zulip-platform-plugins/docs/adr/ADR-004-per-agent-bots.md

ADR 4: One Zulip Bot Per Agent

Date: 2026-04-28

Decision

Each agent has its own dedicated Zulip bot user, co-located on the agent's CT. Each bot runs independently as a platform-native plugin.

Context

A single bot creates a single point of failure and requires message routing to the correct agent. Per-agent bots provide full isolation — if tanko's bot fails, mumuni's bot continues working. Co-location means zero A2A overhead for the local agent.

Consequences

• 6 Zulip bot users to create and manage
• 6 independent event streams (one per CT)
• @all-bots requires each bot to know about All Bots user
• Adding a new agent = create Zulip bot + deploy plugin to CT