Atlas › 03 Agentic Testing Architectures › The Orchestrator Pattern☰ Read as one page
The Orchestrator Pattern
4.1Why Single Agents Hit LimitsSingle agents hit limitations: they lose context over long sessions, they cannot parallelize, and they conflate generation with evaluation…4.2ArchitectureThe orchestrator: 1. Receives a feature specification or test plan 2. Analyzes it to determine which test types are needed 3. Delegates…4.3Implementation4.4Specialist Agent DesignEach specialist agent is optimized for its domain:4.5Orchestrator Communication ProtocolThe orchestrator and specialists communicate through structured messages:4.6The Pattern Gone Mainstream: Playwright Test AgentsThe orchestrator pattern is no longer something only in-house platform teams build. Since v1.56, Playwright ships Test Agents -- three…4.7When to Use the Orchestrator PatternBest for: - Multi-layer testing (UI + API + performance in one run) - Feature-level test orchestration (one feature, multiple test types)…4.8Orchestrator vs Manual Test Coordination4.9Key TakeawayThe Orchestrator pattern is the most predictable multi-agent architecture. It maps naturally to how QA teams already work (lead +…