---
term: "Multi-agent system"
category: "Agents and autonomy"
url: https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/multi-agent-system
source: AgenticOpenFinance glossary
---

# Multi-agent system

> Several agents that divide a task between them and exchange work through a protocol.

A multi-agent system is a set of agents that divide a task between them, for example one agent that plans a purchase, another that compares offers and another that handles payment. The agents exchange tasks and results through a protocol such as Agent2Agent, often without seeing each other's internal logic. Each hand-off is a point where authority, identity and logging must be carried forward, or the chain of responsibility breaks.

Related terms: [Agent2Agent protocol (A2A)](https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/agent2agent-protocol.md), [A2A task](https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/a2a-task.md), [Agent card](https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/agent-card.md), [Token exchange](https://agenticopenfinance.com/glossary/token-exchange.md)