A series about agents should spend real time on boundaries. Not because automation is bad — because production systems are defined by what they refuse. I will automate the middle of the funnel. I will not automate a Thursday-night conversation with a parent after a loss. The goal was never maximum automation. The goal is a system that moves work fast and still has a place for a human to say no. ...
This is part 2 of the Agent production system series. Previous: Eval gates are not optional theater. Constellation node: Human approval. People hear “agent fleet” and picture a fully lights-out factory. That is not what I run — and not what I want. I run a system where agents move the bulk of the work and a human still owns irreversible decisions. The merge button (and its cousins: force-push, secrets, prod infra, public claims) is not a relic. It is a designed control. ...