diff --git a/packages/server/src/automations/automationUtils.ts b/packages/server/src/automations/automationUtils.ts
index 7c1bb4d685..4c03f0f994 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/automations/automationUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/automations/automationUtils.ts
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@ import {
 import sdk from "../sdk"
 import {
   AutomationAttachment,
+  BaseIOStructure,
+  FieldSchema,
   FieldType,
   Row,
-  LoopStepType,
-  LoopStepInputs,
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import { objectStore, context } from "@budibase/backend-core"
 import * as uuid from "uuid"
@@ -33,17 +33,15 @@ import path from "path"
  */
 export function cleanInputValues<T extends Record<string, any>>(
   inputs: T,
-  schema?: any
+  schema?: Partial<Record<keyof T, FieldSchema | BaseIOStructure>>
 ): T {
-  if (schema == null) {
-    return inputs
-  }
-  for (let inputKey of Object.keys(inputs)) {
+  const keys = Object.keys(inputs) as (keyof T)[]
+  for (let inputKey of keys) {
     let input = inputs[inputKey]
     if (typeof input !== "string") {
       continue
     }
-    let propSchema = schema.properties[inputKey]
+    let propSchema = schema?.[inputKey]
     if (!propSchema) {
       continue
     }
@@ -96,7 +94,7 @@ export function cleanInputValues<T extends Record<string, any>>(
  */
 export async function cleanUpRow(tableId: string, row: Row) {
   let table = await sdk.tables.getTable(tableId)
-  return cleanInputValues(row, { properties: table.schema })
+  return cleanInputValues(row, table.schema)
 }
 
 export function getError(err: any) {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/automationUtils.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/automationUtils.spec.ts
index a4346079e1..05dd7483e9 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/automationUtils.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/automationUtils.spec.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { AutomationIOType } from "@budibase/types"
 import { cleanInputValues, substituteLoopStep } from "../automationUtils"
 
 describe("automationUtils", () => {
@@ -42,15 +43,12 @@ describe("automationUtils", () => {
         },
       }
       expect(
-        cleanInputValues(
-          {
-            row: {
-              relationship: `[{"_id": "ro_ta_users_us_3"}]`,
-            },
-            schema,
+        cleanInputValues({
+          row: {
+            relationship: `[{"_id": "ro_ta_users_us_3"}]`,
           },
-          schema
-        )
+          schema,
+        })
       ).toEqual({
         row: {
           relationship: [{ _id: "ro_ta_users_us_3" }],
@@ -75,15 +73,12 @@ describe("automationUtils", () => {
         },
       }
       expect(
-        cleanInputValues(
-          {
-            row: {
-              relationship: `ro_ta_users_us_3`,
-            },
-            schema,
+        cleanInputValues({
+          row: {
+            relationship: `ro_ta_users_us_3`,
           },
-          schema
-        )
+          schema,
+        })
       ).toEqual({
         row: {
           relationship: "ro_ta_users_us_3",
@@ -94,28 +89,27 @@ describe("automationUtils", () => {
 
     it("should be able to clean inputs with the utilities", () => {
       // can't clean without a schema
-      let output = cleanInputValues({ a: "1" })
-      expect(output.a).toBe("1")
-      output = cleanInputValues(
+      const one = cleanInputValues({ a: "1" })
+      expect(one.a).toBe("1")
+
+      const two = cleanInputValues(
         { a: "1", b: "true", c: "false", d: 1, e: "help" },
         {
-          properties: {
-            a: {
-              type: "number",
-            },
-            b: {
-              type: "boolean",
-            },
-            c: {
-              type: "boolean",
-            },
+          a: {
+            type: AutomationIOType.NUMBER,
+          },
+          b: {
+            type: AutomationIOType.BOOLEAN,
+          },
+          c: {
+            type: AutomationIOType.BOOLEAN,
           },
         }
       )
-      expect(output.a).toBe(1)
-      expect(output.b).toBe(true)
-      expect(output.c).toBe(false)
-      expect(output.d).toBe(1)
+      expect(two.a).toBe(1)
+      expect(two.b).toBe(true)
+      expect(two.c).toBe(false)
+      expect(two.d).toBe(1)
     })
   })
 })
diff --git a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/scenarios.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/scenarios.spec.ts
index fdecfe3461..91934a9e22 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/scenarios.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/scenarios.spec.ts
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ if (descriptions.length) {
       client = ds.client!
     })
 
-    it.only("should query an external database for some data then insert than into an internal table", async () => {
+    it("should query an external database for some data then insert than into an internal table", async () => {
       const newTable = await config.api.table.save({
         ...basicTable(),
         name: "table",
diff --git a/packages/server/src/threads/automation.ts b/packages/server/src/threads/automation.ts
index 0634fe4c61..5e1764403b 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/threads/automation.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/threads/automation.ts
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@ class Orchestrator {
         const stepFn = await this.getStepFunctionality(step.stepId)
         const inputs = automationUtils.cleanInputValues(
           await processObject(cloneDeep(step.inputs), prepareContext(ctx)),
-          step.schema.inputs
+          step.schema.inputs.properties
         )
 
         const outputs = await stepFn({
diff --git a/packages/types/src/documents/app/automation/automation.ts b/packages/types/src/documents/app/automation/automation.ts
index d7f5810761..ea21b5e23d 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/documents/app/automation/automation.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/documents/app/automation/automation.ts
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ export interface Automation extends Document {
   }
 }
 
-interface BaseIOStructure {
+export interface BaseIOStructure {
   type?: AutomationIOType
   subtype?: AutomationIOType
   customType?: AutomationCustomIOType