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1. Mandrake: multiagent systems as a basis for programming fault-tolerant decentralized applications

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10458-021-09540-8  

   Christie, V, Samuel H.; Chopra, Amit K.; Singh, Munindar P. (February 2022, Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems)

   Abstract We conceptualize adecentralizedsoftware application as one constituted fromautonomousagents that communicate viaasynchronousmessaging. Modern software paradigms such as microservices and settings such as the Internet of Things evidence a growing interest in decentralized applications. Constructing a decentralized application involves designing agents as independent local computations that coordinate successfully to realize the application’s requirements. Moreover, a decentralized application is susceptible to faults manifested as message loss, delay, and reordering. We contributeMandrake, a programming model for decentralized applications that tackles these challenges without relying on infrastructure guarantees. Specifically, we adopt the construct of aninformation protocolthat specifies messaging between agents purely in causal terms and can be correctly enacted by agents in a shared-nothing environment over nothing more than unreliable, unordered transport. Mandrake facilitates (1) implementing protocol-compliant agents by introducing a programming model; (2) transforming protocols into fault-tolerant ones with simple annotations; and (3) a declarative policy language that makes it easy to implement fault-tolerance in agents based on the capabilities in protocols. Mandrake’s significance lies in demonstrating a straightforward approach for constructing decentralized applications without relying on coordination mechanisms in the infrastructure, thus achieving some of the goals of the founders of networked computing from the 1970s. 

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2. Deserv: Decentralized Serverless Computing

   Christie, Samuel H.; Chopra, Amit K.; Singh, Munindar P. (January 2021, Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Conference on Web Services)

   null (Ed.)

   A decentralized application involves multiple autonomous principals, e.g., humans and organizations. Autonomy motivates (1) specifying a decentralized application via a protocol that captures the interactions between the principals, and (2) a programming model that enables each principal to independently (from other principals) construct its own protocol-compliant agent. An agent encodes its principal's decision making and represents it in the application. We contribute Deserv, the first protocol-based programming model for decentralized applications that is suited to the cloud. Specifically, Deserv demonstrates how to leverage function-as-a-service (FaaS), a popular serverless programming model, to implement agents. A notable feature of Deserv is the use declarative protocols to specify interactions. Declarative protocols support implementing stateful agents in a manner that naturally exploits the concurrency and autoscaling benefits offered by serverless computing. 

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3. Orpheus: Programming Protocol-Based BDI Agents: Demonstration Track

   Baldoni, Matteo; Christie, Samuel H; Singh, Munindar P; Chopra, Amit K (May 2025, IFAAMAS)

   We demonstrate Orpheus, a novel programming model for engineering BDI agents that communicate on the basis of protocols. In Orpheus, protocols are specified in BSPL and agents are implemented in Jason. Given a protocol, Orpheus tooling generates a Jason adapter that exposes a simple interface for sending messages based on protocol state. Orpheus shines in the implementation of flexible, loosely-coupled agents, long a challenge for BDI-based agent programming approaches. Demonstration video: https://di.unito.it/orpheusvid 

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4. Kiko: Programming Agents to Enact Interaction Protocols

   Christie, Samuel H.; Singh, Munindar P.; Chopra, Amit K. (May 2023, Proceedings of the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS)

   Realizing a multiagent system involves implementing member agents who interact based on a protocol while making decisions in a decentralized manner. Current programming models for agents offer poor abstractions for decision making and fail to adequately bridge an agent’s internal decision logic with its public decisions. We present Kiko, a protocol-based programming model for agents. To implement an agent, a programmer writes one or more decision makers, each of which chooses from among a set of valid decisions and makes mutually compatible decisions on what messages to send. By completely abstracting away the underlying communication service and by supporting practical decision-making patterns, Kiko enables agent developers to focus on business logic. We provide an operational semantics for Kiko and establish that Kiko agents are protocol compliant and able to realize any protocol enactment. 

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5. Orpheus: Engineering Multiagent Systems via Communicating Agents

   https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v39i22.34478  

   Baldoni, Matteo; Christie_V, Samuel H; Singh, Munindar P; Chopra, Amit K (April 2025, Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence)

   We propose Orpheus, a novel programming model for communicating agents based on information protocols and realized using cognitive programming. Whereas traditional models are focused on reactions to handle incoming messages, Orpheus supports organizing the internal logic of an agent based on its goals. We give an operational semantics for Orpheus and implement this semantics in an adapter to help build agents. We use the adapter to demonstrate how Orpheus simplifies the programming of decentralized multiagent systems compared to the reactive programming model. 

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