Before
Personnel likely had to retrieve device inventory, move between the device-management system and individual spreadsheet records, and review applications user by user. They also had to filter out system bundles, compare versions, enter new details, and post a completion message manually.
How it works
- Authenticate and retrieve paginated computer inventory containing users, device identifiers, and installed applications.
- For each user, read the existing spreadsheet data, exclude Apple system bundles, and compare application names and versions against the recorded inventory.
- Append new application details or update changed records, then notify a channel that the report is ready and provide the uninstall instruction.
Workflow details
- Inventory collection: An incoming emailhook starts the workflow, which authenticates with the device-management system and retrieves paginated computer inventory records containing user, location, and application information.
- User record preparation: The workflow processes each retrieved user, reads the corresponding spreadsheet data, and initializes the user ID and device UUID in the sheet when required before application processing continues.
- Application filtering: Each user's applications are evaluated individually, while entries with bundle identifiers containing `com.apple` are excluded from the operational inventory.
- Duplicate and version checks: A script compares each remaining application's name and version with the user's spreadsheet records. Applications already recorded at the same version are skipped, while new applications are appended and changed records are updated using the appropriate spreadsheet position.
- Operational handoff: After processing the available users and applications, a channel receives a completion message indicating that the daily application report is available and explaining how to start an uninstall request.
What changed
The inventory is now collected and reconciled automatically across users and applications, with duplicate, unchanged, and Apple system entries handled before spreadsheet updates. The final report notification is delivered to a channel without requiring a separate manual handoff.
Work removed
Manually retrieving device inventory, opening each user's spreadsheet data, filtering Apple system bundles, comparing application names and versions, entering user and application fields, updating changed records, and posting the daily completion message.
Expected outcome
Each run replaces one recurring inventory-and-notification cycle with a consistently updated per-user application report and an automated completion handoff.
