Start by defining the trigger, the required input, the expected output, and the person who owns the result. Validate important fields before the workflow spends time or money on later steps.
Make every external step observable
APIs can time out, reject requests, change limits, or return incomplete data. Capture the request context, the response status, and a useful error message. Retry only when the failure is likely to be temporary.
A silent failure is not automation. It is hidden manual work waiting to happen.
Route uncertainty instead of hiding it
If a result cannot be validated, send it to a review queue with the source data and reason. A good workflow knows when to stop, ask for help, and continue after correction.