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Engineering10 min read

The Automation Mindset: If You Do It Twice, Script It

I have 47 shell scripts, 6 CI workflows, and a cron job that texts me when my SSL cert is expiring. Here's the mindset behind automating everything.

By Jason TeixeiraSeptember 8, 2025
AutomationScriptingDevOpsProductivityBash
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Last Tuesday, I ran a database migration, tested 3 API endpoints, checked the Stripe webhook logs, verified the CI pipeline was green, and deployed to production. Total time: 4 minutes.

It used to take 45.

The difference isn't that I got faster at clicking buttons. It's that I stopped clicking buttons entirely.

The Rule

If I do something manually twice, I automate it the third time.

Not "when I have time." Not "next sprint." The third time. Because the fourth time is coming, and the fifth, and the hundredth.

My Automation Stack

Deploy Script (replaced 12 manual steps)

\\

Reader route

article -> proof -> offer

ReadClusterProofScope

cluster

AI Engineering

intent

Engineering

route

next step

What to do with this

Turn the note into a build path.

If this topic maps to a real business problem, keep reading the cluster, study the academy path, or route the work into a scoped engagement.

Jason Teixeira
Written by
Jason Teixeira
Founder, Sage Ideas Studio · Principal Engineer
livebuild a1556e22026-06-19 03:29Z
// solo studio// no analytics resold// every commit human-reviewed