Agents vs. Workflows: Picking the Right Tool

"Agent" gets used for everything from a single API call with retries to a fully autonomous system making its own decisions. That looseness causes real problems once you're the one shipping it.

A workflow is a script with steps

If the path from input to output is fixed — call this tool, then that one, then format the result — you have a workflow. It's predictable, testable, and usually the right first move.

An agent decides its own path

An agent reasons about which tool to call next, and can change course based on what it finds. That flexibility is powerful, and it's also why agents are harder to test, harder to debug, and easier to run up a bill with.

The rule we teach

Start with a workflow. Only reach for an agent when the steps genuinely can't be known ahead of time — when the model has to decide, not just execute. Most "agent" projects that fail were workflows wearing an agent costume.