For the GitLab Transcend "Life After Code" hackathon I built Ghost Customers : three synthetic customers who walk every build, file issues in their own voice, approve AI fixes only when the fix works for them , and close their own issues once production passes.

The goal was the hardest autonomy level, hands-off : you set the intent and walk away. Getting there taught me one rule I wish I'd known on day one:

A flow can't wake a flow. GitLab Duo Agent Platform triggers only fire on human actions.

This post is about what that rule broke, and the design it pushed me into, which I now think is the right design anyway.

The loop

Three personas, each checking something real customers hit and teams usually skip:

Persona Who Checks

Dana RSVPs from her phone on slow 4G RSVP works on a 375px screen, page loads in under 3 s

Sam Blind, keyboard and screen reader only Every field has an accessible name, Enter confirms

Priya Organizer with an Excel guest list A "CSV UTF-8" export from Excel imports cleanly

On…