Routing Pattern

Overview

The Routing Pattern provides a standardized solution for building intelligent, context-aware agent systems by introducing conditional logic into an agent's operational framework.

Architecture

---
title: Routing — Domain-Specific Handlers
---
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flowchart LR
    Q([user request])
    R([response])

    Cls{classifier<br/>LLM}

    subgraph handlers ["specialist handlers"]
        B[booking_handler]
        I[info_handler]
        U[unclear_handler]
    end

    Q --> Cls
    Cls -- "booking" --> B
    Cls -- "info" --> I
    Cls -- "unclear" --> U
    B & I & U --> R

How It Works

The pattern operates through three key steps:

Analysis: The system first analyzes an incoming query to determine its intent or nature
Decision: Based on this analysis, it dynamically directs the flow of control to the most appropriate specialized tool, function, or sub-agent
Execution: The selected component handles the request using domain-specific logic

Routing Methods

The routing decision can be driven by various approaches:

LLM-based routing: Prompting language models to classify intent
Rule-based routing: Applying predefined conditional logic
Semantic routing: Using embedding-based similarity matching
Hybrid approaches: Combining multiple methods for robust decision-making

Key Benefits

Flexibility: Transforms static, predetermined execution paths into dynamic workflows
Context awareness: Selects the best possible action based on current state and input
Scalability: Easily add new specialized handlers without modifying core logic
Maintainability: Separates routing logic from handler implementation

When to Use This Pattern

Rule of Thumb: Use the Routing pattern when an agent must decide between multiple distinct workflows, tools, or sub-agents based on user input or current state.

Ideal Use Cases

Customer support systems: Distinguish between sales inquiries, technical support, and account management
Multi-domain chatbots: Route queries to specialized knowledge bases (HR, IT, Finance)
Intent-based workflows: Direct users to booking, information retrieval, or troubleshooting flows
Triage systems: Classify and prioritize incoming requests by urgency or category
API orchestration: Select the appropriate backend service based on request type

When NOT to Use

Single-purpose agents with one clear workflow
Simple sequential processing without branching logic
Systems where all requests follow identical paths

Implementation Considerations

Classification accuracy: Ensure routing decisions are reliable and well-tested
Fallback handling: Always include a default path for unclear or ambiguous inputs
Performance: Consider caching routing decisions for similar queries
Observability: Log routing decisions for debugging and optimization
Error handling: Gracefully handle failures in individual handlers

Example Architecture

User Input → Router (Intent Classification) → Handler Selection → Execution → Response
                                            ↓
                                    [Booking Handler]
                                    [Info Handler]
                                    [Support Handler]
                                    [Default Handler]

Related Patterns

Chain of Thought: For sequential reasoning before routing
Tool Use: For executing specialized actions after routing
Orchestration: For coordinating multiple agents post-routing

This pattern is essential for building sophisticated agent systems that can intelligently handle diverse user needs.

Corporate SSL proxy note

If you're behind a corporate SSL-inspecting proxy, run examples with:

AGENTIC_DISABLE_SSL=1 bash run.sh

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