How to Use Make.com Waves Releases Effectively

The make.com Waves release model changes how new automation features reach you, and this guide explains how to plan, test, and roll out updates safely.

Based fully on the official announcement, this how-to article walks you through what Waves are, how they are rolled out, and how your team can adapt processes so production scenarios stay stable while still benefiting from innovation.

What Are Waves in make.com?

Waves are a structured way that make.com delivers product releases across its users. Instead of everyone getting updates at the same time, customers are grouped into different Waves that receive changes gradually.

This approach is designed to balance two goals:

• Deliver new features regularly and predictably.
• Protect scenario stability by rolling out changes in smaller batches.

The company first tested this system with webhook architecture improvements and then expanded it to cover a wider set of product releases after validating the results.

Why make.com Introduced Waves Releases

The Waves system exists to give you more control and visibility. According to the official update, larger, simultaneous product launches can increase risk and make troubleshooting harder. With Waves, make.com can isolate issues faster and communicate better with affected customers.

Key reasons for the model include:

• Improved reliability for production automations.
• Clearer communication about when changes are coming.
• Room to test, collect feedback, and adjust before a global rollout.

How make.com Waves Product Releases Work

At a high level, the Waves model follows a phased schedule. Each release moves through a lifecycle from testing to full availability. You can think of it as a controlled rollout pipeline.

Core Phases in the make.com Waves Model

1. Internal and beta testing

   Before anything reaches your account, make.com tests new capabilities internally and may run limited betas. This stage is about finding major issues early.

2. First customer Waves

   Selected customer groups receive the release first. These early Waves show how updates behave under real workloads and across different usage patterns.

3. Progressive expansion

   Additional Waves are opened gradually. As each group adopts the update successfully, more accounts are added with careful monitoring.

4. Full general availability

   Once stability and performance targets are confirmed, the release becomes available to all Waves.

The official article explains that the exact number of Waves or timing can vary by release, depending on impact, complexity, and technical risk.

How to Plan for make.com Waves Releases

You can prepare your organization by treating Waves as a predictable part of your automation lifecycle. The following steps help you stay in control of upcoming changes.

Step 1: Designate an Owner for make.com Releases

Assign a person or small team to monitor product updates and Waves communications. Their responsibilities can include:

• Subscribing to official product release news.
• Tracking which Waves your accounts belong to, where applicable.
• Coordinating testing and rollout tasks internally.

For larger teams or agencies, this might be an operations lead or automation platform owner who already manages scenario governance.

Step 2: Build a Test Strategy Around Waves

Use the Waves schedule as a trigger for structured testing. When you know a change is heading for your Wave, plan validation before you rely on a new feature in mission-critical scenarios.

Recommended practices include:

• Maintain non-production workspaces for experiments.
• Clone important scenarios to a staging environment.
• Test new features or behavior changes against sample data.
• Document expected outputs before and after the update.

By aligning this testing with how make.com sequences Waves, you gain confidence without slowing innovation.

Step 3: Communicate the Waves Timeline

Internal communication is essential when your processes or customers depend on key automations. Use a clear, repeatable pattern:

• Notify stakeholders that a Waves-based rollout is coming.
• Share estimated dates from the make.com product release announcements.
• Explain what will be tested and where.
• Confirm once your scenarios pass tests and are considered stable.

This structure reduces surprises and clarifies who is responsible if something needs to be adjusted.

Managing Risk With make.com Waves Releases

Because Waves segment the rollout, you can treat each phase as a controlled experiment. Combine that with your own risk management techniques to protect key workflows.

Use Change Windows and Monitoring

Create a simple process around release dates:

1. Define maintenance or observation windows that align with your expected Wave.
2. Increase scenario logging or alerting temporarily when you know an update is landing.
3. Have a checklist that includes validating critical paths, such as order processing or lead capture.

Monitoring helps you notice changes quickly instead of discovering issues days later.

Keep a Rollback and Fallback Plan

While you cannot control how the platform itself is updated, you can control how you use features within scenarios. Prepare fallback options, such as:

• Alternative scenario versions that avoid new features until they are fully proven.
• Manual backup processes for your most critical workflows.
• Runbooks that describe what to do if a key scenario behaves unexpectedly after a release.

These plans complement the caution already built into the make.com Waves rollout model.

How to Stay Informed About make.com Releases

The official Waves announcement stresses the importance of transparency. To stay up to date, follow these practices:

• Read the product announcements on the company blog, including the dedicated page for Waves-based releases at make.com Waves product releases.
• Subscribe to any available newsletters or release notes feeds.
• Periodically review platform changelogs and documentation.

When you centralize this information in your team, it becomes easier to plan across projects and clients.

Aligning Your Roadmap With make.com Waves

For organizations that depend heavily on automation, platform changes influence internal roadmaps. Treat Waves as a scheduling input for your own initiatives.

Prioritize Projects Around Upcoming Waves

When you know a feature is coming in a future Wave, you can:

• Delay building complex workarounds that a new capability will replace.
• Schedule integration refactors to coincide with the release window.
• Allocate testing time for high-impact areas affected by the change.

This keeps your automation roadmap aligned with the evolution of make.com rather than fighting against it.

Leverage Specialist Support When Needed

If you manage many workspaces or critical business processes, you may want external guidance for planning around releases. Consulting partners such as Consultevo can help design governance frameworks, testing strategies, and documentation practices tailored to your usage of the platform.

Next Steps for Working With make.com Waves

To make the most of the Waves model:

1. Identify who will own product release tracking inside your organization.
2. Set up a basic test, staging, and validation flow tied to announcements.
3. Define communication templates for stakeholders affected by changes.
4. Document your most critical scenarios and monitor them closely during each Wave.

By following these steps, you can enjoy new capabilities from make.com while protecting stability and performance for the automations your business depends on.

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