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Run a vendor and stack creep inventory

Stand up a **stack-sprawl partner**. Paste finance exports, shadow IT lists, or **what we use** threads. Surface **overlap**, **zombie subscriptions**, and **unknown owners**. End with one **Deactivate** candidate set and a 30-minute dedupe decision you can calendar.

Plus: three Admin-Agent passes: build an overlap matrix from sources only, force a **Deactivate_question** row per duplicate category with named fiscal risk, and draft a 30-minute dedupe agenda capped at five merge decisions plus one 90-day revisit owner.

Audience Everyone · Admins · Executives
Time ~15 min
Prerequisites Agent basics ([Create an agent from scratch](/tutorials/create-an-agent-from-scratch), [Give your agent its job description](/tutorials/give-your-agent-its-job-description)). Optional seed list in context ([Add your first context file](/tutorials/add-your-first-context-file)). Helpful: credential hygiene ([Manage your Credentials](/tutorials/manage-your-credentials)), guardrails ([Define a tool policy](/tutorials/define-a-tool-policy)).
You'll end up with A **Stack Sprawl** agent, one inventory table with OVERLAP / OWNER / DEACTIVATE_CANDIDATE columns tied to pasted receipts, and a dated **Dedupe30** note (owner plus 90-day revisit) you can drop next to finance sync.

When a tutorial shows italic text in quotation marks, it usually mirrors a label or helper string inside Auxot. Product copy changes between releases — if something reads differently in your workspace, trust what you see on screen.

Callouts with a Worth knowing gold accent are meant as must-read context before you move on. Blockquotes that open with Tip are lighter, optional depth.

Why this matters

Software stacks grow like cord clutter. Marketing spins up a second CRM shadow trial. Engineering keeps last year’s load-testing SaaS because nobody owns the cancellation email. Finance sees twenty-two line items that smell like the same category under different vendor names.

A vendor and stack creep inventory is not a complete catalog of every system your company runs. It is a forced honesty pass: what overlaps, what nobody admits owning, and what deserves a conversation about deactivation before next renewal.

Today you give yourself a partner that formats that honesty from what you paste: expense strings, procurement bullets, or the chaotic #tools thread. Auxot does not auto-scan your bank account. You bring the sources.

The next time someone asks why spend drifted, you’ll have one table and a short list of tools to deactivate that nobody has to reconstruct from memory.

Quick start

  1. Seed guardrails (optional): drop the tools your policy already blesses, or UNKNOWN_OK if you have no formal list (Add your first context file).
  2. Create Stack Sprawl: ask the Admin Agent in Chat for an agent whose charter outputs markdown with rows for tool or vendor label, category, overlap cluster, OWNER (name, role, or UNKNOWN), DEACTIVATE_question (yes or no with one receipt sentence from paste), and SOURCES_QUOTED.
  3. Paste your source bundle: two of three minimum: finance export lines (redact account numbers), internal what we pay for bullets, or Slack thread excerpts naming tools. Redact personnel names to roles when needed.
  4. Run the inventory: reject output until every OVERLAP row cites two pasted fragments or marks UNVERIFIED.
  5. Book Dedupe30: put one calendar block on the books; a Run a workflow reminder can nag you to attach this markdown to the invite. No automatic vendor cancellation.

Done? At least one DEACTIVATE_question row that names fiscal pain without shame language. That is proof the table is working.

The agent can do that?

You surfaced overlap once. These three prompts keep the inventory from becoming a spreadsheet nobody reads.

1. Overlap matrix from sources only

Chat → Admin Agent:

Paste-only sources below. No web lookup. Build OVERLAP_CLUSTER column. Group tools that solve the same job-to-be-done. Cap at twelve clusters. Each cluster lists member labels exactly as pasted. Single-use orphans become cluster SOLO. Markdown table. Refuse invented vendors.

Why it’s non-obvious: Without job-to-be-done clustering, sorting stays an alphabetical exercise that looks tidy but hides overlap. Clusters expose duplicate spend because you pasted both rows.

2. Deactivate question with fiscal teeth

Inventory table pasted: […]. Add DEACTIVATE_question per overlap cluster. Answer yes only if the paste mentions annualized spend above the dollar threshold finance names here […] or renewal inside ninety days. Otherwise answer no. Each yes cites an expense fragment. UNKNOWN revenue impact is allowed: say UNKNOWN aloud. Max one sentence each.

Why it’s non-obvious: Deactivate conversations usually turn into moral lectures. Anchoring to pasted dollars or dates keeps procurement conversations grounded before legal reads another questionnaire (Answer vendor security questionnaires from your own evidence).

3. Dedupe30 agenda (five decisions max)

Assume thirty minutes with CFO or delegate. Propose five merge-or-kill decisions maximum. Each decision names default survivor tool, owner role, calendar milestone, and ninety-day revisit metric. Be blunt when inputs are thin. No sixth decision. Markdown checklist. End with **Parking lot** items explicitly deferred.

Why it’s non-obvious: Meetings balloon when agendas pretend bandwidth exists. A forced five-slot agenda works because you capped decisions before the calendar invite.

Go deeper

Spend visibility

Internal cost-allocation habits (Allocate model spend to teams for internal reporting) pair with vendor rows when AI tools stack alongside classic SaaS.

Security questionnaires

Overlap findings feed evidence packs later (Answer vendor security questionnaires from your own evidence). Keep the inventory prose practical before you polish it for execs.

Credentials sprawl

Rotations hurt when sixteen teams saved the same integration (Manage your Credentials). Inventory OWNER rows show where consolidation will actually save you money or hassle.

Agent-side sprawl

Automation duplicates hurt too (Audit and clean up your agents). Same calendar discipline, different scorecard.

Walkthrough

Step 1: Cap the harvest window

Ninety days of expenses beats seven years of folklore. Narrow paste scope before clusters explode.

Step 2: Freeze UNKNOWN rules

OWNER unknown is honest. Forbidden pattern is guessing OWNER from logo colors. Tighten the agent’s charter until guesses disappear.

Step 3: Pair with renewal calendar

If the finance paste lacks renewal dates, add UNKNOWN renewal explicitly. Asking the finance team for missing dates belongs outside Auxot until you have facts.

Step 4: Separate new-tool evaluations

Documentation for tools you might automate belongs in the Try a new tool before your agents depend on it walkthrough. The inventory surfaces zombie subscriptions that are still charging you.

Step 5: Archive the markdown

Filename includes a quarter or month label. Compare OVERLAP clusters quarter-over-quarter to spot the same we still need that tool excuses repeating across reviews.

What’s next

Reference

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