Bound interfaces and permissions
The work assignment is to embed Claude in a deterministic automation flow. Define purpose, owner and permitted operating boundary before the first test.
The domain review baseline covers schema, timeout, retry, idempotency, approval and error queue. Assumptions and missing information remain visible in the result.
Check the data flow step by step
- Define the trigger, permitted inputs and expected output schema for the Claude step.
- Validate output before downstream steps and configure timeout and error handling.
- Plan retries and idempotency before external actions and associate approvals visibly.
- Exercise invalid responses, delayed processing and duplicate deliveries using test data.
Demonstrate effects and access control
A test record shows a valid run alongside invalid output, timeout and duplicate delivery. External effects remain within the approved boundary and problematic cases reach a traceable error queue.
Avoid: blindly retrying external actions. While a retry cannot establish whether an external action already happened, that action must not be triggered again blindly.
Decision matrix
| Decision point | Proceed when | Stop when |
|---|---|---|
| Access and data path | Documented: schema, timeout, retry, idempotency, approval and error queue. | Scope, data or accountability remains unresolved. |
| Connection under test | A test record shows a valid run alongside invalid output, timeout and duplicate delivery. External effects remain within the approved boundary and problematic cases reach a traceable error queue. | There is only an unevaluated demo without acceptance evidence. |
| External effect | Owner, approval, fallback and next review date are defined. | Avoid: blindly retrying external actions. While a retry cannot establish whether an external action already happened, that action must not be triggered again blindly. |
Keep it verifiable
Primary sources
- n8n: Production AI Playbook — Human OversightSource checked:
- Anthropic: API key best practicesSource checked:
