Project workflow-consolidate-overlapping-automations · revised 11 October 2026
Project
Consolidate overlapping automations into one owned, documented set
We inventory the automations in the accounts you name, settle each overlap with you, and return a smaller set with an owner, an alert and a runbook for every one.
This asks for a proposal by email. Nothing is charged, and nothing starts, until you have agreed the list, the price and the terms in writing.
The result you are buying
Automations built one at a time overlap: two Zaps fire on one trigger, a scenario repeats what an Airtable automation already does, and none has a named owner or a working alert. Each one is small, but together they create duplicates, hide failures and make every change risky. Tidying them without knowing what depends on what can break a process nobody remembered.
Who it’s for: An operations manager or business owner who inherited a tangle of Zaps, scenarios and Airtable automations built by several people, some of them gone.
Usually starts when: Nobody can say what all the automations do, two of them seem to do the same job, a failure alert goes to nobody, or a plan limit forces a decision about what to keep.
The result: You receive an inventory of every automation on the agreed list, a recorded decision for each overlap, a smaller set in which every remaining automation has a named owner and a failure alert proven by a test, and a short runbook. You accept the finished set, not each internal step.
How the work fits together
The project is complete when the inventory is accepted, every overlap has a recorded decision, and every remaining automation has a named owner and an alert proven by a test. The optional repairs count towards that only where you agreed them. You accept the finished set, not each internal step.
Hook up failure alerts for up to five automations so a named person is told Job Included
A deliberate synthetic failure in each of up to five automations raises an alert that reaches a shared mailbox or channel read by a named owner and a named backup.
One alert job for each group of up to five remaining automations on one platform: two or three jobs for up to ten automations across two platforms
Every remaining automation needs a working alert; the same job you can buy on its own.
One event, one record: stop a Zap creating duplicates Job Optional
A synthetic event from a disposable source creates one record in a disposable destination, and repeating or replaying that event on the test copy never adds a second one.
For each Zap with a duplicate path found in the inventory, as agreed
Set one bad record aside in a Make scenario and tell a named person Job Optional
On a copy fed by a disposable source, one bad record in a synthetic batch is held or skipped as you agree and a named person is alerted. The good records are processed once and the next run is tested.
For each Make scenario that halts on a bad record, as agreed
Make one Airtable automation run on the records it should Job Optional
Synthetic records covering three agreed cases make one Airtable automation run successfully or skip deliberately as documented, and a failed run reaches a named person.
For each Airtable automation that fails or skips records, as agreed
Poll an API on a schedule without missing a record or acting on one twice Job Optional
A scheduled poll of one documented API processes every new or changed record once in effect, including a late arrival and a kill at every step, proved on a synthetic copy.
Only if a scheduled script is found that polls an API, and you agree to include it
How an engagement works
The price covers the agreed list of automations only. Automations added later, or found beyond the agreed list, are quoted separately, and any that turn out to be much larger than they looked are re-scoped with you.
How it starts
You send the platforms, a rough count of automations and what triggered the tidy-up, without any credentials.
We propose the scope and a fixed price for the agreed list, and you agree it and the terms in writing. Nothing starts before then.
You create the least-access invitations. We build the inventory and bring you the overlaps to decide.
We prepare merged or corrected copies and alert routes, and test them with synthetic data.
You switch the agreed changes on, and we send the runbook and the final summary.
Who decides what
You decide each overlap and accept the finished set. You switch changes on, and you approve any change to credentials, plans or connected accounts.
Handover
You receive the inventory, the decisions, the corrected copies with change notes, the alert table and the runbook. Anything left unfinished is handed back with notes.
Sharing your product safely. Send the platforms and a rough count only, never credentials or customer data. After you agree the project, invite us with the least access each platform offers and send synthetic test data.
What is included, and what is not
- The inventory of the agreed list, with each automation's owner, trigger, systems, last run and alert route, and a count of any automations left out of scope
- A list of overlaps and loops with the decision you recorded for each, and for each switched-off automation its switch-off time and catch-up checklist
- Corrected or merged copies with change notes, and the synthetic test results
- Alert routes for every remaining automation, with a received test alert for each
- A runbook: what each remaining automation does, who owns it, what an alert means and what to check first
Included
- Up to ten automations in total, or the number agreed in the written proposal, on one or two platforms; the proposal names the list. Automations in those accounts beyond the agreed list are counted and recorded as out of scope, and are quoted separately before any work on them
- An inventory of the agreed list: each automation's trigger, the apps it touches, its last run, its owner and how it would alert
- Identification of overlaps and loops, and a recorded keep, merge or retire decision for each, made by you
- For each automation you switch off, the switch-off time and a catch-up checklist: what to compare in the source app for the period it was off, because switching an automation back on does not replay what it missed
- Merged or corrected copies for the decisions that need one, tested with synthetic data, and a failure alert for every remaining automation
- A short runbook for the remaining set
- Scheduled scripts and other code jobs are inventoried only if the polling job is added; otherwise a script found in the accounts is named as out of scope
Not included
- Switching live automations on, off or deleting them: you do that from our notes
- Moving automations from one platform to another, or building new ones
- Changing plans, credentials, connected accounts or billing
- Merging or deleting duplicate records that earlier automations already created
- Real customer data in tests, or any message sent to a real contact
How we know it’s done
Agreed with you before work starts. Each check produces evidence you keep.
