In response to determining that computer generation of an abstract workflow plan for a network-accessible service resulted in failure, a method attempts to automatically recover from the failure. Where attempting to automatically recover from this failure is unsuccessful, the method applies remedy rules, to assist in debugging the failure. In response to determining that computer assignment of a physical plan for the abstract workflow plan resulted in failure, the method attempts to automatically recover from the failure. Where attempting to automatically recover from this failure is unsuccessful, the method applies remedy rules, to assist in debugging the failure. In response to determining that computer evaluation of a runtime configuration for the physical plan resulted in a failure, the method attempts to automatically recover from the failure. Where attempting to automatically recover from this failure is unsuccessful, the method applies remedy rules, to assist in debugging the failure.