When Not to Use Causet
Causet is for workflows where state transitions, failures, and history matter. Not every endpoint needs it.
Causet is probably not the right fit when
- the workflow is simple CRUD with no meaningful lifecycle
- state does not need auditability
- failures are easy to retry manually
- the team does not need replay, fork, repair, or timeline inspection
- the system has no important async or agent-driven behavior
- every step must complete inside one database transaction and you will not split that boundary
- the work is a throwaway script or UI-only state (form drafts, client caches)
If logs and a single UPDATE are enough, Causet is overkill for that path.
Causet is a good fit when
- a workflow has multiple steps
- state transitions matter
- failures are expensive or hard to explain
- logs are not enough
- webhooks, jobs, or queues create uncertainty about what completed
- AI decisions or tool calls need to be audited
- teams need replayable production state
Good first candidates
| Pain | Starting point |
|---|---|
Inline await chains in API routes | Retrofit an Existing App |
| Webhook handlers that grew into mini workflow engines | Use Webhooks to Update Existing Flows |
| Partial failures with no visibility | Timeline · Replay |
| AI decisions with no audit trail | AI in Causet |