Automatisch

Automatisch is an open‑source, self‑hostable workflow automation engine that competes with commercial platforms such as Zapier and Integromat. From a developer’s perspective, it is essentially a microservice‑oriented orchestration layer that exposes a REST/GraphQL API for defining triggers, actions, and conditional logic. Workflows are stored as JSON documents in a PostgreSQL database; the runtime pulls these definitions, watches for external events via webhooks or polling adapters, and executes the corresponding action handlers. Because all data lives on your own infrastructure, GDPR compliance and sensitive‑data handling become trivial—no vendor‑managed data stores or external SaaS endpoints are required.

• Language & Frameworks: The core engine is written in TypeScript/Node.js using the NestJS framework, which provides dependency injection, modular routing, and a built‑in CLI for generating new integrations.
• Database: PostgreSQL is the sole persistent store, holding workflow definitions, user accounts, audit logs, and integration credentials.
• Messaging & Scheduling: A lightweight message queue (BullMQ) powered by Redis handles task queues, retries, and delayed jobs.
• Containerization: The repo ships a docker‑compose.yml that orchestrates the API server, PostgreSQL, Redis, and optional reverse proxy. Docker Swarm or Kubernetes can also be used; the Helm chart is forthcoming in the Enterprise edition.
• Extensibility Layer: Each integration lives as a separate NestJS module, exposing a trigger and one or more action services. The module interface is documented in the SDK, allowing contributors to add new connectors by implementing a handful of methods.

• Event‑Driven Triggers: Webhook listeners, cron jobs, and polling adapters.
• Conditional Logic & Loops: Built‑in flow control primitives (if/else, switch, for‑each).
• Data Transformation: A small expression language (similar to Handlebars) lets developers map payloads between services.
• API Exposure: Automatisch can itself act as an API gateway; developers can expose custom endpoints that trigger workflows.
• Webhooks & Callbacks: Incoming webhooks are routed to the appropriate workflow in real time, with support for signature verification.
• Monitoring & Logging: Structured logs are written to PostgreSQL and can be forwarded to ELK/Prometheus stacks.

Running Automatisch in production is straightforward: a single Docker Compose stack on a VPS or cloud VM, or a Kubernetes deployment using the provided manifests. The application is stateless except for its database and Redis store, enabling horizontal scaling of worker nodes to handle high throughput. Backups are handled via standard PostgreSQL dumps, and the system supports zero‑downtime migrations through Flyway scripts embedded in the repository. For environments that demand higher availability, the Enterprise edition offers a distributed worker architecture and built‑in clustering support.

The plugin system is the heart of Automatisch’s extensibility. Each integration module declares:

• Trigger schema: Input parameters, webhook URLs, and polling intervals.
• Action schema: Required fields, optional settings, and response handling.
  Contributors can publish new modules to the public registry or ship private integrations bundled with the Enterprise edition. The open‑source license (AGPL‑3.0) ensures that any derivative work remains free, while the Enterprise license allows closed‑source extensions for customers who need proprietary connectors.

The documentation is organized into a developer guide, API reference, and integration tutorial. The SDK provides TypeScript typings for all public interfaces, making it easy to build custom connectors without reinventing the wheel. Community support is active on Discord and GitHub, with frequent code reviews and an open issue tracker that encourages pull requests. The project’s modular architecture means you can cherry‑pick components—use only the API server and PostgreSQL if you want a minimal deployment, or spin up the full stack for end‑to‑end testing.

• Enterprise Data Pipelines: Automatically sync customer records between Salesforce, HubSpot, and an internal ERP.
• Compliance Automation: Trigger GDPR‑compliant data deletion workflows when a user requests account removal.
• DevOps Ops: Wire up GitHub webhooks to trigger Kubernetes deployments or Slack notifications on CI/CD pipelines.
• Healthcare Integration: Connect electronic health record (EHR) systems to analytics dashboards without exposing PHI to third‑party services.

• Data Sovereignty: All data stays on your premises, satisfying strict regulatory requirements.
• Vendor Neutrality: No lock‑in; you can migrate to another platform or cloud provider without losing workflow definitions.
• Performance: Node.js/NestJS + BullMQ provides low‑latency execution for high‑volume event streams.
• Open Source Community: Rapid feature development and security audits are driven by a global contributor base.
• Cost‑Effective: Self‑hosting eliminates subscription fees, and the lightweight stack runs on modest hardware.

In short, Automatisch offers developers a powerful, low‑friction automation engine that blends the flexibility of open source with enterprise‑grade scalability and compliance.