01 / Halt
The agent stops.
Step 3 hits a CRM stage the agent has no rule for. Instead of guessing, it holds the run. Zero messages go out.
Platform / Agent Operations
Agents break.We fix them.
Every Machine-like agent runs under our watch. When a run goes wrong, the agent stops before anything goes out. We find the cause, ship the fix, and tell you what changed. You never operate an agent.
Operations is included in every workload.
No ops fee. No setup fee. No credit card to try.
01Halts before harm
Anything the agent doesn’t recognize is held, not guessed.
02Every fix explained
What broke, what we changed, and why. In plain English.
03One accountable party
See how a fix works Building, running, and fixing the agent is on us.
01What agent operations means
Launch is week one. Operations is every week after.
Definition
Agent operations is the ongoing work of keeping an AI agent correct in production: watching every run, holding anything uncertain, fixing what breaks, and updating the agent as your tools and process change.
Most agents don’t fail on launch day. They fail in month three, when a login expires, an app changes, or a new kind of record shows up. With Machine-like, operations is part of the service, so you never run an agent yourself.
What’s coveredEvery workload
- 01Included
Run monitoring
Every scheduled and triggered run is checked. Late, missed, and failed runs are flagged automatically.
- 02Included
Approval gates
Work that needs your sign-off waits in the Terminal, Slack, or email with the draft attached. Nothing behind a gate moves until you say so.
- 03Included
Holds, not guesses
When the agent meets an input or a case it has no rule for, it stops and holds the work.
- 04Included
Fixes with receipts
We replay the run, find the step that broke, and ship the fix. Every step writes a record: inputs, outputs, timing, and what changed.
- 05Included
Connection upkeep
Expired logins and changed APIs are caught and repaired, and held work is re-run.
- 06Included
Changes on request
Your process changes. Tell us in Slack or the Terminal, and we update the agent.
02Remediation
What happens when a run breaks.
Nothing goes out until it’s fixed.Agent runs fail. Not often, but every agent meets something new eventually. Here is the exact sequence, using a common failure: a lead follow-up agent meets a CRM stage it has no rule for.
02 / Alert
We get the alert.
The hold notifies Machine-like with the run, its inputs, and the step that stopped. You don’t have to notice, triage, or forward anything.
03 / Replay
We replay the run.
We rerun the exact inputs, reproduce the failure, and see what the agent would have done next. The cause comes from the receipts, not a guess.
04 / Patch
The fix ships. You get the note.
We add the missing rule, re-run the held step, and send you a short note: what broke, what we changed, and why.
Run monitorworkflow: lead_followup · run #0183HeldAlert sentReplayingPatched
Ops notified
01enrich_contactsOK
02draft_followupOK
03route_by_stageHeldReplayPatched
04send_after_approvalWaitingGated
Run logIllustrative
- 14:09:08OKenrich_contacts · 14 leads matched
- 14:09:10OKdraft_followup · 14 drafts ready
- 14:09:11HOLDroute_by_stage · stage "Re-engaged" has no rule
- 14:09:11HOLDrun paused · 0 messages sent
Alert · 14:09:12 ETIllustrative
toMachine-like operations
run#0183 · lead_followup
held atstep 03 · route_by_stage
attachedinputs (14 leads) · run log · last good run #0182
your actionnone needed
Replay #0183-r1 · identical inputsIllustrative
- 14:16:40RUNreplay started · sandboxed, nothing sends
- 14:16:42OKsteps 01 and 02 reproduced
- 14:16:43FAILstep 03 reproduced · "Re-engaged"
- 14:18:05CAUSEnew CRM stage added Sep 29 · no routing rule
- 14:18:05NEXTagent would have sent nothing · held as designed
PatchIllustrative
- 14:29:51ADDrule · "Re-engaged" → nurture_followup
- 14:31:40OKstep 03 re-run · 14 leads routed
- 14:31:41GATE14 drafts waiting for your approval
Note sent to you · 14:33 ETWhat broke, what we changed, and why. Nothing was sent during the hold.
04 / 04Sent during hold 0
03Failure modes
Every agent breaks eventually. The question is who fixes it.
Build an agent yourself or run one in an agent tool, and someone on your team has to catch these. Here’s who that someone is with each approach.
| The failureWhat happens | Agents you buildCode or a builder, run by you | Agents you babysitPrebuilt tools you configure and watch | Machine-likeManaged Agent Operations |
|---|---|---|---|
01An expired loginA connected tool logs the agent out. | On you Runs fail quietly until someone notices. You reconnect and redeploy. | On you The tool emails an error. You reconnect and re-run. | On us We catch the failed call and hold the run. If only you can re-authorize, you get a one-click link. Then we replay what was missed. |
02A vendor changes its APIAn app updates and the old call stops working. | On you You read the changelog, debug, and ship a fix. | On you You wait for the vendor to update its connector. | On us We update the integration and re-run the held work. |
03A model update shifts behaviorSame instructions, different output. | On you You find out from a customer. | On you You re-tune the prompts and hope. | On us We review output quality against the standard agreed at scoping and correct the agent when it drifts. |
04An input it hasn’t seenA new field, stage, or format appears. | On you The agent guesses. You clean up after it. | On you It depends on the tool. Often it guesses, too. | On us The agent holds instead of guessing. We add the rule and re-run. |
05Your process changesNew pricing, a new owner, a new step. | On you You rewrite the workflow. | On you You reconfigure it and test it again. | On us Tell us in Slack or the Terminal. We update the agent. |
06A draft isn’t rightWrong tone, wrong fact, wrong person. | On you You edit the draft and patch the prompt. | On you You edit the draft. Next week, again. | On us Reject it at the gate with a note. We fix the cause, not just the draft. |
Comparisons describe common patterns, not a specific product.
