Pipeline

A workflow shaped like an assembly line: work flows one direction through stages, each stage's output feeding the next — discover → draft → fact-check → publish. Items move independently, so item one can be at stage three while item two is still at stage one.

The difference from a workflow, in one line: a workflow can branch and send work back a step; a pipeline only ever goes forwards.

Why it matters: pipelines make quality inspectable stage by stage — when the output is bad you look between stages to find where good became bad, instead of staring at one opaque blob of AI and guessing.

Related: Workflow · Phase