---
title: "Pattern map · Agentic Atlas"
description: "A relationship map of the public catalog: every charted pattern, concept, and worked example, and how each Node sits against the ones around it."
canonical: "https://agentic-atlas.dev/atlas"
last-updated: "2026-09-23"
---

# Patterns in the Agentic Atlas

Field-tested patterns for designing agentic systems — the curated public slice of a private working corpus. A relationship map of the current public catalog.

[Prefer a text-first index? Every charted Node, in canonical order.](https://agentic-atlas.dev/tree)

1. concept
   [Foundations](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/foundations)
   the ideas every other pattern assumes, and the test for what belongs here
2. concept
   [Baseline Skill](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/baseline-skill)
   the simplest complete skill, and the starting shape later skill patterns build on
3. example
   [Tell Me a Joke](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/tell-me-a-joke)
   a real runnable skill (the artifact *is* the example)
4. concept
   [The Contract](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/contract-documentation)
   the agreement on an artifact's shape and use whenever one component hands it to another
5. example
   [The Shared Shape](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/shared-shape)
   two steps import one shared file defining what they send and return
6. concept
   [The Contract Keystone](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/the-contract-keystone)
   how contracts, cheap checks, and safe discards together make agent handoffs safe
7. example
   [No Duck Left Behind](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/no-duck-left-behind)
   a checker rejects a flawed duck list and sends its errors back for a retry
8. concept
   [LLM Dispatch](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/llm-dispatch)
   one LLM execution starting another, whether the parent waits, joins later, or never joins
9. concept
   [Statelessness](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/statelessness)
   the model keeps nothing between calls, so every turn re-sends and re-reads everything
10. concept
    [Effect Discipline](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/effect-discipline)
    which recovery moves an agent run's side effects still allow: discard, retry, or compensate
11. example
    [The Unsent Thunderstorm](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/unsent-thunderstorm)
    one rejected weather bulletin shows when to discard, retry, undo, or stop before acting
12. concept
    [Verification Asymmetry](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/verification-asymmetry)
    why checking an answer can be easier than producing it, and when that fails
13. concept
    [The Context Economy](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/context-economy)
    what each piece of context costs, in quality, dollars, and latency, and who pays
14. example
    [The Session Bill](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/session-bill)
    one agent session's token bill, recomputed six times with one decision changed each time
15. concept
    [Context Flow](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/context-flow)
    how context enters, stays in, and leaves a model's window, and how well it's recalled
16. concept
    [Momentum](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/momentum)
    how context already in the window steers the model along its current path
17. example
    [Same Shards, Fresh Window](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/same-shards-fresh-window)
    why a fresh prompt beats restating requirements inside a conversation gone wrong
18. concept
    [Context Efficiency](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/context-efficiency)
    how much task value you get for each unit of context spent
19. concept
    [Context Alignment](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/context-alignment)
    how well the available context fits the task at hand
20. pattern
    [Cost Relocation](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/cost-relocation)
    context that costs by its size on every turn but is only needed sometimes
21. example
    [One Guide, Three Bills](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/one-guide-three-bills)
    one guide loaded later or handed to a helper: one agent's cost versus the system's
22. pattern
    [Deferred Context](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/deferred-context)
    keeping a short pointer loaded and fetching bulky context only when a session needs it
23. pattern
    [Reference Data](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/reference-data)
    a reference corpus too big to load into the context window at any price
24. example
    [The Runbook Shelf](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/runbook-shelf)
    searching a runbook shelf too big for the context window instead of loading it whole
25. pattern
    [Subagent Offload](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/subagent-offload)
    handing work to a subagent so its material never fills the orchestrator's context
26. example
    [Parallel Audit Investigation](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/parallel-audit-investigation)
    a full investigation's working set stays in another agent's window; only its verdict returns
27. pattern
    [Heavy Agent](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/heavy-agent)
    subagents that carry heavy baked-in instructions the orchestrator never loads
28. example
    [The Docs Expert](https://agentic-atlas.dev/nodes/docs-expert-agent)
    an agent with large docs built in, so the orchestrator asks instead of loading them

Surveyed ground · 28 nodes charted edges from the current catalog revision

**Legend**  pattern · concept  example  roadmap  field note  parent / child  connection

[Not sure where to begin? Search for the situation you are in.](https://agentic-atlas.dev/search)

Every node drawn on the chart is fully written — the map only shows finished ground.