Video Processing Architecture AGENTS.md Template

Overview

Direct answer: This AGENTS.md Template governs a video processing architecture that uses single-agent and multi-agent orchestration to manage video ingestion, encoding, transcription, metadata enrichment, QA, and handoffs between agents. It provides explicit roles, memory, and governance rules to ensure auditable, scalable operation for AI coding agents operating on video pipelines.

When to Use This AGENTS.md Template

• Document a video processing pipeline that involves multiple agents across ingestion, encoding, metadata, QA, and validation.
• Establish a repeatable operating model for single-agent and multi-agent orchestration with clear handoffs.
• Govern tool access, secrets, and production interactions in a reproducible, auditable way.
• Provide project-level operating context that teams can copy into an AGENTS.md file for new pipelines.

Copyable AGENTS.md Template

# AGENTS.md

Project: Video Processing Architecture

Agent roster and responsibilities:
- Planner: defines goals and success criteria for the video pipeline (ingest & encoding to transcript and QA).
- Ingestor: handles video ingestion, validation, format checks, and source metadata capture.
- Encoder: performs encoding to target formats/profiles, preserving quality and metadata.
- Transcriber: generates transcripts and captions with synchronization to video timelines.
- Metadata Specialist: enriches metadata (title, description, tags, rights) from content and external sources.
- Validator: verifies outputs against schema, quality metrics, and compliance rules.
- Orchestrator: coordinates tasks, enforces sequence, and manages inter-agent handoffs and memory.
- Domain Specialist (as needed): provides expertise on content domain, standards, or compliance.

Supervisor or orchestrator behavior:
- The Orchestrator maintains a central memory store, triggers tasks in sequence, and routes failures to escalation. It enforces idempotent operations and versioned artifacts.

Handoff rules between agents:
- Planner → Ingestor: goals defined and source validated.
- Ingestor → Encoder: ingest confirmed format and integrity.
- Encoder → Transcriber/Metadata Specialist/Validator: encoding complete or ready outputs.
- Transcriber → Validator: transcripts ready for QA.
- Metadata Specialist → Validator: enriched metadata validated.
- Validator → Orchestrator: pass or fail with reasons.

Context, memory, and source-of-truth rules:
- Use a central memory store per video asset; all agents read/write to a versioned artifact graph. Sources of truth include raw ingest metadata, encoding outputs, transcripts, and QA results.

Tool access and permission rules:
- Secrets must be stored in a vault; only assigned roles can read/write sensitive assets. Production changes require approvals. External service calls require audit trails. Do not bypass orchestrator.

Architecture rules:
- Stateless agent execution with orchestrator maintaining state; outputs persisted to a versioned data lake and artifact store.

File structure rules:
- Use a consistent layout:
  assets/
  pipelines/
  models/
  configs/
  logs/
  docs/
  tests/

Data, API, or integration rules when relevant:
- All API calls must pass through the orchestrator; use idempotent operations; define timeouts and retries; avoid direct side effects from agents.

Validation rules:
- Outputs must conform to the defined schema; transcripts time-aligned; QA metrics meet thresholds; encoded assets match target profiles.

Security rules:
- Encrypt data at rest and in transit; rotate secrets regularly; enforce access controls; handle PII compliant with policy.

Testing rules:
- Unit tests for each agent; integration tests for end-to-end pipelines; regression tests for new formats.

Deployment rules:
- Use blue/green or canary deployments for endpoints; validate on canary before full rollout.

Human review and escalation rules:
- Escalate to a human reviewer on critical errors or policy violations; require sign-off before production changes.

Failure handling and rollback rules:
- On failure, rollback to last known good state; preserve artifacts and notify orchestrator.

Things Agents must not do:
- Do not bypass the orchestrator; do not access production data directly without approval; do not modify secrets or configs without review.

Recommended Agent Operating Model

The operating model defines roles, decision boundaries, and escalation paths for video processing workflows. It emphasizes explicit handoffs, auditable outputs, and centralized governance to enable both single-agent execution and multi-agent orchestration.

