Best Practices

Overview

Best Practices define professional standards for developing workflows. Following these practices ensures your workflows are maintainable, reliable, and performant across your entire organization.

✅ Professional Development

Best practices lead to:

• Maintainable workflows (others can understand)

• Reliable execution (fewer failures)

• Easy collaboration (team coordination)

• Better performance (optimized resources)

• Scalable solutions (grows with needs)

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Naming Conventions

Workflow Names

Good Workflow Names:
✅ "User Registration - Email Verification"
✅ "Payment Processing - Credit Card"
✅ "Daily Report Generation - Automated"
✅ "API Integration Test - Complete Suite"

Bad Workflow Names:
❌ "Test"
❌ "Workflow1"
❌ "New Automation"
❌ "Temp Workflow"

Pattern: {Process} - {Specific Purpose} - {Type if applicable}

Step Names

Good Step Names:
✅ "API: Create User"
✅ "Web: Verify Email Input"
✅ "DB: Check User Exists"
✅ "Email: Send Verification Link"

Bad Step Names:
❌ "Step 1"
❌ "Process"
❌ "Do Something"
❌ "API Call"

Pattern: {Source}: {Specific Action}

Variable Names

Good Variable Names:
✅ global.max_api_timeout
✅ workflow.user_email
✅ step.response_data
✅ workflow.error_messages_list

Bad Variable Names:
❌ x, y, z
❌ temp, data, value
❌ t1, t2, t3
❌ result123

Pattern: {scope}.{descriptor}_{type if collection}

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Documentation Standards

Workflow Documentation

Every workflow should include:

1. Title
   Clear, descriptive name

2. Purpose
   Why does this workflow exist?
   What problem does it solve?

3. Prerequisites
   What must be true before running?
   Required setup/configuration

4. Steps
   High-level process overview
   Input/output for each step

5. Expected Results
   What success looks like
   Key assertions/validations

6. Error Handling
   How are failures handled?
   Recovery strategies

7. Owner/Contact
   Who maintains this?
   Who to contact for help?

8. Related Workflows
   Links to dependencies
   Similar workflows

Step Documentation

Complex steps should include:

1. Purpose
   Why is this step needed?
   What does it accomplish?

2. Input
   What data comes in?
   Expected format/schema

3. Processing
   What happens in this step?
   Key operations/calculations

4. Output
   What data comes out?
   Format and structure

5. Error Scenarios
   What can go wrong?
   How is it handled?

6. Performance Notes
   Expected duration?
   Resource requirements?

Comment Standards

When to comment:

✅ Complex logic
   IF (status == "active" AND has_permission) OR override:
   // Must be active AND have permission, or have override flag

✅ Non-obvious decisions
   // Wait 5 seconds for DB replication, not optimal but necessary

✅ Workarounds
   // TODO: Replace with native feature when API v2 released
   // Current: Using workaround due to API limitation

✅ Gotchas
   // WARNING: Order matters - must get token before call

❌ Obvious code
   // Get the user ID
   user_id = response.id

❌ Redundant comments
   // Set count to 0
   count = 0

❌ Commented code
   // [Old approach - commented out]
   // api_call = deprecated_method()

❌ Outdated comments
   // Will be fixed next sprint (from 6 months ago)

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Code Organization

Workflow Structure

Optimal workflow structure:

┌─ SETUP PHASE
│  ├─ Initialize variables
│  ├─ Load configuration
│  └─ Setup environment
│
├─ MAIN PHASE
│  ├─ Validation (fail fast if issues)
│  ├─ Process core logic
│  ├─ Generate results
│  └─ Store results
│
├─ ERROR HANDLING
│  ├─ Catch errors
│  ├─ Log details
│  ├─ Attempt recovery
│  └─ Escalate if needed
│
└─ CLEANUP PHASE
   ├─ Release resources
   ├─ Close connections
   ├─ Generate reports
   └─ Send notifications

Grouping Logic

Related steps should be grouped:

✅ Group by phase:
   - Setup
   - Validation
   - Processing
   - Reporting
   - Cleanup

✅ Group by concern:
   - User management
   - Order processing
   - Payment handling
   - Reporting

✅ Group by failure impact:
   - Critical (must succeed)
   - Important (should succeed)
   - Optional (nice if succeeds)

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Error Handling Standards

Required for Every Step

External Operations (API, DB, File):
  TRY:
    [Operation]
  CATCH:
    [Handle error]
    [Log details]
    [Decide: Retry, Fallback, or Fail]

Critical Operations:
  [Validate preconditions]
  [Perform operation]
  [Verify success]
  [Handle failures]

All Workflows:
  [Catch unexpected errors]
  [Always cleanup]

Error Logging Standard

Every error log must include:
✅ Timestamp
✅ Severity (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
✅ Component (which step)
✅ Error message
✅ Error code/type
✅ Context (what were we doing)
✅ User/Request ID
✅ Next action (retry, escalate, manual)

Optional but helpful:
✅ Stack trace
✅ Request/response data
✅ Performance metrics
✅ Environment info

