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name: agentic-orchestration description: Defines the three-layer architecture for the "Agentic Framework" - a meta-layer that surrounds an Application Layer with a Skills Layer in between, providing production-grade controls for AI agents. Use this skill when designing, explaining, or implementing agentic systems that require robust orchestration, domain capabilities, and safety controls.

Meta-Skill: Agentic Orchestration

Overview

The architectural framework that surrounds your application, enabling agents to operate it.

Three layers:

• Framework (orange): Production-grade controls - stop hooks, circuit breakers, observability
• Skills (yellow): Your workflows, conventions, and tool configurations
• Application (grey): Your codebase - the system agents operate on

The Core Concept

The architecture consists of three distinct layers:

Copy┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           AGENTIC FRAMEWORK (Orange)                  │
│    Orchestration · Safety · Observability · Lifecycle │
│                                                       │
│   ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│   │           SKILLS LAYER (Yellow)               │   │
│   │   Domain knowledge · Workflows · Capabilities │   │
│   │                                               │   │
│   │   ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐   │   │
│   │   │       APPLICATION LAYER (Grey)        │   │   │
│   │   │   Database · APIs · Frontend · Backend│   │   │
│   │   └───────────────────────────────────────┘   │   │
│   │                                               │   │
│   └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                       │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Layer 1: Application Layer (Grey - Innermost)

The target system that agents build, maintain, or operate:

• Database & data stores
• Frontend & Backend
• APIs & Microservices
• Mobile Apps
• Testing Infrastructure
• Documentation
• Scripts & DevOps configurations

Layer 2: Skills Layer (Yellow - Middle)

The domain intelligence layer - the "missing middle" that makes agents actually useful:

• Domain Knowledge: Schemas, business logic, company-specific patterns
• Workflows: Multi-step procedures for specific tasks (PDF editing, deployments, code review)
• Tool Configurations: How to use specific APIs, libraries, or systems
• Bundled Resources: Scripts, templates, and assets for complex tasks

Skills are the interface between framework orchestration and application manipulation. They translate high-level agent intentions into domain-specific operations.

Examples: pdf-editor, bigquery, deploy-aws, brand-guidelines, api-helper

Layer 3: Agentic Framework (Orange - Outermost)

The control plane that enables safe agentic operation:

Key Capabilities:

• Production-Grade Controls: Stop hooks, circuit breakers, rate limiting
• Infrastructure Harness: Idempotency controls, distributed tracing, sandbox environments
• Lifecycle Management: Agent versioning, monitoring, and analytics
• Meta-Skills: Tools that create and manage the Skills Layer (e.g., skill-creator)

Why Three Layers?

The three-layer model solves a fundamental problem: agents need domain knowledge to be useful, but that knowledge shouldn't be baked into the control plane.

This separation enables:

• Independent evolution: Update skills without touching framework infrastructure
• Reusable skills: Same pdf-editor skill works across different applications
• Clear boundaries: Framework team focuses on safety, domain experts create skills

Framework Architecture

For detailed architectural patterns and component definitions, see: references/framework_architecture.md

Implementation Guide

When implementing this architecture, follow these core principles:

Layer Isolation

1. Framework ↔ Skills: The framework orchestrates skill execution but doesn't contain domain logic. Skills are loaded dynamically based on context.
2. Skills ↔ Application: Skills define how to interact with the application, but don't contain application state or business logic.
3. Failure boundaries: Each layer can fail independently without cascading. A skill error doesn't crash the framework; a framework restart doesn't corrupt application data.

Core Principles

1. Observability: Every action taken by an agent must be traced, logged, and reversible where possible.
2. Safety First: Implement "circuit breakers" that cut off agent access if error rates spike or destructive commands are attempted.
3. Progressive Enhancement: Start with minimal skills (Grade 1.2), add custom tools (Grade 1.3), then feedback loops (Grade 1.4).

Usage

Use this skill to:

• Architect new agentic systems: Reference the three-layer model for clear separation of concerns
• Design the Skills Layer: Identify what domain knowledge should be captured as reusable skills
• Audit existing systems: Check if skills are properly isolated from both framework and application
• Explain the pattern: Use the "Orange / Yellow / Grey" visual to explain agentic orchestration to stakeholders
• Plan migrations: Determine which grade level is appropriate based on skill complexity needed