Automation Build Spec for Contractor Handoff
Tool-agnostic automation spec: process map, trigger, dedupe key, data contract, failure queue, approval gates, and acceptance tests.
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
Automating your content approval workflow is definitely possible. You'd want to think about which steps can be automated and which still need human review. A typical workflow might involve some kind of form submission, notifications to reviewers, and then scheduled publishing. I could help you outline the key steps and automation points, but it would depend on what tools you're currently using and what your approval process looks like. What platforms are you publishing to?
AUTOMATION BLUEPRINT: Weekly Content Approval Workflow CURRENT MANUAL WORKFLOW (6 hours/week) 1. Creators submit content via Slack (scattered, no tracking) 2. Manager reviews in email threads (context lost) 3. Designer makes revisions (back-and-forth, 3+ cycles) 4. Approval spreadsheet updated manually 5. Scheduled publish via platform dashboard (human error risk) AUTOMATION BLUEPRINT (target: 45 min/week) STEP 1: CENTRALIZED INTAKE (Day 1 implementation) Tool: Notion form → database Automation: Zapier watches form, creates Airtable record with timestamp Capture: Content title, platform (YouTube/LinkedIn), draft link, creator name Trigger: Form submission → Slack #content-approval notification to manager STEP 2: DESIGN REVIEW ASSIGNMENT (automated) Rule: If video > 3min, auto-assign to Designer A; else Designer B Trigger: Airtable field update → Slack mention @designer + link SLA: 24-hour turn-around or escalate to lead STEP 3: REVISION TRACKING (automated) Tool: Comments in Notion (linked to AirTable) Count: Track revision cycles (red flag if > 2 cycles) Trigger: Designer marks "Ready for Review" → DM manager with context STEP 4: APPROVAL WORKFLOW (semi-automated) Manager reviews in Notion (single source of truth) Click "Approve" button → Zapier + Make.com integration Sends content to platform API + updates Airtable status Create Slack message in #published-this-week STEP 5: SCHEDULE & PUBLISH (automated) Extract publish date + time from Airtable Buffer or platform API posts on schedule Success notification sent to creator + manager BOTTLENECKS REMOVED - No more email thread confusion (centralized Notion) - No more manual spreadsheet updates (Airtable auto-sync) - No more forgot-to-publish errors (automated scheduling) - No more unclear SLAs (Notion automation timestamp) TIME SAVINGS 5 items/week × 30 min context-switching = 2.5 hours saved Manual publishing + status updates = 1.5 hours saved Total: 4 hours/week (67% reduction) PLATFORM REQUIREMENTS - Notion Pro (forms, API) - Airtable (workflow automations) - Zapier or Make (glue layer) - YouTube API key (scheduling) - LinkedIn API token (scheduling)
About this skill
Your automation sent the same email twice. It failed for a week and nobody noticed. Or the person who built it left, and now nobody knows how it works. This skill writes the spec before anyone builds, so the builder knows exactly what done means and you can test the result against it.
What it does
- Maps the real process, including the habitual steps people forget to mention, and makes a build-now, fix-data-first, or keep-manual call for each step with the time-saved math
- Defines the trigger, the source of truth, and a composite dedupe key, so retries and status toggles never double-send
- Writes a field-by-field data contract and record states, so a failed run resumes where it stopped instead of repeating finished steps
- Specifies retry rules, an exception queue, alert owners, and approval gates for money, client messages, and deletions
- Plans the first run and the cutover: what happens to existing records on day one, a shadow run, and the date the manual process stops
- Writes acceptance tests the builder must pass, and diagnoses existing automations that keep breaking
What you get
A compact build spec covering the process map, trigger and key, data contract, states, failure handling, approval gates, first-run and cutover plan, acceptance tests, runbook, and build order. It works in any no-code tool or in custom code.
Best for
Creators, agencies, and small teams handing an automation to a VA, freelancer, or developer, and anyone redesigning automations that duplicate, drop records, or fail silently.
SKILL.md preview
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name: automation-build-spec-handoff
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