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Show HN: Create and Run PC Automations from Plain English with Automate AI Free
2 points by aleeexg 135 days ago
Most automation tools either require coding, a complicated UI, or a monthly subscription.

I built Automate AI to make automation dead simple: You type what you want in plain English, and it generates a working automation script you can review and run on your own computer.

- No cloud.

- No account.

- No subscription.

Runs entirely on your PC (Windows & Mac).

Examples:

- “Organize my Downloads folder by file type”

- “Delete duplicate files”

- “Rename photos by date taken”

- “Remove background from images”

It uses a local LLM, so your data never leaves your machine. If you don’t want to install a model, you can use built-in templates instead.

It’s completely free.

Would love feedback!

Check it out here: https://automate-ai.xyz/

1 comments

Cool approach! The plain-English-to-automation idea resonates with something I've been exploring too.

One thing I've noticed is that for more complex multi-step workflows, text descriptions often miss edge cases and decision points. We've been working on SkillForge (https://skillforge.expert) which takes a different angle — you record your screen actually doing the task, and AI extracts a structured skill file (SKILL.md) that coding agents like Claude Code or Codex can replay.

The recording captures the exact clicks, context switches, and error-handling paths that are hard to describe in text. Kind of like the difference between explaining how to drive vs. watching someone drive.

Do you handle branching logic in your automations? Like "if this button isn't visible, try this other path"?