ConnectWise Automate
Every machine, patch, monitor, and script — your Automate estate, answerable.
Automate runs your endpoints, and almost every operational question you have is already answered somewhere inside it. Connect it and a session can interrogate the live estate — which machines are dark, who's behind on patches, what a monitor is really alerting on, what a script schedule actually does — across 55 read-only capabilities, with no write path at all.
The story
What changes once it’s connected.
ConnectWise Automate already knows which machines are dark, who's behind on patches, and what that monitor has been firing about since Tuesday. The problem was never the data; it's that reaching it means a console, a saved search someone built years ago, and twenty minutes you didn't have. Connect Automate here and the estate answers in plain English instead.
The coverage runs end to end: machines with their hardware, installed software, and command history; clients, sites, and contacts; patch compliance from tenant-wide down to a single device; monitors, alerts, and the maintenance windows that explain a quiet night; the script catalogue and its schedules; groups and the saved searches that feed them; Extra Data Fields; and the agentless kit your network probes found. Three bulk lookups fan one question across hundreds of machines in a single call, so an estate-wide audit stops being an afternoon.
None of it writes. There is no execute path, no patch action, no reboot, no field update — the client was built without one, so read-only here is structural rather than a setting someone could flip.
Things you can ask
Ask it like you’d ask a teammate.
>Which machines have been offline for more than a week, and at which clients?
>What's Family Worship Center's patch compliance, and why?
>Which monitors fired most this month, and are any of them noise?
>How many agents are offline right now across the whole tenant?
>Which clients have the SentinelOne deployment flag set in their custom fields?
>Which machines are sitting reboot-pending before their patches finish?
>Which script schedules fire overnight, and what do they actually run?
>Do these twenty workstations really have the backup agent installed?
Skills included
Every skill, in the open.
55 skills across 11 areas
Read-only by construction — the client has no write method. It cannot run or schedule a script, push or approve a patch, reboot a machine, or change a custom field; every capability is a read.
Computers9Find machines and read their detail — hardware, installed software, running scripts, command history, patch posture, and current alerts.›
search_computersFind agents by anything Automate tracks — name, online state, client, IP — and get back the trimmed record.count_computersAnswer 'how many' directly: counts every matching agent across the estate without dragging the list back with it.get_computerOpen one machine's full record — everything Automate holds about that agent.computer_softwareEvery application installed on one machine, as the agent last inventoried it.computer_hardwareWhat's inside one machine — processors, memory slots, and drives.computer_running_scriptsWhat's executing on a machine right now, and what's queued behind it.computer_command_historyThe trail of commands that have run on a machine — where you go when something changed and nobody owns it.computer_alertsEvery alert raised against a single machine.computer_patch_statusOne machine's patch posture — compliance, what's outstanding, whether it's waiting on a reboot.
Clients & locations5List and inspect companies, the sites beneath them, and contacts — the shape of who you manage.›
list_clientsSearch the company list — who you manage, by name.get_clientThe full record behind one company.list_locationsFind sites — the offices and buildings sitting under each company.get_locationThe full record for one site.list_contactsSearch contacts by name or email — the people attached to each client and site.
Patching6Compliance by tenant, client, or device; missing and failed patches; reboot-pending posture; patch history.⊘ Reads patch state only — it cannot approve, deploy, or decline a patch, or trigger a reboot.›
patch_compliance_summaryThe tenant-wide Windows servicing picture — which releases and channels your servers and workstations are actually on.patch_compliance_by_clientThe same servicing-branch picture narrowed to one company — the number you take into a QBR.patch_devicesSearch machines by patch posture: compliance percentages, reboot-pending, and patch jobs in flight.patch_device_detailOne device's complete patch record, not just the headline percentage.noncompliant_patchesWhat's missing across the tenant, broken out by severity and CVSS band — the exposure, ranked.patch_historyThe install-and-scan trail — what patched when, and what came back failed.
Monitors & alerts4Monitor definitions, current alert state, and internal monitor results.›
list_monitorsSearch what you're actually watching — internal and remote monitors, with last status and failure counts.get_monitorOne monitor's full definition — the thresholds and settings behind the alert.list_alertsSearch raised alerts by machine, monitor, client, or severity — the noise, finally sortable.internal_monitor_resultsResults from the agent-side health checks that run on the machine itself.
