What I wish I knew when I first started using Rewst

Learn the 5 things every new Rewst user wishes they'd known on day one. From understanding workflows to picking your first automation—start here.

If you could go back in time with everything you know now, what would you change? Maybe you would grab some Bitcoin in 2013 or hold onto that Apple stock a little longer. 

We can’t change the past, but we can influence how others experience the present. And that’s one of my favorite parts of working with Rewst. I get to pass along the lessons I learned through early experiments, workflows that went sideways, and Jinja expressions that glared at me like I offended them. 

I can’t go back and coach my past self, but I can offer these lessons to you. If I could hand day-one me a single sheet of paper before building my first workflow, this is what would be on it. 

1. You’re building with APIs, but you don’t have to maintain them  

When I first opened Rewst, the Workflow Builder looked like abstract boxes connected by lines. I didn’t understand what they represented or what they were actually doing under the hood. 

Here’s what I learned: each box is an API call. You’re telling Microsoft 365 to pull user data. You’re telling ConnectWise to create a ticket. You’re connecting different systems that normally don’t talk to each other. Rewst is the middleman, making sure they all speak the same language. 

That clarity helped. But there’s even more going on behind the scenes. 

APIs change constantly. Vendors update their documentation, deprecate endpoints, and restructure how they return data. If you’re managing those connections yourself, every vendor change means tracking down your scripts and manually updating them. 

Rewst absorbs that maintenance. When Microsoft changes its API, Rewst updates the integration on its end. Your workflows keep running. You never touch them. 

What I wish I knew: The Workflow Builder is more than boxes on a screen. You’re orchestrating API calls, but you’re not maintaining them. Rewst is. That’s what makes automation sustainable. 

2. You don’t need to rerun workflows just to test one thing 

I can’t count the number of times I said, “Okay, but what do I do with this data?” in my early days. I would run a workflow, adjust something tiny, and run it again just to see how the output changed. 

Then I found the live editor. 

The live editor in Rewst is the place where everything starts to make sense. You can test a Jinja expression, explore your data structure, and learn how your logic behaves without repeatedly running the whole workflow. It is where mistakes turn into understanding instead of frustration. 

Some of my biggest “aha” moments in Rewst happened in the live editor. It is where the platform feels more like a lab bench where you can experiment safely. 

What I wish I knew: If you want to understand Rewst, spend time in the live editor. It lets you experiment without running workflows again and again. 

3. Planning saves you from future rework 

I used to think planning slowed me down. Why sketch a workflow when I could start building? 

But after enough messy builds, I realized planning is not the slow part. Rework is. 

When you take even a few minutes to map out the flow, name your variables, and think through the logic, everything else moves faster. It keeps your mind clear and your workflow clean. 

Planning a workflow in Rewst helps you connect the dots before you drag the first task onto the canvas. It gives you the big picture and leaves you space to refine the details without losing your place. 

What I wish I knew: Planning is the shortcut. It keeps your builds stable, predictable, and easier to improve later. 

4. Small automations deliver fast wins 

Some of the most impactful automations I have seen in Rewst are only two or three tasks long. They solve a single, annoying problem that people deal with every day. 

When I started, I assumed a “real” automation had to be big. Something that touched multiple systems. Something that felt impressive. 

But most of the real value comes from removing repetitive pain. A ten-minute manual task that happens twenty times a week will help you see ROI more quickly than a complex build that only runs twice a year. 

Small wins matter. They create space for bigger wins later. 

What I wish I knew: Do not judge automation by its size. Judge it by how much frustration it removes. 

5. You don’t get extra credit for struggling alone 

I come from a school that had the motto “Learn by Doing,” and for many of the students, that translated into “learn by doing it alone.” That mindset slows you down more than you think. 

The Rewst community is full of people who enjoy helping others. Some of the fastest breakthroughs I have had came from asking a single question. Sometimes the question wasn’t even that complicated. Someone else had already been stuck in the same place. 

As Aharon Chernin, CEO at Rewst, likes to put it: the number of people in this industry who succeeded without asking questions is zero. The number who benefited from collaboration is everyone. 

What I wish I knew: You do not get extra credit for struggling alone. Ask. People want to help. Join the Open Mic. 

If I could go back in time 

If I could tap my past self on the shoulder and offer one piece of advice before starting with Rewst, it would be this: 

Slow down. Learn the shape of things. Explore without pressure. And never be afraid to ask for help. 

Automation isn’t about building the most complex workflows. It’s about understanding your systems, creating clarity where there was friction, and replacing little frustrations with consistent outcomes. 

Every lesson makes you better. Every workflow teaches you something. And every small win adds up. 

Welcome to Rewst. You are in good company.

Eddie Chow
Training and Enablement Manager