> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developer.watson-orchestrate.ibm.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview

Design decisions can affect the reliability, scalability, maintainability, and operational visibility of AI agents.

Understanding key design considerations can help teams create agents that are easier to manage, monitor, and evolve over time. This includes recognizing anti-patterns which are common design approaches that may seem beneficial initially but lead to problems such as poor performance, difficult maintenance, or operational challenges.

<Tip>
  Most agent failures are not model failures, they are failures in architecture, control, and data design
</Tip>

## Topics in this section

[Foundational architecture considerations](/agents/agent_design/foundational_architecture)

[Tooling and scalability considerations](/agents/agent_design/tooling_scalability)

[Knowledge and document processing considerations](/agents/agent_design/knowledge_processing)

[watsonx Orchestrate skills](/agents/agent_design/wxo_skills)