Alerting Standard

Alert only when:
✅ Critical failure (workflow cannot continue)
✅ Data integrity issue (risk of corruption)
✅ Service unavailability (external dependency down)
✅ Resource exhaustion (quota exceeded)
✅ Security issue (unauthorized access attempt)

Don't alert for:
❌ Transient errors (will be retried)
❌ Expected errors (handled gracefully)
❌ Informational messages (use logs)
❌ Performance warnings (unless critical)

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Performance Standards

Baseline Performance

Expected performance:
- Simple workflow: < 10 seconds
- Medium workflow: 10-60 seconds
- Complex workflow: 1-5 minutes
- Batch workflows: < 1 hour

If slower:
→ Profile and optimize
→ Identify bottlenecks
→ Apply optimization strategies

Resource Usage

Acceptable resource usage:
- Memory: < 500 MB per workflow
- CPU: < 80% utilization
- Network: Optimized for connection type
- Storage: Cleaned up automatically

If exceeding:
→ Reduce scope
→ Optimize queries
→ Sequence efficiently
→ Use pagination/streaming

Monitoring Standards

Monitor these metrics:
✅ Execution time
✅ Success rate
✅ Error rate
✅ Resource usage
✅ Cost (if applicable)

Set alerts for:
✅ Execution time > 2x baseline
✅ Success rate < 95%
✅ Error rate > 5%
✅ Unusual resource usage

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Testing Standards

Test Coverage

Every workflow should include:

1. Happy Path Test
   ✅ All normal conditions met
   ✅ Expected success outcome
   ✅ Verify all outputs correct

2. Error Path Tests
   ✅ API timeout/error
   ✅ Invalid input data
   ✅ Missing prerequisites
   ✅ Permission denied
   ✅ Resource not found

3. Edge Case Tests
   ✅ Empty/null data
   ✅ Boundary values
   ✅ Maximum limits
   ✅ Concurrent execution
   ✅ State transitions

Test Execution

Before production deployment:

1. Unit Test
   Each step works independently

2. Integration Test
   Steps work together correctly

3. End-to-End Test
   Complete workflow in test environment

4. Performance Test
   Baseline performance acceptable

5. Load Test (if applicable)
   Handles expected load

6. Manual Test
   One person manually verifies

Test Documentation

Each test should include:

1. Name
   Clear description of what's tested

2. Setup
   Prerequisites and initial state

3. Steps
   Exact steps to execute

4. Expected Result
   What success looks like

5. Verification
   How to verify success

6. Notes
   Known issues, special conditions

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Security Standards

Data Handling

Never store or log:
❌ Passwords
❌ API keys
❌ Auth tokens
❌ Credit card numbers
❌ Personal identifiable information (PII)
❌ Healthcare information (PHI)
❌ Financial data

If must process:
✅ Mask before logging (****)
✅ Encrypt in transit (HTTPS)
✅ Encrypt at rest
✅ Access control (who can see?)
✅ Audit trail (who accessed?)
✅ Auto-delete (after X days)

Authentication & Authorization

Workflow standards:

1. Validate Authentication
   ✅ User is authenticated
   ✅ Token/session valid
   ✅ Not expired

2. Check Authorization
   ✅ User has required role
   ✅ User has required permission
   ✅ User owns resource

3. Principle of Least Privilege
   ✅ Only request needed access
   ✅ Temporary access if possible
   ✅ Regular access review

Secrets Management

For API keys, passwords, tokens:

1. Never hardcode
   ❌ Don't put in workflow
   ❌ Don't put in config files
   ❌ Don't put in logs

2. Use secrets manager
   ✅ Store securely
   ✅ Rotate regularly
   ✅ Audit access
   ✅ Encrypt

3. Minimal exposure
   ✅ Retrieve only when needed
   ✅ Use scoped tokens
   ✅ Expire after use if possible

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Collaboration Standards

Code Review

Before production deployment:

1. Technical Review
   ✅ Logic is sound
   ✅ Error handling complete
   ✅ Performance acceptable
   ✅ Follows conventions

2. Functionality Review
   ✅ Meets requirements
   ✅ Test cases included
   ✅ Documentation complete
   ✅ No breaking changes

3. Stakeholder Review
   ✅ Meets business need
   ✅ Acceptable timeline
   ✅ Resource requirements ok

Change Management

For production workflows:

1. Ticket/Request
   ✅ Describe change
   ✅ Business justification
   ✅ Impact analysis
   ✅ Rollback plan

2. Testing
   ✅ Test in dev/staging
   ✅ Validate results
   ✅ Performance check

3. Approval
   ✅ Technical lead approval
   ✅ Stakeholder approval
   ✅ Scheduled maintenance window

4. Deployment
   ✅ Deploy to production
   ✅ Monitor closely
   ✅ Have rollback ready

5. Verification
   ✅ Confirm working
   ✅ Monitor metrics
   ✅ Close ticket

Documentation & Handoff

When transferring ownership:

