Engineering LLM-based Multi-Agent Systems: A Taxonomy of Emerging FrameworksShow others and affiliations
2026 (English)In: IEEE Software, ISSN 0740-7459, E-ISSN 1937-4194Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
LLM–based multi-agent systems (LMAS) are emerging as a promising paradigm, enabling specialized agents to collaborate and act autonomously across complex software engineering (SE) tasks. Yet, despite rapid progress, the field still lacks a clear conceptual foundation to guide researchers and practitioners in systematically designing, implementing, and evaluating such systems. This article introduces a taxonomy intended to provide practical guidance for integrating LMAS into software development workflows. Grounded in an analysis of prominent frameworks and scientific contributions for engineering LMAS, the taxonomy organizes the design space along five key dimensions offering a structured lens for understanding and engineering LMAS. Our analysis reveals substantial gaps in current frameworks, particularly regarding monitoring, performance evaluation, and quality assessment. These findings highlight pressing research challenges and identify concrete directions toward more reliable, transparent, and effective agentic systems for SE.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) , 2026.
Keywords [en]
Agents, Autonomous agents, Intelligent agents, Quality control, Software design, 'current, Complex software, Conceptual foundations, Design spaces, Development workflow, Engineering tasks, Key dimensions, Multiagent systems (MASs), Practical guidance, Scientific contributions, Multi agent systems
National Category
Software Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-77172DOI: 10.1109/MS.2026.3694089Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105039559287OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-77172DiVA, id: diva2:2065603
2026-06-032026-06-032026-06-03Bibliographically approved