Design Workflows Like Loops, Not Chains, to Avoid Failures Beyond the Happy Path

A practical software design guide published on DEV Community argues that most workflows appear functional only until an edge case exposes their fragility. The author recommends defining a workflow as a structured loop with six components: a goal, a trigger, a source of truth, an action, a check, and a recovery plan. A key insight is that a successful exit code does not confirm the intended outcome actually occurred, making explicit result-checking essential. The guide also warns that workflows lacking a stable identifier for created records will generate duplicates across repeated runs. To prevent this, the author advises storing the destination-assigned ID alongside the source so future runs update rather than recreate the same record.