1. Documentation
   ✅ Purpose and goals
   ✅ Architecture overview
   ✅ How to run/execute
   ✅ How to modify
   ✅ Known issues
   ✅ Contact list

2. Knowledge Transfer
   ✅ Walk-through with new owner
   ✅ Run workflow together
   ✅ Debug issue together
   ✅ Discuss edge cases

3. Verification
   ✅ New owner can run
   ✅ New owner can debug
   ✅ New owner can modify
   ✅ New owner knows who to contact

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Practical Examples

Example 1: Well-Structured Workflow

Workflow: "User Registration - Email Verification"

PURPOSE:
Create new user account and verify email address

PREREQUISITES:
- Email validation service operational
- User database accessible
- Email sending service working

STEPS:

SETUP PHASE:
1. Initialize: Create workflow variables
2. Log: "Starting user registration"

VALIDATION PHASE:
3. Validate: Email format correct
4. Check: Email not already registered
5. Validate: Password meets requirements

PROCESSING PHASE:
6. API: Create user account
   Input: email, password
   Output: user_id
   
7. Generate: Verification token
8. Send Email: Verification link
9. Data Hub: Store verification token

NOTIFICATION PHASE:
10. Log: "User created: {user_id}"
11. Event: Fire user_created event

ERROR HANDLING:
- On validation error: Return error message
- On email exists: Suggest password reset
- On API error: Retry 3x with backoff, then alert

CLEANUP:
- Always: Log completion or failure
- Success: Send success notification
- Failure: Send failure alert

OWNER: @devops-team
CONTACT: [email protected]
RELATED: Login Workflow, Password Reset

Example 2: Well-Documented Complex Step

Step: "Process Payment - Handle Retry"

PURPOSE:
Process payment with graceful failure handling

INPUT:
- order_id: String (e.g., "ord_123")
- amount: Number (e.g., 99.99)
- payment_method: String ("card", "paypal", "transfer")

PROCESSING:

1. Validate Input
   IF amount <= 0: FAIL - Invalid amount
   IF payment_method not in ["card", "paypal"]: FAIL

2. Call Payment API
   Max Retries: 3
   Backoff: Exponential (2s, 4s, 8s)
   Timeout: 30 seconds
   
   TRY:
     [POST /payments]
   CATCH timeout:
     [Retry]
   CATCH rate_limited:
     [Wait 60s, retry once]
   CATCH server_error:
     [Retry with exponential backoff]
   CATCH invalid_input:
     [Fail - don't retry]
     [Log: Invalid payment method]

3. Process Result
   IF success:
     Output: transaction_id
     Log: "Payment successful"
   ELSE:
     Log: "Payment failed: {error}"
     Output: error_message

OUTPUT:
- transaction_id: String (on success)
- error_message: String (on failure)
- retry_count: Number (how many retries)
- duration_ms: Number (how long it took)

KNOWN ISSUES:
- Stripe sometimes slow (> 5s) during peak hours
- Workaround: Increase retry attempts to 5 during peak

PERFORMANCE:
- Normal: 2-3 seconds
- Slow: 5-30 seconds (with retries)
- Timeout: 30+ seconds

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Common Anti-Patterns

❌ Anti-Pattern: Silent Failures

Bad:
[Try operation]
If error: continue silently

Why bad:
- Data might be inconsistent
- Operations that should succeed fail
- No way to debug

Good:
[Try operation]
If error: 
  Log error with context
  Decide: retry, fallback, or fail
  If failing: notify

❌ Anti-Pattern: Overly Complex Logic

Bad:
IF (a && (b || c) && !d || (e && f)) || (g || h && !i)...

Why bad:
- Hard to understand
- Hard to test
- Easy to get wrong

Good:
IF precondition_met AND 
   main_condition AND 
   not recovery_blocked
THEN:
  proceed

❌ Anti-Pattern: No Error Handling

Bad:
[API Call]
[Assume success]
[Continue]

Why bad:
- Workflow will fail on any error
- No recovery possible
- Unreliable in production

Good:
[Try API Call]
[If fails: Retry or fallback]
[If still fails: Handle gracefully]

❌ Anti-Pattern: Poor Naming

Bad:
- Workflow: "Test1"
- Variable: "x", "temp", "data"
- Step: "Do step"

Why bad:
- Unclear purpose
- Hard to maintain
- Easy to duplicate

Good:
- Workflow: "User Registration - Email Verification"
- Variable: "workflow.user_email"
- Step: "API: Create User Account"

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Related Topics

• Error Handling - Professional error strategies

• Performance Optimization - Performance standards

• Workflow Patterns - Proven patterns

• Execution Flow - How workflows execute

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Summary

• Best Practices ensure professional, maintainable workflows

• Follow naming conventions - Clarity for team

• Document thoroughly - Future you will thank you

• Test comprehensively - Before production

• Handle errors gracefully - Never fail silently

• Monitor regularly - Know when things go wrong

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Next: Learn about Performance Optimization for speed and efficiency.