On AI, Automation, and Critical Thinking
Last year, I fired up Relay.app to automate a key process I had been completing manually. (I'll keep the specifics to myself here.) A few minutes of work saved me probably a few hours in the past twelve months. It all ran like clockwork.
I woke up the other day to find this email in my inbox:
I suspect that the software vendor cut off or restricted access to its API. Relay.app and its users were casualties.
Once you've automated an important manual process, who wants to revert? Not this geek. In today's short post, I'll explain how Claude Code and I built a better mousetrap.
Searching for Alternatives
When I asked Claude Code what I should use as a Relay.app replacement, it logically spit out the similar no-code tool n8n. Before continuing, I questioned its recommendation (as you always should with any AI). What's to stop Vendor X from doing the same to n8n next week or next year?
Precisely nothing.
A little research and trial-and-error with Claude Code revealed that no current API would allow me to do what I wanted. Undeterred, I suspected that we could write a Python script that calls the Playwright automation library. After all, that approach has paid dividends over the last few months. (Again, I'm being intentionally vague here.)
A little critical thinking goes a long way.
I invoked the insanely useful /grill-me skill and confirmed the viability of the Python/Playwright approach. Claude Code and I then went to work. In a single session lasting 45 minutes, we cooked up a new, more robust automation.
Phil Simon
Simon Says
My newfangled Python/Mac solution works, but it probably isn't permanent. Code breaks. At some point in the future, there's a good chance that I'll have to perform some maintenance on it.
This little yarn demonstrated, though, the power and variety of tools available to curious citizen developers. Once again, no API? No problem.
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