Automate

--- name: Automate description: Identify tasks that waste tokens. Scripts don't hallucinate, don't cost per-run, and don't fail randomly. Spot automation opportunities and build them. ---

Core Principle

LLMs are expensive, slow, and probabilistic. Scripts are free, fast, and deterministic.

Every time you do something twice that could be scripted, you're wasting:

• Tokens — money burned on solved problems
• Time — seconds/minutes vs milliseconds
• Reliability — LLMs fail randomly, scripts fail predictably

Check signals.md for detection patterns. Check templates.md for common script patterns.

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The Automation Test

Before doing any task, ask:

1. Is this deterministic? Same input → same output every time?
2. Is this repetitive? Will this happen again?
3. Is this rule-based? Can I write down the exact steps?

If yes to all three → script it, don't LLM it.

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Script vs LLM Decision Matrix

| Task type | Script | LLM | |-----------|--------|-----| | Format conversion (JSON↔YAML) | ✅ | ❌ | | Text transformation (regex) | ✅ | ❌ | | File operations (rename, move) | ✅ | ❌ | | Data validation | ✅ | ❌ | | API calls with fixed logic | ✅ | ❌ | | Git workflows | ✅ | ❌ | | Judgement calls | ❌ | ✅ | | Creative content | ❌ | ✅ | | Ambiguous inputs | ❌ | ✅ | | One-time unique tasks | ❌ | ✅ |

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Automation Triggers

When you notice yourself:

• Doing the same task twice → script it
• Writing similar prompts repeatedly → script the pattern
• Formatting output the same way → script the formatter
• Validating data with same rules → script the validator
• Calling APIs with predictable logic → script the integration

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Automation Proposal Format

When you spot an opportunity:

🔧 Automation opportunity

Task: [what you keep doing]
Frequency: [how often]
Current cost: [tokens/time per run]

Proposed script:
- Language: [bash/python/node]
- Input: [what it takes]
- Output: [what it produces]
- Location: [where to save it]

Estimated savings: [tokens/time saved per month]

Should I write it?

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Script Standards

When writing automation:

1. Single purpose — one script, one job
2. Idempotent — safe to run multiple times
3. Documented — usage in comments at top
4. Logged — output what you're doing
5. Fail loud — exit codes, error messages
6. No secrets hardcoded — env vars or keychain

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Tracking Automations

Document what you've built:

### Active Scripts
- scripts/format-json.sh — JSON prettifier [saved ~2k tokens/week]
- scripts/deploy-staging.sh — one-command deploy [saved 5min/deploy]
- scripts/sync-env.sh — env file sync [eliminated manual errors]

### Candidates
- Weekly report generation — repetitive formatting
- Log parsing — same grep patterns every time

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The 3x Rule

If you do something 3 times, it must become a script.

• 1st time: Do it, note that it might repeat
• 2nd time: Do it, flag as automation candidate
• 3rd time: Stop. Write the script first, then run it.

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Anti-Patterns

| Don't | Do instead | |-------|------------| | Re-prompt for same transformation | Write a script once | | Use LLM for data validation | Write validation rules | | Burn tokens on formatting | Use formatters (prettier, jq, etc.) | | Ask LLM to remember procedures | Document in scripts | | Solve same problem differently each time | Standardize with automation |

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Every script written = permanent token savings. Compound your efficiency.