Automating Your Solo Dev Workflow (Without Losing Your Mind)

Solo work has a hidden tax: repetitive tasks that steal your attention (deployments, tests, dependency updates, backups, status pings). This guide outlines a practical way to automate the common pieces - without turning yourself into a full-time DevOps engineer.

The Automation Mindset

Rule of thumb: If you do it more than twice, automate it.

Why automate?

• Consistency: Machines don't forget steps
• Speed: Automated processes often run faster and more consistently
• Focus: Less context switching, more deep work
• Scalability: Your automation scales; your time doesn't

Warning: Don't automate broken processes. Fix them first, then automate.

The Essential Automations

1. Continuous Deployment (Ship Without Thinking)

The manual way:

1. git push origin main
2. SSH into server
3. Pull latest code
4. npm install
5. npm run build
6. Restart server
7. Check logs
8. Cross fingers

The automated way:

1. git push origin main
2. ☕ (It's already live)

How to set it up:

For Next.js, React, Vue:

• Deploy to Vercel or Netlify
• Connect your GitHub repo
• Push to main = automatic deploy

For Node.js backends:

• Use Railway, Render, or Fly.io
• Connect GitHub repo
• Automatic deploys on push

Benefit: Fewer manual steps per deploy, and fewer “did I forget something?” moments.

2. Automated Testing (Catch Bugs Before Users Do)

The problem: Manual testing is inconsistent and slow.

The solution: Run tests automatically on every commit.

How to set it up (GitHub Actions):

Create .github/workflows/test.yml:

name: Test

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: '18'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test
      - run: npm run lint

Now every push:

• Runs your test suite
• Checks code quality
• Prevents broken code from deploying

Benefit: Bugs get caught earlier, before users find them.

3. Dependency Updates (Stay Secure Without the Headache)

The manual way:

• Check for updates weekly
• Test each one
• Hope nothing breaks

The automated way:

• Dependabot sends PRs with updates
• Tests run automatically
• Merge if green, investigate if red

How to set it up:

Create .github/dependabot.yml:

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "weekly"
    open-pull-requests-limit: 5

Dependabot will:

• Check for updates weekly
• Create PRs for each update
• Run your tests automatically

Benefit: Less background maintenance work.

4. Code Quality Checks (Ship Clean Code)

The problem: Code reviews are inconsistent when you're solo.

The solution: Automated linting, formatting, and type-checking.

How to set it up:

Install tools:

npm install -D eslint prettier husky lint-staged
npx husky-init

Add to package.json:

{
  "lint-staged": {
    "*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}": [
      "eslint --fix",
      "prettier --write"
    ]
  }
}

Update .husky/pre-commit:

#!/usr/bin/env sh
. "$(dirname -- "$0")/_/husky.sh"

npx lint-staged

Now every commit:

• Auto-formats your code
• Fixes linting issues
• Prevents bad code from being committed

Benefit: Less time debating style, more time shipping.

5. Database Backups (Sleep Better at Night)

The scary truth: If you're not backing up your database, you're one bug away from disaster.

The automated solution:

For Supabase:

• Built-in daily backups (free tier)
• Point-in-time recovery (pro tier)

For self-hosted Postgres:

# Add to cron (runs daily at 2am)
0 2 * * * pg_dump -U myuser mydb | gzip > /backups/db-$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).sql.gz

Store backups offsite:

• Use rclone to sync to S3/Cloudflare R2
• Keep 7 daily, 4 weekly, 12 monthly backups

Benefit: Lower risk of losing important data.

6. Monitoring & Alerts (Know When Things Break)

The problem: You don't know your site is down until a customer tells you.

The solution: Automated uptime monitoring.

How to set it up:

Option 1: UptimeRobot (Free)

• Monitors your site every 5 minutes
• Sends email/SMS when down
• Free for up to 50 monitors

Option 2: Better Stack (Paid)

• Uptime monitoring
• Error tracking
• Performance monitoring
• Incident management

What to monitor:

• Site uptime (main URL)
• API health endpoints
• Database connectivity
• Critical user flows

Benefit: Faster detection when something breaks.

