A. Using a role prompt to configure a single function's scope ("you are a code reviewer, focus on X") - totally reasonable, leverages training
B. Building an elaborate multi-agent orchestration layer with hand-offs, coordination protocols, and framework abstractions on top of that
I'm not arguing against A. I'm arguing that B often adds complexity without proportional benefit, especially as models get better at long-context reasoning.
Fairly recent research (arXiv May 2025: "Single-agent or Multi-agent Systems?" - https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.18286) found that MAS benefits over single-agent diminish as LLM capabilities improve. The constraints that motivated swarm architectures are being outpaced by model improvements. I admit the field is moving fast, but the direction of travel appears to be that the better the models get, the simpler your abstractions need to be.
So yes, use roles. But maybe don't reach for a framework to orchestrate a PM handing off to an Engineer handing off to QA when a single context with scoped instructions would do.
