Breaking a task into steps makes dependencies, results, and failure handling visible. It's not just a pretty arrow diagram from left to right.

Writing a Checkable Workflow for Lesson Preparation

Confirm object and goals → Read materials → Organize content → Generate files → Review and revise → Deliver.

If reading fails, go back to the materials. If content deviates from the goals, revise the content. If a file won't open, check the generation process. If pages overlap, look at the rendering results. Every type of failure has a corresponding response—not simply jumping to "complete."

Fixed Steps vs. Dynamic Judgment

Steps like totaling time or converting formats can be handled by regular programs. Steps that require judgment—such as determining whether materials are sufficient or how to adjust the next step—can be assisted by an Agent. Humans can also participate in checks.

Skills provide methods, tools execute operations, and MCP connects services. Whether these capabilities are needed depends on the task, not on assembling components just to use the terminology.

Setting Completion and Stopping Conditions

Clearly state the final output and checking criteria. Retries need boundaries; when the same error keeps occurring, the conditions or constraints need to change—not an infinite loop of retries.

Next, we'll return to the knowledge map and review the entire task using a set of specific questions.

Related Concepts

  • Workflow: Organizes tasks into steps with before-and-after relationships, which can include branches, loops, and human checkpoints.
  • Agent: An AI system that advances tasks toward goals and decides subsequent steps based on intermediate results, typically combining models, tools, and a runtime environment.
  • Tool: A specific capability that a system can invoke, such as searching, reading files, calculating, or generating files.

See the related concepts page for general definitions and technical sources. Verification date: 2026-09-09. The examples in this section are written for instructional purposes; optional checks are provided to aid understanding and do not restrict continued reading.