7. Customer Communication (Stay Connected Without Constant Checking)

The problem: You check email 50 times a day, breaking focus.

The solution: Automated responses and notifications.

How to set it up:

For support:

• Use Help Scout, Intercom, or Crisp
• Auto-respond: "Got it! I'll respond within 24 hours."
• Route critical issues to Slack/SMS

For onboarding:

• Use Customer.io, Loops, or Resend
• Drip emails for new users
• Automated welcome sequence

Example onboarding flow:

1. Sign up → Welcome email (immediate)
2. Day 1 → "Getting started" tips
3. Day 3 → "Here's what's possible" inspiration
4. Day 7 → "Need help?" check-in

Benefit: Less inbox churn and fewer interruptions.

The Power Combo: GitHub Actions Workflows

Example end-to-end workflow:

name: Production Pipeline

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test
      - run: npm run lint
      - run: npm run type-check

  build:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build

  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to Production
        run: |
          curl -X POST ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_WEBHOOK }}

      - name: Notify Slack
        run: |
          curl -X POST ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }} \
            -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
            -d '{"text": "🚀 Deployed to production!"}'

What this does:

1. Runs tests
2. Checks code quality
3. Builds the app
4. Deploys to production
5. Notifies me on Slack

All automatically. Every push to main.

A Practical Automation Stack

Code & Deploy:

• GitHub (version control)
• GitHub Actions (CI/CD)
• Vercel (frontend hosting)
• Railway (backend hosting)

Monitoring:

• Better Stack (uptime + errors)
• Sentry (error tracking)
• PostHog (analytics)

Communication:

• Resend (transactional emails)
• Crisp (support chat)
• Slack (personal notifications)

Maintenance:

• Dependabot (dependency updates)
• ESLint + Prettier (code quality)
• Husky (git hooks)

Total cost: ~$50/month (scales with usage)

Common Pitfalls

1. Over-automation

• Don't automate processes you don't understand
• Start simple, add complexity as needed

2. No monitoring

• Automated ≠ fire-and-forget
• Set up alerts for failed deployments

3. Ignoring security

• Never commit API keys to GitHub
• Use GitHub Secrets for sensitive data
• Rotate secrets regularly

4. No rollback plan

• Keep previous deployments available
• Know how to rollback quickly
• Test your rollback process

My Automation Journey

Month 0: Manual everything

• 60-hour weeks
• Frequent bugs in production
• Stressed about deployments

Month 3: Basic CI/CD

• Automated deployments
• Automated tests
• 50-hour weeks

Month 6: Full automation

• All the above plus monitoring, backups, updates
• 30-hour weeks
• More time building, less time firefighting

The ROI: 30 hours saved per month = 360 hours/year

Your Automation Roadmap

Week 1: Start with deployment

• Set up automatic deployments
• Test the process 10 times
• Get comfortable with it

Week 2: Add testing

• Write basic tests for critical paths
• Set up CI to run tests on push
• Fix any issues that come up

Week 3: Code quality

• Add ESLint + Prettier
• Set up pre-commit hooks
• Clean up existing code

Week 4: Monitoring

• Set up uptime monitoring
• Add error tracking
• Configure alerts

Month 2+:

• Automate dependency updates
• Add more comprehensive tests
• Optimize your workflows

The Bottom Line

Time before automation: 60 hours/week Time after automation: 30 hours/week Setup time: ~20 hours total ROI: Break-even in 2 weeks, then 30 hours saved every week forever

Automation isn't about being lazy. It's about being smart with your time.

Every minute you spend automating is time you get back to build, create, and ship.

Start with one automation this week. Just one. See how it feels. Then add another.

Six months from now, you'll wonder how you ever worked without it.

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