# 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.

## How It Works

The pattern operates through three key steps:

1. **Analysis**: The system first analyzes an incoming query to determine its intent or nature
2. **Decision**: Based on this analysis, it dynamically directs the flow of control to the most appropriate specialized tool, function, or sub-agent
3. **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:

```bash
AGENTIC_DISABLE_SSL=1 bash run.sh
```

