diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/application.spec.js b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/application.spec.js
index c5e9daabbd..e5100573ff 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/application.spec.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/application.spec.js
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ describe("/applications", () => {
     it("should apply authorization to endpoint", async () => {
       await checkBuilderEndpoint({
         config,
-        request,
         method: "POST",
         url: `/api/applications`,
         body: { name: "My App" }
@@ -65,7 +64,6 @@ describe("/applications", () => {
     it("should apply authorization to endpoint", async () => {
       await checkBuilderEndpoint({
         config,
-        request,
         method: "GET",
         url: `/api/applications`,
       })
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/automation.spec.js b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/automation.spec.js
index 128d3530e9..3f3fa93192 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/automation.spec.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/automation.spec.js
@@ -1,34 +1,18 @@
 const {
-  createApplication,
-  createTable,
-  getAllFromTable,
   defaultHeaders,
   supertest,
-  insertDocument,
-  destroyDocument,
-  builderEndpointShouldBlockNormalUsers
-} = require("./couchTestUtils")
-let { generateAutomationID } = require("../../../db/utils")
+} = require("./utilities")
+const TestConfig = require("./utilities/TestConfiguration")
+const {
+  checkBuilderEndpoint,
+  getAllTableRows,
+  clearAllAutomations,
+} = require("./utilities/TestFunctions")
+const { basicAutomation } = require("./utilities/structures")
 
 const { delay } = require("./testUtils")
 
 const MAX_RETRIES = 4
-const AUTOMATION_ID = generateAutomationID()
-const TEST_AUTOMATION = {
-  _id: AUTOMATION_ID,
-  name: "My Automation",
-  screenId: "kasdkfldsafkl",
-  live: true,
-  uiTree: {
-
-  },
-  definition: {
-    trigger: {},
-    steps: [
-    ],
-  },
-  type: "automation",
-}
 
 let ACTION_DEFINITIONS = {}
 let TRIGGER_DEFINITIONS = {}
@@ -39,34 +23,26 @@ describe("/automations", () => {
   let server
   let app
   let appId
+  let config
   let automation
-  let automationId
 
   beforeAll(async () => {
     ({ request, server } = await supertest())
   })
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
-    app = await createApplication(request)
+    config = new TestConfig(request)
+    app = await config.init()
     appId = app.instance._id
-    if (automation) await destroyDocument(automation.id)
   })
 
   afterAll(() => {
     server.close()
   })
 
-  const createAutomation = async () => {
-    automation = await insertDocument(appId, {
-      type: "automation",
-      ...TEST_AUTOMATION
-    })
-    automation = { ...automation, ...TEST_AUTOMATION }
-  }
-
-  const triggerWorkflow = async (automationId) => {
+  const triggerWorkflow = async automation => {
     return await request
-      .post(`/api/automations/${automationId}/trigger`)
+      .post(`/api/automations/${automation._id}/trigger`)
       .send({ name: "Test", description: "TEST" })
       .set(defaultHeaders(appId))
       .expect('Content-Type', /json/)
@@ -121,6 +97,7 @@ describe("/automations", () => {
   })
 
   describe("create", () => {
+    const autoConfig = basicAutomation()
     it("should setup the automation fully", () => {
       let trigger = TRIGGER_DEFINITIONS["ROW_SAVED"]
       trigger.id = "wadiawdo34"
@@ -131,52 +108,51 @@ describe("/automations", () => {
       }
       createAction.id = "awde444wk"
 
-      TEST_AUTOMATION.definition.steps.push(createAction)
-      TEST_AUTOMATION.definition.trigger = trigger
+      autoConfig.definition.steps.push(createAction)
+      autoConfig.definition.trigger = trigger
     })
 
     it("returns a success message when the automation is successfully created", async () => {
       const res = await request
         .post(`/api/automations`)
         .set(defaultHeaders(appId))
-        .send(TEST_AUTOMATION)
+        .send(autoConfig)
         .expect('Content-Type', /json/)
         .expect(200)
 
       expect(res.body.message).toEqual("Automation created successfully")
       expect(res.body.automation.name).toEqual("My Automation")
       expect(res.body.automation._id).not.toEqual(null)
-      automationId = res.body.automation._id
+      automation = res.body.automation
     })
 
