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Anthropic adds dynamic workflows in beta to Claude Managed Agents
Anthropic's release notes for 9 October say a Claude Managed Agents agent can now write a workflow that runs many agents in phases, run by the server in the background.
Check our sources · 5 facts from 1 source
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Key points
- Anthropic defines a workflow as a program that runs many agents in phases and combines their results, run by the server in the background as a workflow run.
- Dynamic workflows are in beta with the managed-agents-2026-04-01 beta header, and are turned on by setting the agent's multiagent field to type multiagent_20261001 with workflows enabled.
- Anthropic says to tell the agent in its system prompt when to start a run, and to follow each run through workflow_run.* events on the session's event stream.
What happened
Anthropic's Claude Platform release notes for 9 October 2026 say a Claude Managed Agents agent can now use dynamic workflows, in beta with the managed-agents-2026-04-01 beta header. For work with many pieces, such as reviewing hundreds of documents, the agent can write a workflow.
Anthropic defines a workflow as a program that runs many agents in phases and combines their results, and says the server runs it in the background as a workflow run.
To turn the feature on, the agent's multiagent field is set to {"type": "multiagent_20261001", "workflows": {"type": "enabled"}}. Anthropic says to guide the agent by telling it in its system prompt when to start a run, and that each run can be followed through workflow_run.* events on the session's event stream.
Underlined sentences link to the facts we checked. Dotted words open a short explainer.
Fact 2 of 5 · from Anthropic
For work with many pieces, such as reviewing hundreds of documents, the agent can write a workflow.
Fact 3 of 5 · from Anthropic
A workflow is a program that runs many agents in phases and combines their results. The server runs it in the background as a workflow run.
What it means for you
Our viewAnthropic names reviewing hundreds of documents as the kind of job where an agent can write a workflow. The release notes describe how to switch it on and follow it, but give no figures on cost, speed or accuracy, so this is a beta to test rather than a result to rely on.
Because the system prompt tells the agent when to start a run, its wording matters. If you use Managed Agents, try it on one document-review job in a test environment and watch the workflow_run events to see how many runs the agent starts.
It adds no new facts.
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Check our sources
Every sentence above is checked against this source.
1 Claude Platform release notes
Open the source archived copy-
Anthropic's Claude Platform release notes list, under October 9, 2026: "You can now let a Claude Managed Agents agent use dynamic workflows, in beta with the managed-agents-2026-04-01 beta header."
citeOctober 9, 2026 * You can now let a Claude Managed Agents agent use dynamic workflows, in beta with the managed-agents-2026-04-01 beta header.
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The release notes say: "For work with many pieces, such as reviewing hundreds of documents, the agent can write a workflow."
citeFor work with many pieces, such as reviewing hundreds of documents, the agent can write a workflow.
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The release notes say: "A workflow is a program that runs many agents in phases and combines their results. The server runs it in the background as a workflow run."
citeA workflow is a program that runs many agents in phases and combines their results. The server runs it in the background as a workflow run.
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The release notes say to turn dynamic workflows on by setting the agent's multiagent field to {"type": "multiagent_20261001", "workflows": {"type": "enabled"}}.
citeTo turn dynamic workflows on, set the agent's multiagent field to {"type": "multiagent_20261001", "workflows": {"type": "enabled"}}.
-
The release notes say: "To guide the agent, tell it in its system prompt when to start a run. Follow each run through workflow_run.* events on the session's event stream."
citeTo guide the agent, tell it in its system prompt when to start a run. Follow each run through workflow_run.* events on the session's event stream.
Every sentence above is checked against this source. Each fact has its own address you can cite.
Source 1 · Anthropic
Claude Platform release notes
Anthropic's Claude Platform release notes list, under October 9, 2026: "You can now let a Claude Managed Agents agent use dynamic workflows, in beta with the managed-agents-2026-04-01 beta header."
October 9, 2026 * You can now let a Claude Managed Agents agent use dynamic workflows, in beta with the managed-agents-2026-04-01 beta header.
The release notes say: "For work with many pieces, such as reviewing hundreds of documents, the agent can write a workflow."
For work with many pieces, such as reviewing hundreds of documents, the agent can write a workflow.
The release notes say: "A workflow is a program that runs many agents in phases and combines their results. The server runs it in the background as a workflow run."
A workflow is a program that runs many agents in phases and combines their results. The server runs it in the background as a workflow run.
Show all 5 factsShow fewer facts
The release notes say to turn dynamic workflows on by setting the agent's multiagent field to {"type": "multiagent_20261001", "workflows": {"type": "enabled"}}.
To turn dynamic workflows on, set the agent's multiagent field to {"type": "multiagent_20261001", "workflows": {"type": "enabled"}}.
The release notes say: "To guide the agent, tell it in its system prompt when to start a run. Follow each run through workflow_run.* events on the session's event stream."
To guide the agent, tell it in its system prompt when to start a run. Follow each run through workflow_run.* events on the session's event stream.
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