Definition
Plain language
In a multi-agent system, an agent that many others depend on for shared work.
As stated in the literature
In an agent topology, a node serving as a coordination point or shared resource that multiple peer agents query or rely upon; failure modes include early termination while dependents remain.
Also called: hub agent
Why it matters: Hub-agents are single points of failure in multi-agent systems, so identifying them is essential for designing robust coordination.
For example, a 'librarian' agent that every other agent queries to fetch documents becomes a hub-agent whose crash leaves the rest of the team waiting forever.
Heard on the show
“… force the checker to pick a path before it can see which channel actually has a message — and the hub-agent-terminates-early problem, which is exactly what blew up your seven-agent example. …”Episode 034 — Catching Multi-Agent Deadlocks Before Deployment With a 40-Year-Old Tool