The renewal notice arrives and the team discovers that "export available" means a folder of chat transcripts. The finished documents are elsewhere, approvals are referenced by internal identifiers, and the reusable instructions cannot be connected to the tasks that tested them. Rebuilding is expensive.

Test exit during the pilot. Ask someone who did not build the workflow to retrieve a completed result, explain its authorization, and repeat the job from exported material. That separates a downloadable archive from information that stays useful after the vendor leaves.

An MCP discussion about portable execution history asks which relationships between calls and outputs should survive across implementations. The buyer's version: can another person or system understand what this work depends on?

Name what must survive#

Start with the jobs the business must still do after exit, and leave file formats for later: use final deliverables, explain past actions, preserve approved methods, honor deletion decisions, and continue essential workflows. Each needs a different part of the archive.

A final spreadsheet needs formulas and source references.
A decision history needs timestamps, actors, targets, and outcomes.
A reusable procedure needs its version, scope, owner, and tests.
Credentials are reissued or reconnected through the destination's secure process, never copied into a general export.

Exit job	Material to test	Failure that matters
Use completed work	Documents and structured outputs	Files open but links or formulas fail
Explain an action	Decision and destination evidence	Approval cannot be tied to the changed object
Continue a method	Instructions, scope, and tests	Another agent cannot tell when to use it
Respect access	Ownership and permission information	Export broadens who can read sensitive data
Remove old copies	Deletion process and confirmation	Active copies remain after agreed closure

Run a small exit rehearsal#

Choose three completed tasks: a success, a corrected result, and a denied or failed action. Export each with the documented method, preserve the original package, and test a copy. Assign a reader with business context and no access to the original application.

Ask that reader to identify the request, accepted output, sources, relevant approval, and known uncertainty within a time allowance. A package that takes days to decode is complete and useless.

Suppose an exported renewal brief contains a discount recommendation and a link to approval 812. If approval 812 only resolves inside the old service, export its details and connect them to the exact proposed action. A screenshot helps a person read it; a stable identifier with a structured relationship allows automated checking.

Repeat the read-only portion of the task with a different agent. Expect adaptation, since different models will not produce identical outputs from portable instructions. Measure it, identify proprietary dependencies, and find which retained assets reduce rebuilding.

Price the transition honestly#

An exit cost includes more than an export fee. Count reconnecting systems, revalidating permissions, translating methods, testing results, running old and new services in parallel, and training operators. Some costs come with any change; others come from dependence on one vendor's hidden state.

Separate what must happen immediately from what can stay in a read-only archive. A high-volume daily workflow needs a replacement before cancellation; historical artifacts need accessible storage and an owner. Treating every old conversation as a live migration makes exit look impossible.

If a material export is missing, write it into the purchase decision: a scheduled export, a contractual deliverable, or a narrower initial workflow. Turn a salesperson's assurance into a demonstrated process or a specific term before a critical dependency rests on it.

Keep agent choice connected to retained work#

Keeping an existing agent is easier when company knowledge and methods live outside any one agent. That leaves two tests, export of business information and migration of permissions, which are separate purchasing questions.

Use enterprise procurement to confirm export, retention, and transition terms. The build, buy, or connect guide separates components you own from services you buy.

Repeat the exit rehearsal before a major renewal or after adopting a new type of retained information. Record what exported, what another reader could use, what needed manual repair, and the estimated transition effort, while negotiation is still possible.