The inventory lists every automation on the agreed list as shown by each platform's own list on a stated date, each with an owner, trigger, systems, last run and alert route, and states how many other automations the platforms hold that are out of scope.
Evidence: The inventory and the platform lists it was compared with.
Every overlap or loop identified has a keep, merge or retire decision recorded by you, every retired automation was switched off by you rather than deleted, and each has its switch-off time and catch-up checklist recorded.
Evidence: The decisions list with your recorded choices, switch-off times and checklists.
Every remaining automation has a named owner and an alert that delivered a test alert to the shared place.
Evidence: The alert table with a received test alert for each automation.
Each merged or corrected copy passed an agreed synthetic test before you switched it on.
Evidence: The synthetic test results in the change notes.
Sign-off. You accept the finished set: the inventory, the decisions, the alerts and the runbook. You switch the changes on, and you can send any item back with comments before you accept.
If it fails. An item we cannot complete is named with the reason and what it would take, and is taken off the list with a matching change to the price. Nothing is billed as delivered that you have not accepted.
When it fits, and when we stop
It fits when
- You own the platform accounts, or can obtain the account holders' written agreement, and can give us the least access the platforms offer to read automations and edit copies
- Someone on your side can decide, for each overlap, whether to keep, merge or retire an automation
- Each automation to be changed can be copied and tested with a disposable trigger source and a disposable destination, as the repair jobs describe
We stop and tell you if
- Nobody on your side can decide what each automation is for or which to retire
- The accounts cannot be inspected without credentials that give access to live customer data
- An overlap involves automations outside the agreed list, or the accounts hold many more automations than the agreed number, and the list cannot be settled without them; we re-quote with you before going on
- Most automations can only be tested against live customers
What could go wrong
Nothing is deleted by us. Retired automations are switched off by you and can be switched back on, but switching one back on does not replay what it missed while it was off: for example, Zapier documents that a Zap does not fire for data created before it was turned on. The catch-up checklist says what to compare in the source app for the off period. Corrected copies sit beside the originals until you choose to switch them on. If the project stops, accepted changes stay and the rest is handed back with notes.
Scroll the table sideways to read it all.
| Risk | How we handle it |
|---|---|
| Retiring an automation breaks a process nobody remembered. | We never delete. You switch an automation off, keep it for an agreed observation period and can switch it back on, and the inventory records who depends on it. |
| Records created while an automation was off are never processed, even after it is switched back on. | The switch-off time is recorded and the catch-up checklist names what to compare in the source app for that period, so anything missed is handled by hand. The observation period is chosen with that gap in mind. |
| The inventory misses an automation in an account we cannot see. | We compare it with each platform's own list on a stated date, count what lies outside the agreed list and name any account that was out of scope. |
| Merging two automations changes what happens to live data. | We build merged copies, test with synthetic data and compare outputs with the originals before you switch anything on. |
Each copy and the inventory are reviewed separately from the work that produced them, and you accept the finished set. No human supervisor is included unless your proposal names one. At launch the work is largely automated, and we say so.
Stays with a person
- You decide each overlap
- You switch every change on
- You approve any change to credentials, connected accounts or plans
Access we would need
- The least access each platform offers for reading automations and editing copies, granted by you
Questions
Do you delete the automations we retire?
No. You switch them off and keep them for an agreed observation period, so any dependency nobody remembered can be found and the automation can be switched back on. Switching back on does not replay what was missed while it was off, so we write a catch-up checklist for each.
Do you build new automations in this project?
No. This project consolidates what exists. New builds are separate jobs.
How is this different from keeping automations monitored?
A project ends when the agreed set is inventoried, decided and alerted. Monitoring and repair is a standing service that continues month after month.
Why does the project cost more than the separate jobs it contains?
The component jobs each fix one automation or one alert. The project adds the inventory of up to ten automations, the decisions on which overlap, merged copies, the catch-up checklists and the runbook, and you accept the finished set rather than each step.
Send an enquiry
Send us
- The platforms and roughly how many automations each holds
- What triggered the tidy-up: duplicates, a missed failure, a plan limit or a departing builder
- Who can decide what to keep, and who switches changes on
- Do not send passwords, API keys, customer data or an account invitation in the first enquiry
Later, once you agree
- Team-member invitations with the least access each platform offers for reading automations and editing copies, which you create and can revoke
- A shared mailbox or channel for alerts and the named owners for each automation
- Only if the polling job is added: a repository or code-export route you control with no production credentials, and a description of where a checkpoint and handled keys can be stored
- A company-controlled secure handoff agreed before any access
Your accounts, automations and data stay yours. We read automations through the least access each platform offers, and we change only copies. You decide each overlap, you switch changes on and you hold every credential.
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