Agent Launch Readiness Checklist (2026 Edition)

Use this before exposing an AI agent to customers or giving it access to privileged tools.

1) Scope and Success Definition
- Pick one primary job-to-be-done. Avoid “general assistant” scope.
- Define success in measurable terms (examples: “case resolved without human,” “quote drafted and approved,” “incident summary posted to the right channel”).
- Define failure outcomes and a clean escalation path (human handoff, create a ticket, block the action).

2) Tools and Permissions (Least Privilege)
- Maintain an explicit allowlist of tools the agent can call.
- Use scoped, short-lived credentials where possible (task-scoped tokens, per-environment access).
- Add approval gates for high-risk actions (refunds, payouts, production changes, deletions).
- Ensure idempotency for write actions so retries don’t duplicate side effects.

3) Cost Controls
- Define a maximum budget per task aligned to your unit economics.
- Cap tool calls per run and cap runtime; force a safe fallback after the cap.
- Implement model routing (cheaper default, stronger fallback) and caching for deterministic lookups.
- Track cost by outcome: successful tasks vs escalations.

4) Observability and Tracing
- Log every model request/response, tool call, tool arguments, latency, and cost with a correlation ID.
- Store traces in a searchable system and set a retention rule that matches your risk and regulatory needs.
- Redact sensitive data (PII/PCI/PHI) from logs and prompts where feasible.

5) Evaluation (Behavior-Based)
- Build a replay set from real cases, not synthetic examples.
- Assert on behavior: required steps, prohibited actions, correct tool usage—not only final text.
- Track failure categories and regressions after prompt, model, or tool updates.

6) Rollout Plan
- Use feature flags and staged exposure: internal users first, then a small canary, then broader traffic.
- Define alert thresholds for spikes in tool calls, latency, budget overruns, and policy violations.
- Provide a safe fallback mode (human handoff, draft-only, or read-only).

7) Governance and Compliance
- Document data flow: what enters prompts, where it’s stored, and who can access traces.
- Define retention and deletion policies that match customer requirements.
- Maintain an audit log for privileged actions (who/what/when/why).

Exit Criteria (Suggested)
- Replay evals show stable performance on your priority workflows.
- No critical policy violations during the canary period.
- Cost and latency stay within defined caps with stable variance.
- Clear on-call ownership and an incident playbook (disable tools, roll back prompts/models, rotate credentials).