Lab 8 · Workflow vs free-form agent

Deterministic pipeline next to a free-form loop

Many production "agents" are actually a fixed workflow with one or two LLM-shaped steps embedded inside. Run the same scenario through both pipelines and compare the shape of what runs: a six-step workflow on the left, a free-form agent loop on the right.

Scenario

Workflow (deterministic)

Six fixed steps, same order every time. The pipeline knows what to call before the run starts.

Click Run both pipelines to see the workflow trace.

Free-form agent (LLM-driven)

Each iteration the model decides the next tool. Tool order, count, and stopping condition are emergent rather than declared up front.

Click Run both pipelines to see the agent trace.

What this comparison shows: The workflow always runs the same six steps in the same order; the free-form agent re-decides on every iteration what to do next. The workflow is auditable, evaluable, and cheap to test. The free-form agent is flexible but unpredictable — useful when the task shape is genuinely unknown, costly when the task shape is known up front. Most production "agents" are a hybrid: deterministic outer loop, model-shaped inner steps.