A2A (Agent-to-Agent)
A2A (agent-to-agent) communication is when one AI agent delegates tasks, shares context, or negotiates outcomes with another agent instead of only talking to the user.
Multi-agent products split research, coding, review, and execution into specialized agents that coordinate behind the scenes.
What it means
Agents pass messages, goals, or structured handoffs to peers (planner → researcher → writer) often via protocols, queues, or orchestration layers like MCP or custom APIs.
Why designers should care
Users need a simplified timeline of which agent did what, not a raw mesh of agent chatter. Surface roles, handoffs, failures, and final ownership clearly.
Example
A product brief flow shows Planner → Research agent → Draft agent → Review agent as a stepper; users can inspect each handoff packet and reject before publish.
Common mistakes
- • Exposing full agent-to-agent logs that read as noise to non-technical users.
- • Circular agent loops with no user-visible stop or cost cap.
- • Ambiguous accountability when multiple agents touch the same artifact.