Dev.to
7/18/2026

Your AI Agent MVP Does Not Need More Autonomy
Short summary
A practical framework for building AI agent MVPs that prioritizes verifiable human outcomes over autonomy. Split work into deterministic steps, model judgment, and human approval gates. Define typed tool contracts with explicit inputs, outputs, and failure modes, then validate with five realistic evaluation cases before automating any high-impact action.
- •Start with smallest verifiable outcome, not maximum autonomy
- •Separate deterministic code, model judgment, and human approval gates
- •Define typed tools with permission boundaries and five evaluation cases
- •Keep high-impact actions behind human approval until reliability is proven
Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.
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