Skip to content
Free launch · operator checklist

Autopilot Readiness Checklist

Use this before you let a script, cron job, or unattended process run on its own. It is built for desktop engineering teams that need fewer surprises and cleaner handoffs.

Launch badge

What this covers

  • Failure containment
  • Logging and alerts
  • Rollback and recovery
  • Permissions and secrets
  • Ownership and monitoring
Version

v1.0

Updated

August 2026

Tested on

Astro 5 static build on Linux

Format

Web + PDF-ready

Go / no-go checklist

Check every item before the workflow runs unattended.

Decision matrix

Use this to choose whether a workflow can go fully unattended.

Signal Safe enough for autopilot Needs supervision
Blast radiusLow, reversible, isolatedCustomer-facing or irreversible
Failure detectionAlert fires immediatelyOnly visible in a log after the fact
RollbackOne-step disable or revertManual cleanup across multiple systems
Duplication riskIdempotent or dedupedDuplicate runs cause bad side effects

Minimum monitoring set

  • Start time and finish time
  • Success/failure status
  • Last known good checkpoint
  • Error sample or failure reason

Good launch rule

If you cannot explain how to stop the task, inspect its output, and restore the previous state in under 10 minutes, it is not ready for autopilot.

Trust signals

This page is versioned, specific, and built to be printed or copied into an SOP without cleanup. No generic AI filler, no vague advice, and no hidden dependencies.