Most system audits die in the “Discovery” phase. You start with a spreadsheet, but it stalls when nobody can remember what talks to what. Three weeks in, you have a half-finished diagram that’s already outdated.
At Seisan, we use what we call the “Pilot vs. Engine” approach. We’ve developed a prompt chain that turns Claude into a Dependency Mapping Engine—one that systematically identifies every connection, categorizes the integration type, and scores each one for failure risk.
Jump to a Section:
1. The Discovery Graveyard | 2. The 30-Minute Mapping Workflow | 3. The Risk Priority Matrix | 4. The Seisan RuleThe Goal: Turn a tangled, undocumented legacy stack into a complete dependency map with risk scores—in a single 30-minute session with Claude.
The Prompt:
You are an Enterprise Systems Architect specializing in legacy
integration mapping and dependency analysis. I am providing a
list of systems in our technology stack along with their known
connection methods.
Act as my Execution Engine to produce:
1. DEPENDENCY MAP: For every system pair, identify the connection
type (REST API, SOAP, webhook, CSV/SFTP batch, direct DB query,
manual copy-paste) and data flow direction.
2. SINGLE POINT OF FAILURE SCAN: Flag any system that, if it went
down for 4 hours, would cascade into 2+ other systems failing.
3. INTEGRATION TYPE AUDIT: Categorize every connection as:
- GREEN (API/Webhook: automated, real-time, recoverable)
- YELLOW (CSV/Batch: automated but delayed, brittle)
- RED (Manual: human-dependent, error-prone, unscalable)
4. RISK PRIORITY MATRIX: For each connection, score:
- Failure Impact (1-5): What breaks if this connection fails?
- Frequency (real-time / daily / weekly / monthly)
- Recovery Time: How long to restore if it breaks?
- Data Volume: How many records flow through per cycle?
5. COST OF INACTION: For every RED (manual) connection, estimate
the monthly labor cost assuming $45/hr and the error rate
based on typical manual data entry benchmarks.
Output: A structured dependency report with a prioritized
remediation roadmap. Start with the highest-risk connections
that should be automated first.
Here is our system inventory:
[PASTE YOUR SYSTEMS LIST HERE]
Use this checklist alongside the AI audit to pressure-test your integration layer:
A dependency map is a diagnostic, not a cure. If your map reveals more than two RED connections handling mission-critical data, you don’t have an integration problem—you have an architecture problem. And no amount of duct tape will fix it.
Every manual CSV transfer is costing you labor hours and introducing error rates that compound monthly. Every undocumented API connection is a ticking clock. The question isn’t whether it will break—it’s whether you’ll know when it breaks.
This prompt guide is a starting point—a fast way to surface hidden dependencies and quantify integration risk. But it does not replace a formal systems architecture review conducted by engineers who understand failure modes, data governance, and enterprise middleware.
If your stack handles financial transactions, healthcare data, real-time operations, or regulated workloads, you need human architects validating every connection. Seisan offers full-scope integration audits that go beyond what any prompt can deliver—architecture review, middleware selection, data flow modeling, and hands-on remediation. Reach out to our team and we’ll scope an engagement that fits.
A mid-market manufacturing company came to Seisan after a failed ERP migration. The migration stalled because nobody could document how their legacy systems were connected. They’d spent six weeks in discovery with their previous vendor and still didn’t have a complete dependency map.
When our team ran the equivalent of the mapping prompt above—and then followed it with a hands-on architecture review—we found:
We worked with their IT team over a focused 4-week sprint to remediate every finding:
The result: the ERP migration that had been stalled for 3 months was completed in 6 weeks, on budget, with zero unplanned downtime.
The takeaway: The AI prompt surfaced 11 of the 14 undocumented connections in under 30 minutes. But it took experienced integration architects to validate the findings, design the failover patterns, and ensure the remediation didn’t introduce new single points of failure.
Ready to see what’s actually connected in your stack? Whether you’re planning a migration, auditing your integration layer, or just want to stop worrying about what breaks next, we can help you get there.
Schedule a Discovery Call with John