Automate Overview
Automate is frugally.app's scheduling and resource management engine. It lets you define what to act on (Targets), when to act (Schedules), and tracks every action taken (Executions).
How Automate works
The Automate workflow follows three core concepts:
Targets → Schedules → Executions
(what) (when) (track)
| Concept | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Targets | Group AWS resources by service, region, and tags | "All EC2 instances tagged env=dev in eu-west-1" |
| Schedules | Define when Targets should be stopped, started, or scaled | "Stop at 7 PM weekdays, start at 8 AM weekdays" |
| Executions | Record every action with per-resource results and confidence scores | "Stopped 12 EC2 instances — 11 succeeded, 1 already stopped" |
Supported AWS services
Automate currently supports six AWS services:
| Service | Actions |
|---|---|
| EC2 | Start, Stop |
| RDS | Start, Stop |
| ECS | Scale Up, Scale Down |
| Lambda | Enable, Disable |
| NAT Gateway | Create, Delete |
| VPC Endpoint | Enable, Disable |
For per-service details and IAM requirements, see Supported Services.
Getting started with Automate
If you are new to frugally.app, the quickest path is:
- Connect your AWS accounts — Establish the IAM link
- Use the Onboarding Wizard — Scan resources, create Targets, and set up Schedules in one guided flow
- Review your Dashboard — Monitor savings and execution results
For hands-on control, you can also create Targets and Schedules manually.
Key sections
| Section | Pages | What you will learn |
|---|---|---|
| Targets | Overview, Supported Services, Tag Filtering, Dry Runs | Defining resource groups and validating them |
| Schedules | Overview, CRON & Schedule Types, Estimated Savings | Configuring time-based automation |
| Executions | Overview, Manual Executions, Lifecycle, Confidence Scoring | Running and tracking actions |
| Onboarding Wizard | — | Guided setup for new teams |
| Insights | — | Analytics on savings and execution performance |