Hi @joelsbrown1, it looks to me like you’re doing it right, for what you want to accomplish. The machines commands give you direct control; one step simpler than using the Machines API. I don’t think we’re at the point where you can feed fly machines run a config through a file.
You can test out v2 apps to deploy and manage Machines much in the same way as for v1 apps:
https://community.fly.io/t/fly-apps-on-machine-prerelease/10219
https://community.fly.io/t/make-apps-v2-the-default-for-new-apps-in-your-org/11280
https://community.fly.io/t/sneak-peek-docs-for-apps-v2-help-us-improve-them/11478
I don’t know if something like Supercronic in a v2 (or v1) app would suit your needs for scheduling.