Engineering & Insights

The nNode Blog

Deep dives into AI agents, MCP servers, and the future of autonomous workflows.

agent workflow cost optimizationreduce LLM token costs

Agent Workflow Cost Optimization with Artifact Checkpoints: Cut Latency via Partial Reruns (Not One Big Prompt)

Learn agent workflow cost optimization using artifact checkpoints, caching, and partial reruns to reduce LLM token spend and workflow latency—without losing debuggability.

Feb 25 min read
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human-in-the-loopapproval-workflow

Human-in-the-Loop Approval Workflow: Slack/Telegram Approval Gates for Agent Workflows

Build a human-in-the-loop approval workflow with Slack or Telegram buttons—safe approvals, idempotent callbacks, audit logs, and checkpoint/resume patterns.

Jan 315 min read
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workflowsoperations

Self-Documenting Workflows: Turn Your Company Into a Living Ops Manual

Learn how self-documenting workflows (a workflow registry + artifact contract) turn execution into a living ops manual you can trust, audit, and hand off.

Jan 305 min read
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llm-tracingagent-observability

LangSmith vs Langfuse vs OpenTelemetry: What you actually need to debug agentic workflows

A practical comparison of LangSmith, Langfuse, and OpenTelemetry for LLM tracing—plus an artifact-first debugging model that prevents 2am incidents.

Jan 295 min read
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mcpmcp-server

MCP Tool Routing at Scale: Designing a Tool Catalog Agents Can Actually Use (Without Random Tool Spam)

Fix MCP tool routing with tool cards, scopes, router agents, and eval harnesses—so Claude Skills pick the right tool (safely) every time.

Jan 285 min read
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mcp-serveropenapi

OpenAPI to MCP Server: The Production Checklist (Auth, Pagination, Idempotency, Debuggable Outputs)

Turn an OpenAPI spec into an MCP server your agents can safely call—auth, pagination, retries, idempotency, and structured outputs you can debug.

Jan 275 min read
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langgraphcrewai

LangGraph vs CrewAI vs AutoGen: Why State + Artifacts Beats Chatty Agent Swarms in Production

LangGraph vs CrewAI vs AutoGen for production agents—compare state, replay, debugging, and artifacts with a practical founder-focused rubric.

Jan 225 min read
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agentic-workflowsci-cd

Agentic Workflow Regression Testing: CI Regression Tests You Can Run on Every Commit (Without Mocking the World)

A practical playbook for agentic workflow regression testing in CI: contracts, golden runs, artifact diffing, and tiered suites to catch breakage early.

Jan 205 min read
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runaway-tool-callingagent-tool-loop

Runaway Tool Calling: 7 Loop Guards for Agents That Touch Real Systems

Stop agent tool loops before they double-send emails, duplicate CRM writes, and burn budget—7 production guardrails with code and checklists.

Jan 205 min read
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zapiern8n

Zapier to AI Agent Workflow Migration: A Practical Playbook for Debuggable Automations

A step-by-step guide to migrate from Zapier/n8n to debuggable AI agent workflows—without a risky rewrite—using a deterministic workflow spine and step contracts.

Jan 175 min read
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workflowshuman-in-the-loop

Human-in-the-Loop Agent Workflows: Durable Approvals + Checkpoints (No Reruns, No Double-Sends)

Build a human approval workflow for agent automations that can pause/resume safely, retry without double-sends, and keep a full audit trail.

Jan 165 min read
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llm-agent-observabilitymulti-agent

LLM Agent Observability: Artifact-Based Debugging for Multi‑Agent Workflows (No Black Box)

Learn a practical LLM agent observability stack—traces, run history, artifacts, and checkpoints—so you can debug multi-agent workflows fast.

Jan 165 min read
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mcpsecurity

Secure MCP Server Blueprint: Defend Against Prompt Injection, Tool Poisoning, and Data Exfiltration

A practical secure MCP server blueprint: threat model, least-privilege tools, allowlists, sandboxing, secrets redaction, and audit logs before production.

Jan 145 min read
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claude-codeskills

Getting Started with Claude Code Skills: A Complete Guide

Learn how to create powerful custom commands for Claude Code. This beginner-friendly guide covers everything from basic skills to advanced patterns.

Jan 135 min read
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