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This guide focuses on multi-agent failure modes for production systems, with practical trade-offs for reliability, security, and cost.
Swarms fail in boring ways: two planners emit incompatible plans, two implementers open duplicate PRs, and nobody notices until review. Treat split-brain and duplication as first-class failure modes with detectors, not postmortems.
⚡ TL;DR: One active plan per run_id. Lease the implementer slot. Fingerprint PR titles/branches. Alert on divergent plan hashes for the same ticket.
multi-agent failure modes: production guidance
python
# detect/split_brain.py
def assert_single_plan(store, ticket_id: str, run_id: str):
plans = store.list_plans(ticket_id)
active = [p for p in plans if p.status == "active"]
if len(active) > 1:
raise RuntimeError(f"split_brain:{ticket_id}:{[p.hash for p in active]}")
if active and active[0].run_id != run_id:
raise RuntimeError("stale_run_holds_plan")
Duplicate PR detector
typescript
✅ Close or mark duplicates automatically; never merge both.
// detect/dupPr.ts
export function prFingerprint(title: string, files: string[]): string {
const norm = title.toLowerCase().replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
const f = [...files].sort().join("|");
return `${norm}::${f}`;
}
export function findDupes(open: { title: string; files: string[]; url: string }[]) {
const map = new Map<string, string[]>();
for (const p of open) {
const k = prFingerprint(p.title, p.files);
map.set(k, [...(map.get(k) || []), p.url]);
}
return [...map.values()].filter((v) => v.length > 1);
}
Leases for implementers
python
# lease.py
def acquire_implementer(redis, run_id: str, ttl=600) -> bool:
# ✅ SET NX EX — only one implementer mutates the branch
return bool(redis.set(f"lease:impl:{run_id}", "1", nx=True, ex=ttl))
Closing checklist
- [ ] Single active plan per ticket/run
- [ ] Implementer leases
- [ ] Duplicate PR fingerprints in CI
- [ ] Alarm on multiple active plans
- [ ] Cancel stale runs when a newer plan activates
Series navigation
Day 54: Specialist Tools per Agent · Day 56: Supervisor Patterns on Bedrock Agents Last updated September 11, 2026 Related: Multi-Agent Systems: How to Build Agent Teams That Do Not Hallucinate Each Other Into Failure; Day 51: Multi-Agent Roles: Planner, Implementer, Critic; Day 59: Multi-Agent Eval: Task Suites, Not Vibes.Watch: 100 Days of AI on YouTube
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