DesktopAutomations
Automations
Have a bot do work on a schedule, in the cloud, even when your computer is off. What automations are good for, where to find them, and how the page is laid out.
An automation, also called a routine, asks a bot to do something at a set time, or on a repeating schedule. You write the instructions once, and the bot does the job every time.
Automations run in the cloud, on the bot's own computer. Your computer can be asleep or off.
What people use them for
| Schedule | Instruction |
|---|---|
| Every weekday at 8am | Summarize yesterday's news about our three main competitors, with links. Keep it under 300 words. |
| Every Monday at 9am | List the tasks due this week from our project board and flag anything overdue. |
| Every hour, 9 to 5 | Check our website loads and the sign-up form works. If anything's broken, say so clearly at the top. |
| First of every month | Pull last month's sales numbers and make a chart comparing them with the month before. |
| Once, next Friday at 4pm | Draft the weekly team update from this week's threads. |
Open Automations
Any of these:
- At the bottom of the sidebar, open Tools → Automations.
- In a bot's settings, open Routines. It has Create schedule, Run logs, and Open schedules →.
- In the bot's computer panel, open the Routines tab. The bot is already selected.
A red dot on Automations in the Tools menu means a run failed or was missed since you last looked.
How the page is laid out
At the top, switch between two views:
| View | Shows |
|---|---|
| Scheduled routines | Your routines, as a list or on a calendar. |
| Run logs | What happened each time a routine ran. A badge counts failed runs you haven't seen. |
Scheduled routines: list or calendar
- List shows every routine, including paused and finished ones. Each card has the bot, the schedule, whether it's Active, Paused, or a Finished schedule, the next run, how the last run went, and a Run logs link.
- Calendar shows routines as events on a Day, 3 days, or Week view. Use the arrows and Today to move around. On a wide window, a mini month and a list of bots appear on the left.
Filters
- All bots filters to one bot's routines.
- Chips at the top count active routines, failed runs, and paused routines. Click the paused chip to see them, with Resume and Edit.
Related pages
- Responsibilities: give a bot a standing goal, like Keep my inbox under 20 unread, with a daily or weekly check-in. Each check-in is a routine named Check-in: plus the goal, and you'll find it here in Automations too.
- Today: see which routines run Later today, which are Done today, and any Routines that didn't run, next to everything else that needs you.