⌘CodeQuest
Automation & Workflows

Lesson 7 of 7

Lesson 7 — Build Your Own Automation Project

Plan, build and test a real automation that solves a problem you actually have.

🟡 Intermediate 90 XP

Learn it

Every automation project starts with a clear problem, not with a tool. Define what is slow, repetitive or error-prone today.

Plan before building: list inputs, outputs, triggers, actions, errors and how you will know it worked.

Start small. Build a minimum viable version, test it with real data, then add features.

Document your automation so someone else (or future you) can understand and fix it.

Key terms

MVP
Minimum Viable Product — the smallest version that proves the idea works.
Rollback plan
How to undo the automation if it causes problems.
Edge case
An unusual but possible input or situation.
Success metric
A measurable way to know the automation is valuable.
Maintenance
Keeping an automation working as systems change.

Project ideas for students

Pick something that saves you real time.

  1. 1Attendance reminder: Email parents if their child is marked absent by 10:00.
  2. 2Homework collector: Rename and organise uploaded files by subject and date.
  3. 3Club signup bot: Form response → sheet → welcome email → Slack post.
  4. 4Daily digest: Pull headlines from three RSS feeds and email a summary.

A one-page project brief

textPROJECT: Late homework reminder bot
PROBLEM: Teachers spend 20 min/day chasing late work.
USERS: Teachers and students.
TRIGGER: Homework deadline passes at 23:59.
FLOW:
  1. Compare submissions list to class list.
  2. For each missing student, send a polite reminder.
  3. Add names to a 'missing work' sheet for the teacher.
SUCCESS: Reminders sent without teacher effort; missing work drops 30%.
ROLLBACK: Teacher can disable the flow in one click; no grades are changed.

The brief covers the problem, users, trigger, flow, success metric and safety.

Try it

Order the steps of a good automation project.

  • 1Test with normal and edge cases
  • 2Plan inputs, outputs and flow
  • 3Measure success
  • 4Pick a real, repetitive problem
  • 5Build a small first version
  • 6Document and schedule maintenance

Challenge

Write a one-page project brief for an automation you would actually use. Include: problem, users, trigger, flow, success metric and rollback plan. Then list the first three tests you would run.

Pick whichever way suits you — every mode earns the same bonus XP.

Write at least 40 more characters to submit.

Mark your own work

Guided walkthrough — 0/3 clues revealed

  1. Clue 1 locked — reveal it only if you get stuck.
  2. Clue 2 locked — reveal it only if you get stuck.
  3. Clue 3 locked — reveal it only if you get stuck.

Each clue costs 5 XP (never below 23 XP). You'd earn 45 XP right now.

Quiz time

Question 1 of 4Score 0

MVP means…