How schedules work
An Automation Schedule files tasks for you on a timer, so recurring work happens without anyone starting it: a weekly status report, a nightly dependency check, a monthly documentation review. Schedules live under Automation, on the Schedule tab.
This page explains the ideas behind schedules. For the steps, see Create an automation schedule and Run, pause or change a schedule. Every field and tab is described in Schedule.
Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cron | One scheduled activity: what it does, and a schedule that says when it fires. The console calls a new one New cron. |
| Activity | What the cron does each time it fires. Runner files a task for a runner. |
| Schedule | When it fires: at named times (A cron expression) or every so often (A fixed interval). |
| Firing | One time the cron fired. Each is listed on the Runs tab, with its outcome and the task it filed. |
Who sees schedules
Schedule is shown only to Owners and Admins of your organization. Everyone else sees only the Playbooks tab under Automation. Roles are explained in How team and access work.
How a schedule relates to tasks
A Runner cron is a recipe for a task. Its Instructions become the description of every task it files, and each firing files one task per project you pick under Projects. Those tasks work like any other: they appear on the board, a runner works on them, and you read their results the same way. See How tasks work.
The cron also sets what you'd otherwise choose when you start a task:
- Persona — the kind of expert each task runs as. Coder is the default. See How personas and playbooks work.
- Model — the model level. Inherit uses the persona's or project's default.
- Hidden task — keeps the tasks it files off the default task board.
- Full auto — on, the runner never asks you anything and fails instead when it needs a person. Off, it stops and asks, and waits for your answer.
Tasks a schedule filed stay on the board even if you delete the schedule.
Its states
| State | What it means | What changes it |
|---|---|---|
| Enabled (● in the list) | It fires on its schedule. Next fire says when. | Clear Enabled and select Save. |
| Disabled (○ in the list) | It fires nothing, but keeps its settings and its firings. Run now is unavailable. | Tick Enabled and select Save. |
A warning mark in the list means an enabled cron is overdue or stuck: hover it for why.
Run now fires an enabled cron once straight away, and its outcome lands on the Runs tab like any other firing. Keep logs decides which firings are recorded. Every option is described in Schedule.
To stop a schedule for a while, disable it. Delete cron, on the Advanced tab, removes the cron and every firing it recorded, and can't be undone.
The task each firing files runs in a worktree on one of your organization's nodes, like any task. See How projects work and How nodes work.