Sidecar Metadata Check

Media / AUTOMATE.md

When a shoot folder is marked ready, check every file for capture time, camera, and copyright, then log what is missing and post the count so I can fill it in.

This is the whole automation. Run it as it is, or change any word, including the tools it names.

Blank copyright fields found early
Capture time written on every file
Library search works on real keywords

How it runs

1. Starts
When a shoot folder is marked ready
2. Delivers to
SpreadsheetsSlack
3. You decide
Approve each time, or let the steps you trust run. Your choice.

Why photographers and video teams set this up

Every assistant names files differently, so the same job ends up in three folders and the catalog cannot tell the versions apart. Renaming two thousand files by hand eats an afternoon and is exactly where typos creep in.

See the whole job: Bulk Rename and Folder Structure

Use it as is. Or make it yours.

Edit it the way you would edit a note to a colleague. It follows the new version from the next run.

Change when it runs
Move it to another day or time, or start it when something arrives, like a new email.
Add your own rules
Limits, exceptions and what good looks like go in the same file, in plain words.
Decide what waits for you
Mark the steps that need your OK, and let the rest run.

You stay in charge.
At every step.

It checks and files. Every creative call stays yours.

It never deletes on its own
It checks, lists and files. Deleting or formatting anything waits for your OK.
Undo a move you don't want
Every step is recorded, and files it moved or renamed can be put back.
Your drives stay yours
It works on the folders you point it at, on your computer. Nothing is uploaded to a new library.

Sidecar Metadata Check

Approve before it updates the sheet and posts in Slack?

ReviewApprove

Before you download.

Where does it run?: On your Mac or Windows computer, in the background. It keeps working after you close its window, and only reaches the folders and apps you connect for each automation.
How does it connect to our CRM and other tools?: Through each app's own connection where it offers one, signed in once by you, or by using the app in a browser the way you would. Each automation gets only the connections you give it, and the tools a page names are examples you can swap for your own.
Does it run when my computer is asleep?: It keeps your computer awake while a job runs and just before a scheduled one. While the computer is closed or off, nothing runs; when it wakes, it checks the inbox, calendar and other sources it watches for anything that arrived meanwhile.
How does my team use it?: Each person who runs automations installs the app. Keep a project in a shared folder, such as Google Drive or a network drive, and teammates can open it and follow every run, while one person owns it and runs it.
Do I need anyone technical to set it up?: No. Download the app, add an automation in plain words, and connect only what that job needs. Nothing runs until you switch it on.

Already have tools for this? Here is the difference.

Instead ofGood atWhere it stops

Presets and actions in your editor

Repeating the same edit across many files.

They can't check a delivery against an approval or tell you a card didn't copy.

Flowchart automation tools

Moving data between cloud apps.

They rarely reach local drives, and every exception becomes another branch.

Doing it by hand

Knowing exactly what happened.

It is the part of the job that waits until midnight.

AUTOMATE.md

Your routine, written in plain words. It runs on its own, follows your rules, handles the exceptions a flowchart can't, and asks you when it matters. The file stays yours, whichever AI model runs it.

Other setups for the same job.

Card Folder Pattern

When a new card folder appears in the working folder, move the images into the job folder using our naming pattern, then post how many files moved and from which card.

When a new card folder appears

Duplicate Name Sweep

Every weekday at 7:00am, find files in the shoot folders that share a name, and email me a short list to pick from.

Every weekday at 7:00am

Related workflows

Shoot Ingest and Backup

Turn a pile of memory cards into two verified copies of every file before anyone starts editing.

3 automations

Photo organization

Hold the library to one folder shape, with no duplicate or undated shoot left behind, so a job is never hunted for twice.

2 automations

Photo tagging

Puts reviewed keywords on a shoot as it lands, so a decade-old library is findable by the words a client actually says out loud.