Planner-Driven vs Event-Driven Orchestration

Last updated: 2026-04-06

Quick answer

Planner-driven orchestration is usually better for governed, multi-step workflows. Event-driven orchestration is usually better for reactive, low-latency systems with independent triggers.

Decision criteria

Choose based on workflow predictability, approval requirements, acceptable latency, retry semantics, and observability needs across handoffs.

Planner-driven flows improve global coordination and traceability but add coordination overhead. Event-driven flows improve responsiveness and decoupling but can fragment state and increase debugging complexity.

When to choose option A (planner-driven)

Choose planner-driven when decisions depend on shared context, ordered steps, and explicit review gates before tool execution or external changes.

When to choose option B (event-driven)

Choose event-driven when triggers are independent, throughput is high, and fast localized reactions are more important than global sequencing.

Failure modes

Planner-driven systems fail when planners become bottlenecks; event-driven systems fail when event contracts drift and no single source of workflow truth remains.

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Common questions

What is planner-driven orchestration? A planner coordinates task sequencing from shared context and applies explicit quality or approval gates.

What is event-driven orchestration? Independent triggers activate agents directly, prioritizing responsiveness and loose coupling.