• Planner makes intent, success criteria, and high-level constraints explicit before work begins.
• Ingestor and Encoder are responsible for asset preparation and format handling, reporting results back to the orchestrator.
• Transcriber and Metadata Specialist focus on content enrichment and accessibility, guided by the Planner’s goals.
• Validator acts as the final quality gate, ensuring outputs meet schema, quality, and compliance requirements.
• Orchestrator coordinates all steps, enforces memory rules, and handles escalations and handoffs.
• Escalation paths exist for human review when thresholds are exceeded or policy violations occur.

Recommended Project Structure

video-processing-project/
├── orchestrator/
├── agents/
│   ├── planner/
│   ├── ingestor/
│   ├── encoder/
│   ├── transcriber/
│   ├── metadata/
│   ├── validator/
│   └── domain-specialist/
├── pipelines/
├── configs/
├── data/
├── artifacts/
├── logs/
├── docs/
└── tests/

Core Operating Principles

• Single source of truth for each video asset and its derived outputs.
• Deterministic and auditable agent decisions with explicit justification.
• Clear ownership and accountability for each role in the roster.
• Idempotent behavior across retries and replays of the same asset.
• Secure handling of secrets, data, and production interactions.

Agent Handoff and Collaboration Rules

• Planner provides goals, constraints, and success criteria to Ingestor and Encoder.
• Ingestor validates source data and passes clean assets to Encoder.
• Encoder returns encoded assets and metadata to Validator and Transcriber as appropriate.
• Transcriber generates transcripts; Metadata Specialist enriches data and forwards to Validator.
• Validator performs final checks; on pass, Orchestrator completes the pipeline; on fail, it triggers remediation or escalation.
• Domain Specialist may intervene for policy or standards questions, reporting to Planner via Orchestrator.

Tool Governance and Permission Rules

• All tool access must be mediated by the Orchestrator with per-role permissions.
• Secrets must be stored in a secure vault; agents may not read plaintext secrets.
• API calls to external services require audit logs and approval gates for production use.
• Production assets require a deployment gate and change control before modification.
• No direct shell access to production environments by agents without a formal incident protocol.

Code Construction Rules

• Write modular, testable code with explicit interfaces between agents.
• Prefer idempotent, deterministic outputs for repeated runs of the same video asset.
• Document all assumptions and provide explicit input/output contracts for each agent.
• Avoid hard-coded references to environments; use config-driven behavior.
• Respect data schemas for all artifacts (encoded video, transcripts, metadata, QA results).

Security and Production Rules

• Encrypt data at rest and in transit; enforce least-privilege access for agents.
• Rotate credentials and secrets regularly; restrict access to production systems.
• Implement output validation and anomaly detection before production delivery.
• Maintain a rollback path for failed runs with artifact preservation.

Testing Checklist

• Unit tests for each agent’s logic and contracts.
• Integration tests for end-to-end video pipelines with sample assets.
• Regression tests for new formats and encodings.
• Production-like end-to-end tests with feature flags and canaries.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Bypassing the orchestrator for direct tool calls.
• Drifting from defined memory/state rules or data contracts.
• Insufficient validation of outputs before release to production.
• Non-idempotent operations that cause duplicate artifacts.

Related implementation resources: AI Use Case for Sales Pipeline Reviews and Deal Risk Scoring and AI Use Case for Micro-Lenders Using Phone Usage Data Metrics To Evaluate Creditworthiness In Unbanked Regions.

FAQ

What is this AGENTS.md Template for video processing architecture?

This AGENTS.md Template documents a video processing workflow with multi-agent orchestration, defining roles, handoffs, and governance for reproducible operations.

How does multi-agent orchestration handle video ingestion, encoding, and QA?

Orchestrator coordinates ingestion, encoding, transcript generation, metadata enrichment, and QA, with explicit handoffs and a central memory store to ensure traceability and recoverability.

What are the handoff rules between planner, implementer, and reviewer?

Planner outlines goals; Ingestor and Encoder prepare assets; Validator performs final checks; handoffs occur only through the Orchestrator and are governed by defined criteria.

How should secrets and tool access be managed in this workflow?

Secrets live in a vault; agents have per-role access; production tools require approval gates and audit logging; no direct production changes without review.

How is failure handled and what is the escalation path?

Failures trigger rollback to the last good state, preservation of artifacts, and escalation to human reviewers when thresholds are exceeded or policy violations occur.