasibility]
    PM --> SC[Shared Conversation<br/>3 rounds × 3 agents]
    D --> SC
    E --> SC
    SC --> S[Summary of discussion]

    style PM fill:#2196F3,color:white
    style D fill:#FF9800,color:white
    style E fill:#4CAF50,color:white

Expected Console Output

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Group Chat: Brainstorm
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
[INFO] Topic: Design a mobile app for seniors

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Round 1 of 3
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
[INFO] [Product Manager] From a business perspective, the senior
       demographic is growing rapidly...
[INFO] [Designer] Accessibility is paramount. Large fonts, high
       contrast, simple navigation...
[INFO] [Engineer] We should consider offline capabilities and
       low bandwidth support...

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Round 2 of 3
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
[INFO] [Product Manager] Building on the accessibility points...

Ready to practice?

Continue with the hands-on exercise in the sidebar (✏️) to apply what you've learned.

Key Takeaways

  1. Round-robin = fixed, repeating turn order — predictable and democratic
  2. All agents share the same conversation thread — each sees the full history
  3. A chat manager controls turn order and termination
  4. Shared context enables agents to build on each other's ideas
  5. Watch token usage — shared conversations grow with every turn

References

Hands-On Exercise

Head to the Brainstorm exercise — PM, Designer, and Engineer debate a product idea in rounds.

You can run exercises from the terminal or use the Workshop TUI.