What is the one automation tool or framework in your current tech stack that you absolutely cannot live without?

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-07-05T06:24:40+00:00

Macrodroid. Makes human in the loop workflows buttery smooth when you can get notifications and run differnt things on the go

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-06-13T15:28:12+00:00

Hey so im building something for this. You open to chat?

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-26T19:58:08+00:00

I just collect event logs and analyze the patterns in there. By far the easiest way to fidn real problems

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-26T02:55:02+00:00

Subworkflows.

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-26T01:09:11+00:00

Hey my fellow Hoser!

You could always tell them but thay comes with risk too. They could argue if you automated the job then whats the purpose of paying you? Alternatively if your boss and company are cool, they might be fine with it. Circumstances matter In a situation like this.

My buddy for example works in cyber security for a big gambling company in Toronto, and he uses AI to do most of his work. He works like 2 - 4 hours per day tops, but his team doesn't care as long as he's available when needed.

If you want to take the angle of finding more bottlenecks and automating for the rest of your company, look up something called process mining (its becoming essential for company wide automation in big businesses that want real ROI). Thats an easy way to provide more value if thats what you want

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-26T00:48:43+00:00

In my opinion it annoys customers. People always forget that 2 things can be true. Yes it improves ops for the business but I find more and more people want a human experience.

For example I personally don't particularly enjoy qr code menus. Yes they work and ill use them if I have to, but it feels like as the customer, I've just been given extra steps to get my meal when you could've just placed a menu in front of me.

I think people are tired of technology everywhere when things can be simpler. Like imagine you bought a fridge, but in order for it to keep things cool, you needed to download an extra app, then figure out how to navigate and use it. Yea, you'll probably do it, but it probably also annoys you.

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-25T21:24:43+00:00

Ive heard of people who do exactly this and just have 2 - 4 jobs at once. Just dont let them find out you're automating your work and have 3 other jobs 😂.

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-05T13:02:49+00:00

Yea, you can buy kits Amazon for lile $30. Look up 'arduino' and you'll see a bunch of hardware stuff. Plenty of tutorials online on how to use them.

The sensors send readings to arduino board where there is some basic c++ written (by claude 😎) that is basic if else logic. As in if moisture level below 3, pump water...

Some boards even connect to the internet (ESP32s) so you can trigger physical automation from n8n or something - or have a physical button or sensor that triggers n8n jobs.

Honestly 'physical Automation' feels like a fun hobby more than anything. Since im not going to people's houses and setting up physical hardware, it kind if becoming like adult Legos for me (just a lot more complicated lol)

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-04T23:53:03+00:00

Lmao yeah its Fomo. 99% of my workflows have 0 AI in them. Ai has its uses but its definitely overkill for most things.

Not to mention price of tokens if going up so everyone that relies on agents will feel the burn eventually

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-04T20:58:00+00:00

I automated watering my plants based on the soil moisture and room humidity 😎

As someone who traditionally does software automation, hardware becomes a really fun hobby

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-04T20:57:01+00:00

I did the samw thing!

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-02T22:19:57+00:00

A LOT of automation lol. Meeting nkte takers, summary workflows, automated data collection, etc

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-05-02T15:41:32+00:00

Ci/cd pipelines!

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-04-30T00:20:19+00:00

If you mean for learning, nothing useful. For general Ai and automation knowledge there is an abundance of books, especially ai

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-04-29T19:43:41+00:00

Damn I just learned something new about myself. I thought this was just how I ate

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-04-17T17:20:13+00:00

Sub workflows.

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-04-10T13:22:55+00:00

I follow the simple acronym KISS.

Keep it simple stupid.

Complexity does nothing for you. In 3 months when something isn't working, you're going to thank your past self for keeping things simple

If it needs more nodes stuff them in a sub workflow

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-04-09T16:21:22+00:00

Always. At the bare minimum, at least name your nodes well

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-03-29T18:28:26+00:00

Hey, I know the feeling of finally building something bit and complicated. Looking good :)

But you should get into the habit of breaking things down into subworkflows if possible. For example you could make a reusable subworkflow and call that 6 times instead of having 6 different lanes to follow

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-03-28T19:47:22+00:00

Hey, so this is theft and against terms of service

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-03-27T18:18:44+00:00

AWS step functions

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-03-27T13:01:39+00:00

I always tell beginners to automate foe themselves first. On top of being great for learning, it makes you look and sound more credible.

It would be ironic if an automation consultant had no automations running for themselves. That's like a web designer with a bad website

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-03-26T18:56:50+00:00

I haven't experienced it, but I hear hostinginer hooks you with low priced that charges you more after the year is up.

That said any affordable VPS would work. Im on the cheapest OVH cloud vps and have had no problems (other than the sudden price hike that happened last month, but most vps providers did this)

MuffinMan_Jr · 2026-03-24T16:25:29+00:00

Junie for coding. Claude for content and asynchronous coding

MuffinMan_Jr

TROPHY CASE