AUTOMATION TEAM HANDBOOK

Build Tiers

Standard & Lite classification system

v1.5 · April 2026

All automations are classified into one of two tiers. Leo assigns the tier when he creates the brief. The contractor does not reclassify a build after assignment.

$500

Standard Build

Scope

Net-new automation built from a brief. Requires design decisions, API selection, multi-step logic, and original architecture.

Examples
  • Full content pipeline (research → SEO → JSON → QA)
  • Multi-API orchestration
  • Complex conditional routing with error recovery
Acceptance

Full 8-point acceptance checklist

$200

Lite Build

Scope

Smaller-scope automation. Typically single trigger, straightforward data flow, limited node count.

Examples
  • Scheduled data pulls (API → spreadsheet)
  • File watchers (folder → transform → destination)
  • Single-webhook handlers
  • Notification triggers
Acceptance

Full 8-point acceptance checklist. Same standard, smaller scope.

Quality is constant across tiers. Both tiers pass through the same 8-point acceptance checklist. The tier affects only the bonus amount, not the quality standard. A lite build that fails acceptance is rejected the same as a standard build.
Scope difference is real. The tier distinction exists because scope varies. A scheduled job that pulls data from one API and writes it to a spreadsheet is real work that requires n8n architecture, error handling, and documentation — but it is not the same scope as building a multi-API content pipeline from scratch.
Who decides: Leo classifies the tier when assigning the work. The contractor does not reclassify a build after assignment.