Scripts5Browse the script catalogue, folders, schedules, and what is running right now.⊘ Catalogue and status only — there is no execute path, so it cannot run, queue, or schedule a script.›
list_scriptsSearch the script catalogue — names, folders, and the comments whoever wrote them left behind.get_scriptOne script's definition and metadata, read straight from the catalogue.list_script_foldersThe whole folder tree, so you can see how the script library is organized.running_scriptsEvery script running or queued across the tenant at this moment.script_schedulesThe recurring schedules — what fires on its own, and when.
Groups5Group tree and membership, plus the patching and reboot policies attached to them.›
list_groupsSearch groups by their dotted path — the targeting unit behind scripts, monitors, and patch policy.get_groupOne group's full record, including the auto-join search that feeds it — how machines get in, not just which ones did.group_computersThe raw membership rows — which machines sit in which group, and how many, for coverage math.group_treeThe entire group hierarchy in one call — parents, children, and the deployment branches nobody uses.group_patching_policiesThe patching policy attached to a given group.
Searches & views5Saved searches and dataviews — including the auto-join searches that decide group membership.⊘ Reads definitions only — it cannot execute a saved search or data view against live data.›
list_searchesSearch the saved-search definitions — including the ones deciding who lands in which group.get_searchOne saved search's full definition — the criteria it actually matches on.list_search_foldersThe folders your saved searches are filed under.list_dataviewsThe saved data views defined on this server.list_dataview_foldersThe folder structure those data views live in.
Extra Data Fields4The custom fields your scripts and searches key off — read per machine, client, site, or contact.⊘ Read-only — it cannot set, clear, or create a custom field.›
computer_edfsThe custom fields stored on one machine, with their current values.client_edfsOne company's custom fields — where most MSPs park deployment flags and per-client config.location_edfsThe custom fields recorded against a single site.contact_edfsThe custom fields attached to one contact, on Automate 2021.10 and newer.
Infrastructure6Network devices, event logs, maintenance windows, reboot policies, and installed plugins.›
maintenance_windowsWhen alerting is suppressed and where — check here before you call a quiet night a monitoring gap.event_logsWindows event-log entries collected off the agents, narrowed to a machine and a time window.network_devicesThe agentless kit your probes found — switches, printers, routers — with online state and printer health.get_network_deviceThe full record for one probe-discovered device.list_pluginsWhich Solution Center plugins this server has wired in — AV, backup, warranty — i.e. what the tenant really runs.reboot_policiesThe patch-manager reboot policies configured on this server.
Bulk lookups3Fan one question out across hundreds of machines at once — patch status, installed software, custom fields — instead of asking one at a time.›
bulk_edfsPull Extra Data Fields across the whole estate at once — every client's stored values in one sweep.bulk_computer_patch_statusPatch posture for a client's entire machine list in one call — compliance and reboot-pending counts together.bulk_computer_softwareInstalled-software inventory across a shortlist of machines at once — the way to spot-check whether an agent actually landed.
Server & identity3Server build and configuration, drive-space statistics over time, and who the session is signed in as.›
server_informationYour Automate server's build and version — the first thing to check when a feature should exist and doesn't.drive_statisticsSpace and utilization for specific drives over a lookback window — the growth curve, not just today's number.whoamiWhich Automate identity this connection uses, and the scopes it was granted.
Connecting
Wire it in, in an afternoon.
How to connect
- 01Create a dedicated Integrator account in Automate — a service login, not a person's.
- 02Mark it as an Integrator and give it a read-focused user class.
- 03Enter your Automate server address and those credentials here; the token renews itself from then on.
Related
Keep patching the board.
ConnectWise PSATickets, agreements, and the pipeline — queryable, and just writable enough.ConnectWise ScreenConnectWho connected to what, when — your remote-access estate, answerable.ConnectWise AsioEndpoints, policies, and the automation around them — your Asio estate, answerable.See the app listing
Patch your stack in.
Start the Switchboard free trial against your own environment — read-only, traced answers, live in an afternoon. The apps are on the shelf when you want them.
MSPStuff