04Full transparency
A weekly report your team will actually read.
What ran, what finished, what waited on you, what failed, and what we changed. Built from the run logs, so every line traces back to a receipt.
After-action reportIllustrative example · fictional company
Northline Mechanical
Week 40 · Sep 28 to Oct 4, 202642Runs
39Completed
2Waited on you
1Failed, then fixed
0Missed
What we changed
- #0183Added a rule for the new “Re-engaged” CRM stage and re-ran the held step. Nothing was sent during the hold.
Waiting on you
- #018214 lead follow-up drafts ready for your review.
- #01853 support replies waiting for approval since Thursday.
Next week
- REQThe SEO report moves to Mondays at 06:00 ET, as you asked.
Every line links to its run log in the Terminal.
ReceiptTerminal
run #0182 · lead_followup
started 14:02:57 ET · 6 steps
- 14:02:58OKstart · 14 new leads
- 14:03:06OKenrich_contacts · 14 matched
- 14:05:40OKhubspot.upsert · 14 prepared
- 14:07:20OKdraft_outbound · 14 drafts
- 14:07:24Gateapproval_gate · awaiting owner
- 14:07:25Infoslack.post · #sales-ops notified
GATED14 drafts await owner review
Illustrative receipt. Every run writes one: inputs, outputs, timing, and what changed.
Fix note · run #0183Sent 14:33 ET
Your CRM has a new stage, “Re-engaged.” The agent had no rule for it, so it held the run instead of guessing. We added one: re-engaged leads now get the nurture follow-up.
Nothing was sent during the hold. No action needed from you.
05The operations commitment
Included in every workload. In writing.
Operations isn’t an add-on or a premium tier. It’s the product. Here’s what we commit to, and the short list of what stays with you.
CommitmentEvery workload
- 01Halt on unknown inputThe agent holds instead of guessing.
- Automatic
- 02Failure detectionFailed, late, and missed runs.
- Always on
- 03Alert acknowledgedA person on our team picks it up.
- Within 4 business hours
- 04Fix noteWhat broke, what changed, and why.
- Every change
- 05After-action reportBuilt from the run logs.
- Weekly
- 06Operations feeMonitoring, fixes, upkeep, and changes.
- $0
06Customers
What handing it off feels like.
From founder-led teams who handed real work to Machine-like and stopped thinking about the machinery.
Our partners at Machine-like gave us a more responsive support operation without forcing a massive migration. The agents worked across our systems and kept me in the loop when something needed my attention.
Nick HaleCEO & Co-Founder, fitDEGREE
We looked at a few vendors, including building the agents ourselves. Every option required technical resources that we couldn’t spare. I needed these tasks done, and the team at Machine-like just handled it.
Marthe NaudtsHead of Growth, Espresso AI
Case study · fitDEGREE
A support agent that knows when to hand off.
Ticket classification, context lookup, responses, and record updates, with escalation for anything the agent shouldn’t handle alone.
classify → retrieve context → respond → update record
→ escalate when unsure
Teams that handed off the work
07Common questions
Questions about operations.
What we handle, what stays with you, and what happens when something goes wrong.
What happens if an agent sends something wrong?
Sending, publishing, and record changes can sit behind approval gates you choose during scoping. If a bad output still gets through, we pause the workflow, trace it in the run log, fix the cause, and send you a note on what happened and what changed.
Do you watch runs around the clock?
Detection is automated and always on. Every run is checked, and anything late, failed, or uncertain is held automatically, at any hour. Our team works the fix during business hours, Eastern time, and acknowledges every alert within 4 business hours.
What does drift mean, and how do you catch it?
Drift is when an agent’s output slowly stops matching what you agreed to, usually after a model update or a change in your data. We review output quality against the standard set at scoping and correct the agent when it moves. You can also flag a bad output at any approval gate.
What do I still have to do?
Three things: approve work behind the gates you chose, authorize the tools the agent uses, and tell us when your process changes. You never build, configure, monitor, or debug the agent.
Is operations an extra cost?
No. Operations is included in every workload, from $249 per month per workload. There are no setup, integration, or platform fees.
Who can access my accounts and data?
You authorize each tool through Composio, a managed connection layer, so your raw passwords and API keys never pass to the agent or to us. You can revoke a connection at any time.
What happens if I cancel?
Cancel anytime. We stop your agent’s runs. The work it did stays in your own tools, because that’s where the agent worked.
How is this different from Zapier or Lindy?
Those are tools you configure and keep running yourself. When something breaks, it’s on you. With Machine-like, we build the agent, run it, and fix it. You judge the finished work.
Let’s get back to the work of humans.1
Frontier labs build models. We put them to work and keep them working, so your team can get back to theirs.
14 days of real work once your agent is live · No credit card · Operations included