Abstract: Application of agent technology into distributed GIS is proposed,and a model of distributed GIS oriented multi-agent system is presented.It provides a new method to study and develop distributed GIS.Firstly,the architecture of the system is designed,and GIS agent is categorized as three types:Facilitator,GIS function agent and interface agent.The structure and features of GIS agent and the communication mechanism among GIS agents are also given.Secondly,a prototype of spatial multi-agent system is implemented based on DCOM and multi-thread technologies.The key techniques such as synchronization,agent scheduling,agent's forcible stop and spatial metadata,are explored and analyzed in detail.