Agent workflows break in prod despite passing sandbox tests: how to test?

Common_Dream9420 · reddit · 2026-08-30

A developer highlights a critical issue where agent workflows (booking flights, sending notifications) work in isolated stateless sandboxes but fail in production (double-booking, skipping steps, hanging). Traditional unit testing is ineffective due to the agent's real-time decisions across 4+ external APIs with potential silent failures. State replay is painful. The author asks for best practices: shadow environments, comprehensive tool call logging, or accepting failure and focusing on fast recovery?

Original post →

More from coding & agent

coding & agent channel →