Automation
Reliable Agent Workflow
Design an AI agent around explicit inputs, tools, checkpoints and recovery instead of an oversized prompt.
- Outcome
- A reviewable semi-automated process
- Time
- 2–4 hours
- Level
- Intermediate
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Set up the work.
Suggested toolkit
- Agent
- Connectors
- Structured data
- Approval gates
You will make
- Process map
- Tool permissions
- Review checkpoints
- Failure playbook
STEP BY STEP
Run the workflow.
Work in sequence and keep each intermediate artifact. Review the result at every stage before spending time on the next one.
- 01
Map the manual process
List inputs, decisions, systems, outputs and exception paths. Automate a process you understand before asking an agent to own it.
- 02
Separate judgment from execution
Let the agent gather, transform and draft. Keep high-impact decisions, external messages and irreversible actions behind approval.
- 03
Define observable state
Require structured outputs, source links and a clear status after each stage so a person can inspect what happened.
- 04
Test failure on purpose
Simulate missing access, conflicting data, unavailable tools and ambiguous instructions. Specify how the workflow stops or recovers.
QUALITY GATE
Before you call it finished
01The output matches the stated outcome.
02Sources, settings and intermediate files are saved.
03A person has reviewed the result and edge cases.
04The next person can repeat the process.