How to use EXECUTION.pipeline for agent routing, classification, and short-circuiting

Use EXECUTION.pipeline when a supervisor or routing agent needs classifier-assisted routing before the normal reasoning path decides what to do.

Concept

EXECUTION.pipeline is the agent execution pipeline, not a Knowledge Base ingestion pipeline, custom operational pipeline, or workflow. It sits in the agent execution path and can classify the user’s message, compare the result with known routing targets, short-circuit obvious single-intent requests, and keep ambiguous or risky requests in the normal guided reasoning path. Use it when routing quality, latency, or tool selection depends on a fast classification pass. Do not use it to orchestrate long-running work. Durable waits, approvals, schedules, and multi-hour work belong in workflows. The pipeline is disabled by default unless the project-level gate and effective configuration enable it. Agent-level configuration can tune or opt out of behavior, but project configuration still matters for whether the pipeline actually runs.

Minimal working example

SUPERVISOR: Support_Router
GOAL: "Route support requests using classifier-assisted pipeline decisions"
PERSONA: "Concise support routing supervisor"

EXECUTION:
  pipeline:
    enabled: true
    mode: sequential
    model: "gpt-4.1-mini"
    shortCircuit:
      enabled: true
      confidenceThreshold: 0.9
    keywordVeto:
      enabled: true
      keywords: ["refund", "cancel", "fraud"]
    intentBridge:
      enabled: true
      programmaticThreshold: 0.85
      guidedThreshold: 0.5
      outOfScopeDecline: true
      multiIntentSignal: true

HANDOFF:
  - TO: Billing_Agent
    WHEN: "The user asks about invoices, balances, billing errors, refunds, or payments"
    SUMMARY: "User needs billing support"
  - TO: Technical_Support_Agent
    WHEN: "The user asks about device setup, errors, troubleshooting, or service outage"
    SUMMARY: "User needs technical support"
  - TO: General_Fallback_Agent
    WHEN: "The request is unclear, unsupported, or does not match a specialist"
    SUMMARY: "User needs clarification or general support"

AGENT: Billing_Agent
GOAL: "Resolve billing, invoice, refund, and payment questions"
PERSONA: "Billing specialist"

AGENT: Technical_Support_Agent
GOAL: "Troubleshoot device, software, and service issues"
PERSONA: "Technical support specialist"

AGENT: General_Fallback_Agent
GOAL: "Clarify unclear support requests and route users to the right next step"
PERSONA: "General support specialist"

How it works

The classifier first tries to identify the user’s intent category. If there is one high-confidence intent with a known category, short-circuiting can let the router choose the target without spending a full reasoning turn. Short-circuiting is intentionally conservative. It does not fire for low-confidence results, null categories, multiple intents, disabled short-circuit config, or keyword-veto matches. Keyword veto is useful for words like refund, cancel, fraud, or sensitive tool names where you want guided reasoning or escalation to inspect the request before direct routing. intentBridge controls what happens after classification:

Tier	Typical situation	Expected behavior
Programmatic	Classification is confident enough for deterministic handling	Route or decline according to configured policy
Guided	Classification is useful but not certain	Hide or prioritize routing choices while allowing reasoning
Autonomous	Classifier is absent, empty, or too uncertain	Let the normal reasoning path decide

Since none of the HANDOFF entries above declare HISTORY, each specialist now receives the full conversation history by default (the current platform default when HISTORY is omitted).

Common variations

Fast single-intent routing

Enable shortCircuit for high-volume support routers where users usually ask one clear thing, such as “What is my balance?” or “My device will not start.”

Sensitive keyword veto

Enable keywordVeto when certain words should prevent direct short-circuiting. This keeps risky requests in guided reasoning even when the classifier is confident.

Multi-intent detection

Enable multiIntentSignal when users often ask for more than one thing in a single turn, such as “Cancel my subscription and refund my last payment.”

Out-of-scope decline

Use outOfScopeDecline when the classifier can confidently detect that a request does not belong to any supported category.

Verification

Test a high-confidence single-intent request and confirm the intended specialist is selected.
Test a low-confidence or broad request and confirm it stays in guided reasoning.
Test a multi-intent request and confirm it does not short-circuit as a single route.
Test a veto keyword like refund or fraud and confirm short-circuiting is blocked.
Inspect traces for classifier result, confidence, selected category, veto keywords, and final route.

Production readiness checklist

Routing categories are distinct and map clearly to handoff targets.
Fallback target exists for unclear, unsupported, or no-match requests.
Project-level pipeline configuration is enabled where the agent is deployed.
Thresholds are tested against real utterances, not only synthetic examples.
Sensitive keywords are reviewed by product, support, and compliance owners.
Trace dashboards monitor classifier confidence, short-circuit rate, veto rate, fallback rate, and misroutes.

Common mistakes

Mistake	Why it happens	How to avoid it
Treating `EXECUTION.pipeline` as a workflow	Both use the word pipeline	Use workflows for durable orchestration; use `EXECUTION.pipeline` for agent execution routing
Enabling short-circuit for ambiguous routing	It looks faster	Keep a fallback path and use conservative confidence thresholds
Forgetting project-level enablement	Agent config looks complete	Verify effective runtime pipeline config, not only ABL syntax
Missing fallback agent	The classifier cannot always match	Add a fallback route and test no-match requests

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	What to check
Pipeline config compiles but does not run	Project gate is absent or disabled	Check effective project pipeline config
Obvious request does not short-circuit	Confidence below threshold, multiple intents, null category, or veto keyword	Inspect classifier trace data
Sensitive request routes too quickly	Keyword veto is missing or disabled	Add sensitive keywords and retest
Classifier invents a category	Category is not in known routing set	Confirm the route categories and fallback behavior

​Concept

​Minimal working example

​How it works

​Common variations

​Fast single-intent routing

​Sensitive keyword veto

​Multi-intent detection

​Out-of-scope decline

​Verification

​Production readiness checklist

​Common mistakes

​Troubleshooting

​Related articles