Start by identifying what must be true before the workflow can proceed. Validate required input and permissions early, then normalize data, perform transformations, and review the result before any irreversible output.
The exact order depends on the task. For example, you may need to decode an input before validating its structure, but you should not send it externally before checking it. Keep side effects—emails, payments, record updates—late and explicit. Add a clear failure path and decide whether a retry is safe.
Test one valid input, one malformed input, and one repeated run. The workflow should fail visibly rather than silently producing partial output.
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