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By Doug Silkstone | March 10, 2025
This article has been superseded by the AI Automation Maturity series: This was an early theoretical exploration of “Betterflow” - a conceptual product for component registries. My thinking has evolved significantly since then. For the updated, production-tested approach with real implementations, read the new series:The new series reflects modern agent architectures (function calling, MCP servers) and includes real case studies from 50+ implementations. Start with Part 1.
Everyone’s rushing to automate everything, but nobody can find what’s already been built. Teams duplicate work, automations sit undocumented, and integration becomes a nightmare. What if we had something like Storybook, but for automation components?

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The Core Problem

Organizations face a critical gap in their automation efforts. While 77% of IT professionals view automation as essential, most implementations remain isolated and undocumented. The challenges are systemic:

Isolation

Automations exist as disconnected silos without cross-team visibility

Redundancy

Multiple teams independently build similar solutions

Integration Friction

Manual integration efforts create bottlenecks and dependencies

Documentation Gaps

Poor documentation prevents reuse and causes inefficiencies
US Acute Care Solutions automated processing of 20 million medical records annually, saving over 100,000 hours of work—yet such achievements often remain isolated within departments.

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Introducing Betterflow

Betterflow is an early-stage component registry platform designed to address fragmentation in organizational automation efforts. Inspired by how Storybook revolutionized UI component development, Betterflow enables teams to build “Lego-style ecosystems” where both developers and no-code users can access standardized business processes.

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Core Features

Betterflow operates as a modular component registry that enables:
  • Code blocks accepting inputs and producing outputs with documentation
  • Bundling blocks into reusable components
  • Central registry generating production-ready queues, APIs, and npm packages
  • Integration with n8n and Make.com for workflow compatibility
Key Principle: Build once, use everywhere. Every automation becomes a discoverable component that compounds organizational value.

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Technical Foundation

The Betterflow system leverages:

Schema Validation

TypeScript/Zod for type-safe schemas and runtime validation

Endpoint Generation

Next.js/NestJS/Fastify for automatic API endpoint creation

Documentation

Swagger/OpenAPI for interactive documentation and testing

Cloud Access

ngrok for secure cloud access tunneling
Components automatically generate:
  • API endpoints
  • Interactive testing interfaces
  • Integration templates
  • npm packages

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Addressing Implementation Barriers

Red Hat research identified that “six of the 10 barriers to automation were people-culture oriented,” including insufficient training and organizational resistance—not purely technical obstacles.
Betterflow addresses these through four key principles:

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1. Grassroots Empowerment

Employees can easily create and document automation opportunities without deep technical expertise. The platform democratizes automation while maintaining production standards.

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2. Component Registry

A central discovery mechanism prevents teams from reinventing the wheel. Every component is:
  • Searchable by functionality, team, or use case
  • Documented with clear inputs, outputs, and examples
  • Versioned for compatibility tracking
  • Governed with ownership and lifecycle management

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3. Systematic Governance

Built-in version control, ownership tracking, and lifecycle management ensure components remain maintainable over time.

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4. Interactive Testing

Swagger UI and ngrok enable browser-based validation before integration. Test components in isolation, verify behavior, and ensure compatibility—all before touching production systems.
// Example: Testing a component locally
const testComponent = await betterflow.test({
  component: 'invoice-processor',
  input: sampleInvoiceData,
  environment: 'staging'
})

console.log(testComponent.output) // Verify expected behavior

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Organizational Benefits

Betterflow delivers value at every organizational level:

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For Individual Contributors

Discovery

Simplified discovery of existing solutions

Speed

Accelerated implementation via pre-built components

Learning

Reduced learning curves through comprehensive documentation

Confidence

Testing before integration ensures reliability

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For Technical Teams

  • Standardized automation patterns across the organization
  • Elimination of duplicative efforts
  • Improved component quality through systematic testing
  • Scalable expansion via modular design

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For Leadership

  • Strategic alignment between automation and business objectives
  • Measurable metrics on component usage and value creation
  • Faster time-to-market for new capabilities
  • Cost reduction through component reuse

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Measuring Success

Impact assessment includes tracking:
  • Reuse Metrics
  • Time Savings
  • Adoption
  • Integration
  • Component reuse rates across teams
  • Number of teams leveraging each component
  • Cross-departmental collaboration indicators

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Bridging Strategy to Execution

Betterflow addresses the gap between leadership vision and technical reality:
PerspectiveTraditional ChallengeBetterflow Solution
ExecutiveStrategic initiatives disconnected from implementationClear traceability from components to strategic objectives
ManagementDifficulty standardizing approaches across teamsCentralized governance and component registry
IndividualRepeatedly solving problems that may already be solvedDiscoverable components with clear documentation
Real Impact: Junior developers can build components that power executive dashboards, potentially replacing expensive SaaS solutions. That’s the kind of democratization that makes this approach worthwhile.

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Key Terms

Understanding the Betterflow ecosystem:
Grouped code blocks with defined input schemas, outputs, documentation, and handlers. Components are the primary unit of reuse in Betterflow.
Individual reusable snippets or logic modules. The atomic building blocks of automation.
Centralized repository listing components, schemas, documentation, and endpoints. The discovery engine for organizational automation.
Open-source node-based automation tool enabling visual workflow creation. Betterflow components can be consumed as n8n nodes.
API documentation and testing tools that provide interactive exploration of component capabilities.
Service creating secure tunnels for exposing local endpoints publicly, enabling safe testing of components.

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Moving Forward

Without a structured approach like Betterflow, automation efforts remain fragmented, undocumented, and underutilized—a fate no forward-thinking organization can afford in today’s competitive landscape.
Organizations must move from isolated automation initiatives toward cohesive, discoverable component ecosystems to realize measurable business impact. The gap between high-adoption workflow platforms (like n8n and Make.com) and actual component standardization is real. Betterflow focuses on what’s missing: modularization, discovery, and governance.

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Get Involved

I’m actively seeking feedback from practitioners who understand these challenges:

Share Your Thoughts

What aspects would provide maximum organizational value?

Feature Requests

Which specific features or integrations are essential?

Implementation Challenges

What obstacles do you anticipate?

Success Stories

Have you solved similar problems? Let’s compare notes.
If you’re working on automation at scale and want to discuss implementation details or contribute to the Betterflow vision, reach out at doug@withseismic.com or connect on LinkedIn.