     it("should apply authorization to endpoint", async () => {
-      await builderEndpointShouldBlockNormalUsers({
-        request,
+      await checkBuilderEndpoint({
+        config,
         method: "POST",
         url: `/api/automations`,
-        appId: appId,
-        body: TEST_AUTOMATION
+        body: autoConfig
       })
     })
   })
 
   describe("trigger", () => {
     it("trigger the automation successfully", async () => {
-      let table = await createTable(request, appId)
-      TEST_AUTOMATION.definition.trigger.inputs.tableId = table._id
-      TEST_AUTOMATION.definition.steps[0].inputs.row.tableId = table._id
-      await createAutomation()
+      let table = await config.createTable()
+      automation.definition.trigger.inputs.tableId = table._id
+      automation.definition.steps[0].inputs.row.tableId = table._id
+      automation = await config.createAutomation(automation)
       await delay(500)
-      const res = await triggerWorkflow(automation._id)
+      const res = await triggerWorkflow(automation)
       // this looks a bit mad but we don't actually have a way to wait for a response from the automation to
       // know that it has finished all of its actions - this is currently the best way
       // also when this runs in CI it is very temper-mental so for now trying to make run stable by repeating until it works
       // TODO: update when workflow logs are a thing
       for (let tries = 0; tries < MAX_RETRIES; tries++) {
         expect(res.body.message).toEqual(`Automation ${automation._id} has been triggered.`)
-        expect(res.body.automation.name).toEqual(TEST_AUTOMATION.name)
+        expect(res.body.automation.name).toEqual(automation.name)
         await delay(500)
-        let elements = await getAllFromTable(request, appId, table._id)
+        let elements = await getAllTableRows(config)
         // don't test it unless there are values to test
         if (elements.length > 1) {
           expect(elements.length).toEqual(5)
@@ -191,9 +167,7 @@ describe("/automations", () => {
 
   describe("update", () => {
     it("updates a automations data", async () => {
-      await createAutomation()
-      automation._id = automation.id
-      automation._rev = automation.rev
+      automation = await config.createAutomation(automation)
       automation.name = "Updated Name"
       automation.type = "automation"
 
@@ -204,52 +178,52 @@ describe("/automations", () => {
         .expect('Content-Type', /json/)
         .expect(200)
 
-        expect(res.body.message).toEqual(`Automation ${AUTOMATION_ID} updated successfully.`)
+        expect(res.body.message).toEqual(`Automation ${automation._id} updated successfully.`)
         expect(res.body.automation.name).toEqual("Updated Name")
     })
   })
 
   describe("fetch", () => {
     it("return all the automations for an instance", async () => {
-      await createAutomation()
+      await clearAllAutomations(config)
+      const autoConfig = basicAutomation()
+      automation = await config.createAutomation(autoConfig)
       const res = await request
         .get(`/api/automations`)
         .set(defaultHeaders(appId))
         .expect('Content-Type', /json/)
         .expect(200)
 
-        expect(res.body[0]).toEqual(expect.objectContaining(TEST_AUTOMATION))
+        expect(res.body[0]).toEqual(expect.objectContaining(autoConfig))
     })
 
     it("should apply authorization to endpoint", async () => {
-      await builderEndpointShouldBlockNormalUsers({
-        request,
+      await checkBuilderEndpoint({
+        config,
         method: "GET",
         url: `/api/automations`,
-        appId: appId,
       })
     })
   })
 
   describe("destroy", () => {
     it("deletes a automation by its ID", async () => {
-      await createAutomation()
+      const automation = await config.createAutomation()
       const res = await request
         .delete(`/api/automations/${automation.id}/${automation.rev}`)
         .set(defaultHeaders(appId))
         .expect('Content-Type', /json/)
         .expect(200)
 
