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automation-strategy

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Use when deciding whether a process is worth automating, sizing ROI and build-vs-buy, choosing an automation platform, or diagnosing why a fleet of automations keeps breaking — the decision layer before anyone builds. NOT building the flow (that is `automation-flows`, or `n8n` / `make` / `zapier` / `power-automate` to drive a live platform).

skills/automation-strategy/SKILL.md

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# Automation strategy — decide whether, where, and how before anyone builds

This is the discipline layer of the automation suite. It answers three questions that come *before* the first node is wired: **should this be automated at all?**, **on what platform, and is a platform even the right tool vs code?**, and **what orchestration guarantees does every automation have to meet so the fleet doesn't rot?** No platform API, no importable JSON, no code lives here — the moment the decision is made, you route to the skill that builds it.

Building the flow (design + importable artifact) → `../automation-flows/SKILL.md`. Driving a specific platform's live API/MCP → `../n8n/SKILL.md`, `../make/SKILL.md`, `../zapier/SKILL.md`, `../power-automate/SKILL.md`. A typed API client in code → `../api-connector-builder/SKILL.md`. Receiving webhooks in your own app → `../webhooks/SKILL.md`.

Every fact about pricing and platform capability below moves fast. Treat the `≈` figures as hedges and re-check the vendor page at author time; the honest limits (Zapier can't create Zaps via public API; Power Automate can't create end-user "My flows" cleanly via API) are called out where they matter and expanded in the references.

## 1. Should you automate at all?

Most "we should automate this" instincts are wrong — not because automation is bad, but because the process underneath isn't ready, or the payoff isn't there. Gate on four factors, all of them, before writing a line:

- **Frequency** — how many times per week/month does this run? A once-a-quarter task rarely earns its maintenance cost.
- **Time saved per run** — minutes of human toil removed each time. Two minutes × 1,000 runs beats an hour × 3.