LLDP and CDP discovery are often treated as nice-to-have operational data, but they can become a very practical safety net for network automation. Before a script, CI pipeline or AI-assisted workflow changes an interface, VLAN, port-channel or routing adjacency, it should know what is physically connected to that port right now.
This article shows a simple, vendor-neutral pattern for turning neighbor discovery into a lightweight source-of-truth check. It fits the Start Here networking topics, Data Center Networking and AI Infrastructure & Automation sections because cabling truth matters in data centers, branch networks and AI infrastructure clusters alike.
