Predictika · Data center change safety

An AI agent's fabric change, checked before it is pushed

An AI or AIOps agent proposes a batch of changes to a leaf-spine data center fabric: configuration changes, software upgrades, route policy changes, link shutdowns. Before anything is pushed, the batch goes to the Predictika validator, which checks it against the fabric graph (leaves, spines, border leaves and their ESI-LAG pairs) and the customer's own change policy, and returns every finding in one answer. The validator runs on the graph a fabric management tool exports, with the customer's own policy. The graph, the tickets and the change policy on this page belong to a fictional customer, Harbor Lake Hosting; they are not any vendor's rules.

Scope: change batches for leaf-spine data center fabrics with leaves, spines, border leaves and ESI-LAG pairs. See everything this validator covers

This validator checks one kind of request: a batch of proposed changes to a leaf-spine fabric, from an AI agent, an AIOps tool or a person, against the fabric graph and a change policy. It handles any batch of such changes on the devices in the graph, not only the scenarios shown on this page. It does not generate configurations and does not push anything.

  • Covered: redundancy — both leaves (or both border leaves) of an ESI-LAG pair in one batch are blocked; the pair comes from the graph, not from the batch.
  • Covered: scope, rollback and window — a fabric-wide change with no rollback reference, or outside the approved change window, is blocked; a narrower change outside the window needs approval.
  • Covered: agent actions on live state — an agent action to shut a link whose optic is degraded while the redundant path is already down is blocked, because it would take the endpoint off the fabric; with the redundant path up, the same action is allowed.
  • Covered: approvals and velocity — border leaf changes need a minimum approval rank on the ticket, and a limit on spine and border leaf changes per window sends the batch to a person.
  • Supplied by the customer's own systems, not by the validator — the fabric graph, the ticket approvals, the change policy values, whether each change is inside the approved window, the rollback reference, and the optic and redundant-path state from monitoring.
  • Not covered — configuration syntax, traffic or routing simulation, capacity, and any rule the customer has not written into its policy. Other rules can be added.
The AI agentProposes the batch of fabric changes and says it is ready to push.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

8 scenarios in 4 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch

What the agent proposes

The AI agent says

Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.

Proposing agent: AI agent (scripted)

Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run

Predictika validator


      

        
        
        
      

      
Waiting for the call.

      
    

  

  
  

    
Where rules-based change approval gets it wrong
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Our assessment of what a typical rules-based change approval workflow (ticket fields, approval chains and validation rules) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.

    
What the validator caughtTypical rules-based change approvalPredictika
Both halves of a redundant pair in one batchOnly with workarounds
A change-approval workflow looks at one change at a time. Seeing that two changes in the same batch hit the two halves of a pair needs a view across the whole batch and the pairing from the topology, which is usually done in a script outside the workflow.		The whole batch is evaluated together against the graph; both changes are reported, each naming its partner.
Fabric-wide scope that depends on a rollback and a windowOnly with care
Approval rules can require a rollback or a window for a change type, but scope has to be set correctly on each ticket, and a rule per combination grows quickly.		Scope, rollback reference and window are checked together for each change in the batch; partial fixes show exactly what is still missing.
An agent action that depends on live stateOnly with workarounds
Whether it is safe to shut a degraded link depends on the state of the redundant path at that moment. Ticket rules do not see telemetry, so the check ends up inside the agent or not at all.		The monitoring state travels with the change as a field, so the same shutdown is blocked with the redundant path down and allowed with it up.
Approval rank by device role, plus a rate limitOnly with care
A rank requirement per device role and a limit on core changes per window are separate thresholds that approval chains handle one at a time.		Both are checked on every batch and reported together, with the numbers behind them.

  

  

    
What this validator catches: findings from its test cases
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Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the batch; approval findings need a person to sign off. The wording shown is an example from the test runs; device names and numbers change with the batch. The policy values come from a fictional customer.

