Crew memos · Workflows
When not to automate
A workflow that happens twice a year does not need a connection. A person is cheaper.
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Automation is for a handoff that already has a shape and happens often enough that retyping is the cost. A single workflow is one trigger and one destination. If you cannot trace one real item from arrival to the system of record, the engagement is discovery, not a connection.
We also refuse the silent failure. Every automation we ship has an exception path to a person. A runbook covers the day a password or a column name changes. If that runbook would be longer than the workflow, the job is probably custom software.
Document processing is the version for packets: contracts, intake forms, invoices. Low-confidence reads wait in a queue. They do not get filed as if they were certain.
Core · v10
The refusals are specific.
Twice a year is not a workflow. It is a calendar reminder. A process you cannot trace with one real item is not ready for a connection. A packet you are unwilling to review when the read is unsure is not ready for document processing.
A runbook longer than the workflow means the job has too many special cases to be a connection. That is usually custom software, or a decision to leave it with a person. Both are acceptable. Pretending otherwise produces a brittle script and a channel full of exceptions nobody owns.
If you are unsure, say so in the note. Recommending that you not automate is a complete answer.