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Architecting Resilient LLM Agents: A Guide to Secure Plan-then-Execute Implementations

Created by
  • Haebom

Author

Ron F. Del Rosario, Klaudia Krawiecka, Christian Schroeder de Witt

Outline

This paper provides a comprehensive guide to the "Plan-then-Execute" (PtE) pattern for designing Large-Scale Language Model (LLM) agents capable of complex, multi-step task automation. We explore the fundamental principles of the PtE pattern, an agent design pattern that decouples strategic planning from tactical execution, its components (Planner and Executor), and its architectural advantages over reactive patterns like ReAct in terms of predictability, cost-effectiveness, and inference quality. We focus on security by establishing inherent resilience to indirect prompt injection attacks, detailing the need for a defense-in-depth strategy and essential complementary controls such as the principle of least privilege, task-scoped tool access, and sandboxed code execution. We provide implementation blueprints and working code references for three major agent frameworks: LangChain (using LangGraph), CrewAI, and AutoGen. We analyze how each framework implements the PtE pattern, and discuss advanced patterns, including dynamic replanning loops, parallel execution using DAGs, and the importance of human-in-the-loop (HITL) verification.

Takeaways, Limitations

Takeaways:
Presenting efficient architectural patterns (PtEs) for the safe and predictable design of LLM agents.
Provides a robust defense strategy against indirect prompt injection attacks.
Providing practical implementation guides through major frameworks such as LangChain, CrewAI, and AutoGen.
Suggesting the possibility of building more robust and stable LLM agents through advanced patterns (dynamic replanning, parallel execution, and HITL verification).
Limitations:
There is no guarantee that the proposed security mechanisms can perfectly counter all types of attacks. Continuous improvement of defense-in-depth strategies is necessary.
The effectiveness of the PtE pattern can vary depending on the complexity and nature of the task. It is not a universal pattern that is optimal for all types of tasks.
Implementation guides are limited to a specific framework and may require additional effort when applying other frameworks.
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