    
1Both halves of a redundant pair in one batch (blocks): change item-01 on leaf-101a and its ESI-LAG partner leaf-101b are both in this batch. Change policy: the two halves of a redundant pair are changed in separate batches.
2Degraded link shut while the redundant path is down (blocks): change item-02 would shut a link on leaf-101a whose optic is degraded, but the redundant path is already down. Shutting it would take the endpoint off the fabric; restore the redundant path first.
3Device not in the fabric graph (blocks): change item-01 names leaf-999z, which is not a device in fabric harborlake-dc1.
4Fabric-wide change outside the change window (blocks): change item-01 is fabric-wide and is outside the approved change window. Change policy allows no fabric-wide change outside a window.
5Fabric-wide change without a rollback (blocks): change item-01 is fabric-wide and has no rollback reference. Change policy: stage a rollback before a fabric-wide change.
6Unknown change ticket (blocks): change item-01 is under ticket chg-0000, which is not in the change system.
7Border leaf change needs higher approval (needs approval): change item-01 is on border leaf border-leaf-1a and ticket chg-7104 carries rank 1 approval; change policy requires rank 3 for border leaf changes.
8Change outside the change window (needs approval): change item-01 on leaf-103b is outside the approved change window. Change policy: a person must approve it.
9Too many spine and border leaf changes (needs approval): this batch brings spine and border leaf changes to 4 within the policy window; change policy allows 3.

  

  

    
Scenarios and results
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The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.

    
1. Fabric-wide change with a link shutdown: Fabric-wide change, no rollback, no window, and a shutdown with the redundant path down

    
The agent's request. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7102: a fabric-wide route policy change through spine-1, to go at the first available slot, and the shutdown of the interface on leaf-101a, whose optic monitoring has flagged as degraded (rollback rb-9301), in tonight's approved change window. One spine or border leaf change has already been made in this window. It is ready to push.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Fabric-wide change without a rollback. Change item-01 is fabric-wide and has no rollback reference. Change policy: stage a rollback before a fabric-wide change.
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  • Fabric-wide change outside the change window. Change item-01 is fabric-wide and is outside the approved change window. Change policy allows no fabric-wide change outside a window.
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  • Degraded link shut while the redundant path is down. Change item-02 would shut a link on leaf-101a whose optic is degraded, but the redundant path is already down. Shutting it would take the endpoint off the fabric; restore the redundant path first.
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2. Fabric-wide change with a link shutdown: Rollback added; window and redundant path still wrong

    
The agent's request. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7102: a fabric-wide route policy change through spine-1 (rollback rb-9201), to go at the first available slot, and the shutdown of the interface on leaf-101a, whose optic monitoring has flagged as degraded (rollback rb-9301), in tonight's approved change window. One spine or border leaf change has already been made in this window. It is ready to push.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Fabric-wide change outside the change window. Change item-01 is fabric-wide and is outside the approved change window. Change policy allows no fabric-wide change outside a window.
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  • Degraded link shut while the redundant path is down. Change item-02 would shut a link on leaf-101a whose optic is degraded, but the redundant path is already down. Shutting it would take the endpoint off the fabric; restore the redundant path first.
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3. Fabric-wide change with a link shutdown: Rollback, approved window and redundant path restored

    
The agent's request. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7102: a fabric-wide route policy change through spine-1 (rollback rb-9201) in tonight's approved change window, and the shutdown of the interface on leaf-101a, whose optic monitoring has flagged as degraded (rollback rb-9301), now that the redundant path for that link has been restored, in the same window. One spine or border leaf change has already been made in this window. It is ready to push.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Redundant path is up. Change item-02 shuts a link on leaf-101a while its redundant path is up; traffic moves to the redundant path.
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4. Redundant pairs: Both leaves of one ESI-LAG pair

    
The agent's request. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7101: a configuration change on leaf-101a (rollback rb-9101) and a configuration change on leaf-101b (rollback rb-9102). Both are single-device changes in tonight's approved change window. One spine or border leaf change has already been made in this window. It is ready to push.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Both halves of a redundant pair in one batch. Change item-01 on leaf-101a and its ESI-LAG partner leaf-101b are both in this batch. Change policy: the two halves of a redundant pair are changed in separate batches.
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  • Both halves of a redundant pair in one batch. Change item-02 on leaf-101b and its ESI-LAG partner leaf-101a are both in this batch. Change policy: the two halves of a redundant pair are changed in separate batches.
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5. Redundant pairs: The second change on another pair

    
The agent's request. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7101: a configuration change on leaf-101a (rollback rb-9101) and a configuration change on leaf-102a (rollback rb-9102). Both are single-device changes in tonight's approved change window. One spine or border leaf change has already been made in this window. It is ready to push.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
6. AIOps link shutdown: Shut a degraded link, redundant path down

