---
title: "Build and debug a workflow"
description: "Compose transformations safely and find the first step that diverges from expectations."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.serialize.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Build and debug a workflow

## Build from an invariant

Define something that must be true after each layer. A Base64 decoder should produce plausible bytes; a decompressor should produce a recognizable file signature or text; a parser should produce structured fields.

## Add one step at a time

1. Add the first operation and verify its output.
2. Add the next operation only when the representation matches its expected input.
3. Keep Auto Bake on for small data; switch to manual execution for expensive chains.
4. Save a known-good checkpoint before exploring branches.

## Find a failing step

Set a breakpoint before the suspicious operation and step through the chain. Temporarily disable later steps. Common causes include the wrong alphabet, character encoding, compression format, key representation, initialization vector, byte order, or line delimiter.

> **Read operation arguments literally**
>
> A value shown as text, hexadecimal, or Base64 can represent different bytes even when it looks similar. Confirm the argument's selected data type before debugging the algorithm.

Source: https://help.serialize.dev/workflows/build-and-debug/index.mdx