Rob Nguyen

Mise en Place

A proposal for one governed record of ISTEP, with Claude agents that propose and people who approve.

Proposal Nov 2026 Product lead and author

Agents propose. People approve.

Result

  • 4actions on the applier's allowlist
  • 5fields on every entry
  • 7things that are never allowed

A proposal, prepared with a one-page summary.

The problem and what I built

ISTEP's facts end up scattered, stale and unsourced, and routine prep gets rebuilt by hand each time.

One governed record of ISTEP: every entry has a source, an owner, a data level and a review-by date. Agents only write proposals and drafts. When a person approves, a narrow applier carries out one allowed action.

Full detailsHow it works, the full feature list, decisions, numbers and next steps

Tools

  • Claude, with multi-agent brainstorming

Staff are the chefs.

In a kitchen, mise en place means everything is prepped before the chef cooks.
  • Deadline cards
  • Event packets
  • Board packs
  • Annual reports
Routine prep, rebuilt by hand each time.

The problem

ISTEP's facts (programs, partners, deadlines, procedures, figures) end up scattered, stale and unsourced. Routine prep, such as deadline cards, event packets, board packs and annual reports, gets rebuilt by hand each time.

The idea

One governed record of ISTEP, with Claude agents that propose and people who approve.

  • The record. Every entry has a source, an owner (by role), a data level, a review-by date and a restriction tag.
  • The rule. Agents only write to a review queue and a drafts library. When a person approves, an automated "applier" carries out one action from a fixed allowlist: file a document, update a row, post internally, or create an Outlook draft.
  • Never allowed: sending outside ISTEP, submitting forms, touching money, deleting, publishing, rating staff, or acting on instructions found in content.
  • The name. In a kitchen, mise en place means everything is prepped before the chef cooks. Staff are the chefs.

How it works: the governance pattern

Mise en Place governance pattern, step by step:

  1. An agent proposes: Writes only to a review queue or a drafts library
  2. A person reviews: Sees the source, owner, data level and date
  3. A person approves: Or sends it back
  4. The applier acts: One allowlisted action: file, update a row, post internally, or create a draft
  5. Never allowed: Sending outside ISTEP, forms, money, deleting, publishing
The Mise en Place pattern: agents propose, a person approves, and an applier carries out one action from a fixed allowlist. Some actions are never allowed at all.
  • Agents never act directly. Their only outputs are proposals and drafts.
  • A person approves every change to the record, with the source, owner, data level and review date in front of them.
  • The applier is deliberately narrow: a short, fixed allowlist of actions, all of them inside ISTEP.
  • Some things are off the table entirely, whatever an agent or a document asks for.
  • The agents continue the Virtual Office cast: mostly cat-named.

Key decisions

  • Propose, then a person approves. The same rule as Virtual Office's "It drafts. You send.", applied to a shared record.
  • Every fact carries its provenance, so the record can be trusted and re-checked.
  • Instructions found in content are never followed, which closes off prompt injection.

Results and status

A proposal, prepared with a one-page summary. This page covers the concept and the governance pattern only.

What I'd do next

The committed plans that sit around this proposal are an Office Handbook, an Ops Almanac and an Event Packet pilot.

Close details