-        expect(res.body.id).toEqual(TEST_AUTOMATION._id)
+        expect(res.body.id).toEqual(automation._id)
     })
 
     it("should apply authorization to endpoint", async () => {
-      await createAutomation()
-      await builderEndpointShouldBlockNormalUsers({
-        request,
+      const automation = await config.createAutomation()
+      await checkBuilderEndpoint({
+        config,
         method: "DELETE",
         url: `/api/automations/${automation.id}/${automation._rev}`,
-        appId: appId,
       })
     })
   })
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/TestConfiguration.js b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/TestConfiguration.js
index be9192b7f2..50ce00b11f 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/TestConfiguration.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/TestConfiguration.js
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 const { BUILTIN_ROLE_IDS } = require("../../../../utilities/security/roles")
 const env = require("../../../../environment")
-const { basicTable, basicRow, basicRole } = require("./structures")
+const {
+  basicTable,
+  basicRow,
+  basicRole,
+  basicAutomation,
+} = require("./structures")
 const tableController = require("../../../controllers/table")
 const rowController = require("../../../controllers/row")
 const roleController = require("../../../controllers/role")
@@ -8,6 +13,7 @@ const permsController = require("../../../controllers/permission")
 const viewController = require("../../../controllers/view")
 const appController = require("../../../controllers/application")
 const userController = require("../../../controllers/user")
+const autoController = require("../../../controllers/automation")
 
 const EMAIL = "babs@babs.com"
 const PASSWORD = "babs_password"
@@ -19,6 +25,7 @@ class TestConfiguration {
     this.appId = null
     this.table = null
     this.linkedTable = null
+    this.automation = null
   }
 
   async _req(config, params, controlFunc) {
@@ -119,6 +126,33 @@ class TestConfiguration {
     return this._req(view, null, viewController.save)
   }
 
+  async createAutomation(config) {
+    config = config || basicAutomation()
+    if (config._rev) {
+      delete config._rev
+    }
+    this.automation = (
+      await this._req(config, null, autoController.create)
+    ).automation
+    return this.automation
+  }
+
+  async getAllAutomations() {
+    return this._req(null, null, autoController.fetch)
+  }
+
+  async deleteAutomation(automation) {
+    automation = automation || this.automation
+    if (!automation) {
+      return
+    }
+    return this._req(
+      null,
+      { id: automation._id, rev: automation._rev },
+      autoController.destroy
+    )
+  }
+
   async createUser(
     email = EMAIL,
     password = PASSWORD,
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/TestFunctions.js b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/TestFunctions.js
index dcb944b0a1..d7a32f4416 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/TestFunctions.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/TestFunctions.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 const rowController = require("../../../controllers/row")
 const appController = require("../../../controllers/application")
+const autoController = require("../../../controllers/automation")
 const CouchDB = require("../../../../db")
 
 function Request(appId, params) {
@@ -7,8 +8,8 @@ function Request(appId, params) {
   this.params = params
 }
 
-exports.getAllTableRows = async (appId, tableId) => {
-  const req = new Request(appId, { tableId })
+exports.getAllTableRows = async config => {
+  const req = new Request(config.appId, { tableId: config.table._id })
   await rowController.fetchTableRows(req)
   return req.body
 }
@@ -26,6 +27,13 @@ exports.clearAllApps = async () => {
   }
 }
 
+exports.clearAllAutomations = async config => {
+  const automations = await config.getAllAutomations()
+  for (let auto of automations) {
+    await config.deleteAutomation(auto)
+  }
+}
+
 exports.createRequest = (request, method, url, body) => {
   let req
 
@@ -38,16 +46,10 @@ exports.createRequest = (request, method, url, body) => {
   return req
 }
 
-exports.checkBuilderEndpoint = async ({
-  config,
-  request,
-  method,
-  url,
-  body,
-}) => {
+exports.checkBuilderEndpoint = async ({ config, method, url, body }) => {
   const headers = await config.login()
   await exports
-    .createRequest(request, method, url, body)
+    .createRequest(config.request, method, url, body)
     .set(headers)
     .expect(403)
 }
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/structures.js b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/structures.js
index cf98a2eb79..1aa81ea2a3 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/structures.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/utilities/structures.js
@@ -25,6 +25,22 @@ exports.basicTable = () => {
   }
 }
 
+exports.basicAutomation = () => {
+  return {
+    name: "My Automation",
+    screenId: "kasdkfldsafkl",
+    live: true,
+    uiTree: {},
+    definition: {
+      trigger: {
+        inputs: {},
+      },
+      steps: [],
+    },
+    type: "automation",
+  }
+}
+
 exports.basicRow = tableId => {
   return {
     name: "Test Contact",