Create an automation
Schedule a bot to do a job, once or on repeat. Quick create on the calendar, the full editor, every repeat option, and how to write instructions that work unattended.
Ways to start
Open Tools → Automations, then any of these:
- Click New → Scheduled task ("Ask a bot to do something later").
- On the calendar, drag across empty time to create a routine there.
- On the calendar, drag a bot from the list on the left onto a time.
- Press C while the calendar is open.
Quick create
Dragging on the calendar, or pressing C, opens a small form, New calendar event:
- Add title: a name, like Morning briefing.
- The date and time come from where you clicked. Change them if needed.
- Assign a bot: choose who does it.
- What should the bot do?: the instructions.
- Post results to: the thread where results land. It starts on the bot's main thread. See Where results go.
- Click Save.
Quick create makes a one-off run. For a repeating schedule, click More options to open the full editor.
The full editor
New → Scheduled task, or More options from quick create, opens New event:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Title | A name you'll recognize, like Competitor news. |
| Starts | The date and time of the first run. |
| Repeat | How often. See Repeat options. |
| Assign a bot | One bot. It does every run. |
| Post results to | The thread where each run's results land. Starts on the bot's main thread. See Where results go. |
| Remember the last run | A tick box, shown when results don't go to an existing thread. See Remember the last run. |
| Instructions | What the bot should do. Required. See Write good instructions. |
A box explains that the routine runs in the cloud, on the bot's own computer, so your computer can be asleep or off.
Click Schedule routine to save.
Repeat options
| Option | Runs |
|---|---|
| Does not repeat | Once, at the start time. |
| Every X minutes | Every 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes, or pick Custom… and type any whole number from 5 to 1,440. Choose which days (Every day, Weekdays, or Custom…) and hours (All day, or Custom hours… like 9 to 5). |
| Daily | Every day at the start time. |
| Every weekday (Monday to Friday) | Weekdays at the start time. |
| Weekly on … | Once a week, on the start date's weekday. |
| Selected weekdays | On the days you tick, like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. |
| Monthly | Once a month, on a day you choose, or the Last day of the month. |
| Yearly | Once a year. |
| Custom cron (advanced) | Any schedule you can write as a cron expression. |
Pick a custom interval that fits evenly into an hour or a day
A custom Every X minutes value must divide evenly into an hour (like 20) or be a whole number of hours that divides evenly into a day (like 120 for every 2 hours, or 360 for every 6). Any other value, like 45, 90, or 1,440, is saved as every hour, on the hour instead. For a schedule like that, use Daily or Custom cron (advanced).
Custom cron
Cron is a standard way to write schedules in five fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. Choose a time zone too. The editor previews the next few runs, so you can check it's right.
| Cron | Means |
|---|---|
0 8 * * 1-5 | 8:00am, Monday to Friday. |
30 17 * * 5 | 5:30pm every Friday. |
0 9 1 * * | 9:00am on the 1st of every month. |
0 */2 * * * | Every 2 hours, on the hour. |
If you're not sure, use one of the simpler options instead.
Write good instructions
An automation runs without you there to answer questions, so the instructions need to stand on their own.
- Be complete. Say exactly what to do, where to look, and what to produce.
- Say what "done" looks like. "A summary under 300 words, with a link for each item."
- Say what to do when there's nothing to report. "If there's no news, just say 'Nothing new today.'"
- Say what to do when something fails. "If a site won't load, say which one at the top of your reply."
- Don't ask it questions. Nobody will be there to answer.
Example:
Check the news from the last 24 hours about Acme, Globex, and Initech.
For each company, list up to 3 important stories with a one-line summary
and a link. Ignore stock price updates.
If there's nothing important for a company, write "Nothing new."
Keep the whole thing under 300 words.Test it first. Before scheduling, send the same instructions to the bot as a normal message, and check you like the result. Or create the routine and use Run now. See Manage automations.
Apps and secrets
If the job needs an app, like reading your calendar or a project board, connect it first. See Connected apps. If it needs an API key, add it as a secret. See Secrets and webhooks.
Where results go
Post results to, under Assign a bot, decides where each run's results land. The menu has:
| Choice | What happens |
|---|---|
| One of the bot's threads | Each run is posted into that thread, and the bot answers there. Threads are grouped by folder, with No folder for the rest. |
| Create a dedicated results thread | Results don't go into any of your existing threads. Each run starts in a new thread of its own, with fresh context. |
| Keep current destination | Only when you edit a routine. Leaves the destination as it is. |
The default is the bot's main thread: its oldest thread. So a routine reads like the bot checking in where you already talk to it, not a stray new thread every run. If you change Assign a bot, the destination moves to the new bot's main thread.
Which to choose:
- Post into an existing thread when the runs build on each other, like a daily update you reply to. The bot sees the earlier messages in that thread, including previous runs.
- Create a dedicated results thread when each run should start clean, like a daily check that shouldn't be swayed by yesterday's. Tick Remember the last run if you still want it to say what changed.
If a thread you picked no longer exists, the menu shows Thread unavailable — choose another. Pick a different one and save. Until you do, runs still happen, but their results can't go to the missing thread.
Remember the last run
Remember the last run shows under Post results to when results don't go to an existing thread. It's off unless you tick it.
When it's on, "Each run starts with what the previous one reported, so the bot can tell you what changed." The bot gets the final reply from the last run, not everything it did.
You don't need it when results go to an existing thread: the bot can already see the last run there.
Example: Check our three competitors' pricing pages and list any price changes. With Remember the last run on, the bot can answer "Globex cut its starter plan from $29 to $24 since yesterday" instead of listing every price again.
Read the results
- Open the thread you chose, or click the routine and choose Open results thread or Open thread.
- Finished runs also show under Done today on Today.
Read what the bot did, ask follow-up questions, or carry on from there. See Manage automations.