    
The agent's request. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7103: shut the interface on leaf-101a, whose optic monitoring has flagged as degraded (rollback rb-9301), and make a configuration change on leaf-102a (rollback rb-9302). Both are in tonight's approved change window. One spine or border leaf change has already been made in this window. It is ready to push.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Degraded link shut while the redundant path is down. Change item-01 would shut a link on leaf-101a whose optic is degraded, but the redundant path is already down. Shutting it would take the endpoint off the fabric; restore the redundant path first.
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7. AIOps link shutdown: Redundant path restored

    
The agent's request. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7103: shut the interface on leaf-101a, whose optic monitoring has flagged as degraded (rollback rb-9301), now that the redundant path for that link has been restored, and make a configuration change on leaf-102a (rollback rb-9302). Both are in tonight's approved change window. One spine or border leaf change has already been made in this window. It is ready to push.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Redundant path is up. Change item-01 shuts a link on leaf-101a while its redundant path is up; traffic moves to the redundant path.
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8. Approvals: Border leaf upgrade on an engineer ticket

    
The agent's request. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7104: a software upgrade on border-leaf-1a (rollback rb-9401) and a configuration change on spine-2 (rollback rb-9402). Both are single-device changes in tonight's approved change window. Two spine or border leaf changes have already been made in this window. It is ready to push.

    
Verdict: Needs approval.

    
    
      
  • Border leaf change needs higher approval. Change item-01 is on border leaf border-leaf-1a and ticket chg-7104 carries rank 1 approval; change policy requires rank 3 for border leaf changes.
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  • Too many spine and border leaf changes. This batch brings spine and border leaf changes to 4 within the policy window; change policy allows 3.
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Narration transcript
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The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.

    
    
      
  1. Welcome to a demo of Predictika's Validator. An AI or AIOps agent proposes a batch of changes to a leaf-spine data center fabric: configuration changes, software upgrades, route policy changes, and more. Before anything is pushed, the batch goes to the Predictika validator, which checks it against the fabric graph (leaves, spines, border leaves and their ESI-LAG pairs) and the customer's own change policy, and returns every finding in one answer. The validator runs on the graph a fabric management tool exports, with the customer's own policy. The graph, the tickets and the change policy on this page belong to a fictional customer, Harbor Lake Hosting; they are not any vendor's rules.
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  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
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  3. The agent says. Please push this batch on the Harbor Lake Hosting fabric under ticket chg-7102: a fabric-wide route policy change through spine-1. One spine or border leaf change has already been made in this window. The rest of the request is on screen.
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  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
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  5. Blocked, with three findings, all in one answer. Change item-01 is fabric-wide and has no rollback reference. Change policy: stage a rollback before a fabric-wide change. Change item-01 is fabric-wide and is outside the approved change window. Change policy allows no fabric-wide change outside a window. Change item-02 would shut a link on leaf-101a whose optic is degraded, but the redundant path is already down. Shutting it would take the endpoint off the fabric; restore the redundant path first.
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  6. The validator returned three blocking findings in one answer. A check that reads one field at a time would pass most of this; it shows only when the choices in the batch are checked against each other.
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  7. What this shows: for fabric-wide scope that depends on a rollback and a window, a rules-based change approval is error-prone for this.
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  8. Now the agent resubmits.
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  9. The corrected request. It changes the item 1 to Route policy change on spine-1, fabric-wide, rollback rb-9201, outside the change window.
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  10. It calls the validator again.
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  11. Still blocked, with two findings, all in one answer. Change item-01 is fabric-wide and is outside the approved change window. Change policy allows no fabric-wide change outside a window. Change item-02 would shut a link on leaf-101a whose optic is degraded, but the redundant path is already down. Shutting it would take the endpoint off the fabric; restore the redundant path first.
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  12. One finding cleared; still blocked on fabric-wide change outside the change window and degraded link shut while the redundant path is down.
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  13. The agent resubmits once more.
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  14. The revised request. It changes the item 1 to Route policy change on spine-1, fabric-wide, rollback rb-9201, inside the change window and the item 2 to Shut a link on leaf-101a, one device, rollback rb-9301, inside the change window; optic degraded: yes; redundant path: Up.
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  15. It calls the validator once more.
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  16. This time the validator clears it.
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  17. The validator also returns the line-item quote, on screen.
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  18. Both earlier findings are cleared.
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  19. Three problems caught in one call, fixed in two passes, and a clean batch. That is the value of Predictika's validator: catching mistakes before the change is made.
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