I built this tool because we faced a real, recurring problem: managing hundreds of client projects in a weekly automated loop.
There was a time when a single error in that process could create a complete data mess, forcing us to manually clean and re-run everything. The Item Tracker was our solution.
It proved that something simple, when used correctly, can be a game-changer for maintaining order and reliability in your workflows (at least it was for us).
Our main automation, which fetches and summarizes data, is where the heavy lifting happens. But its newfound stability comes from a simple, critical collaboration with the Item Tracker. It's like a two-step handshake that happens for every single project.
This simple process is our safety net. If a task fails, that "in-progress" note will eventually disappear, allowing the system to confidently pick up and re-run only that specific item later. ++This saves us from having to start the entire job over from scratch.++
For beginners, the names of the tracking notes (called "keys") might seem confusing, but the idea is actually simple. Imagine a digital to-do list for every project. A key is just the project's name on that list.
Every key has three parts that tell you everything you need to know:
in_progress
or completed
.This simple naming system is the secret to keeping hundreds of projects organized, so you can easily see what's happening and what needs attention.
This solution directly addresses the pain of large-scale automation failures. It gave us a new level of confidence in our automated processes. Instead of facing the chaos of a messy run, this system provides immediate visibility into which project failed and why. It eliminates the need for manual cleanup and allows us to confidently re-run a specific item without risking data corruption across the entire set. The result is a highly reliable and scalable process that saves time, reduces frustration, and maintains data integrity.