When to Use a Pipeline

Module 5 · Section 6 of 7

When to Use a Pipeline

Not every task needs a pipeline. A single, focused agent that does one thing well is better than a pipeline with unnecessary stages.

Pipelines make sense when:

• The task has genuinely distinct phases that require different capabilities
• Quality gates between stages add real value
• The complexity of any single phase justifies its own agent
• The whole process is run frequently enough to justify the investment

If you’re running a process once, orchestrate it manually. If you’re running it weekly, build the pipeline. Automation should earn its complexity.