Get a briefing every weekday
Set up an automation that has a bot write you a morning briefing every weekday, then check how each run went.
In this guide you set up an automation (also called a routine): a job a bot does on its own, on a schedule. Here it's a short briefing every weekday morning, like the latest news in your industry or what your competitors have been up to.
What you'll end up with: a briefing waiting for you each weekday, in your bot's main thread, or wherever you choose to post it.
Time needed: about 10 minutes.
What you need first:
- Machine Desktop installed and signed in.
- A bot to do the work. The Researcher starting point (a bot called Scout) suits a news briefing.
Routines run in the cloud on the bot's own computer, so they run even when your computer is asleep or off.
Two quicker ways
- Just want a brief right now? Open Tools → Today and click Get my brief. The bot you pick answers in a few lines. See Today.
- Want a bot to keep an eye on your day? Open Tools → Responsibilities and add the Prep my day goal with Check in daily. With Google Calendar connected, the bot checks your day every morning at 9:00 and reports in its main thread. See Responsibilities.
Build the routine below when you want full control over the time, the instructions, and where the results go.
Try the instruction in a normal chat first
Before you schedule anything, send your instruction to the bot as a normal message and see what comes back. It's much quicker to fix the wording now than after a week of runs.
Nobody is there to answer questions when a routine runs. So write the instruction so it makes sense on its own, with everything the bot needs to know. For example:
Find the most important news from the last 24 hours about electric bikes: new models, price changes, and new rules for riders. Give me a 5-bullet summary with a link for each, then one line on what it means for a small e-bike shop. Keep it short enough to read in two minutes.
Check the websites and blogs of our three competitors, Acme, Globex, and Initech, for anything new since yesterday: product launches, price changes, job posts, or announcements. List what changed with links. If nothing changed, say so in one line.
Adjust it until the result is what you want.
Connect an app, if the briefing needs one
If you want the briefing to include something from your own tools, like your calendar, connect that app first:
- Open Tools → Connected apps at the bottom of the sidebar.
- Find the app, click Connect, then Continue.
- Your browser opens. Sign in to the app and approve access, then come back to Machine Desktop.
The app shows as connected within a couple of minutes. Click Check status if it takes longer. Then you can add a line to your instruction, like:
Also list my meetings for today from my calendar.
Skip this step for a news-only briefing.
Open Automations
At the bottom of the sidebar, open Tools → Automations. You can also get there from the bot: Bot settings → Routines, or the Routines tab of the bot's computer panel.
Create the routine
- Click New → Scheduled task.
- Give it a title, like Morning briefing, and pick the bot.
- Click More options to open the full editor.
Fill it in like this:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Title | Morning briefing |
| Starts | Tomorrow, at the time you want it, for example 8:00 am. |
| Repeat | Every weekday (Monday to Friday) |
| Assign a bot | Your research bot. It does each run. |
| Post results to | Leave it on the thread picked for you, the bot's main thread, so the briefing arrives where you already talk to the bot. Or pick another thread, or Create a dedicated results thread. See Where results go. |
| Instructions | The instruction you tested in step 1. |
If you choose Create a dedicated results thread, also tick Remember the last run. Each briefing then starts with what the previous one reported, so the bot can tell you what changed.
Then click Schedule routine.
The routine now shows in the List view as Active, with its next run. Switch to Calendar to see it on a day, 3-day, or week view.
Run it once now
Don't wait until tomorrow to find out whether it works. Click the routine and click Run now. If you need to cancel it, click Stop run.
Read the results
The briefing arrives in the thread you chose under Post results to. With the default, that's the bot's main thread: open the bot in the sidebar and the briefing is there, after your earlier messages.
Other ways to find it:
- Click the routine in Automations, then Open results thread or Open thread.
- Open Tools → Today. Finished runs are listed under Done today. Click one to open its results.
You can reply in that thread like any other: ask a follow-up question, or ask for more detail on one item.
Check the run logs
Open Tools → Automations and switch to Run logs. Each run shows its bot, time, whether it was Scheduled or Manual, and its status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Queued | Waiting to start. |
| Running | Working now. |
| Completed | Finished. |
| Failed | Something went wrong. |
| Missed | It didn't run at its scheduled time. |
| Cancelled | It was cancelled. |
Search the logs, or filter them by status.
A red dot on Automations means a run failed or was missed since you last looked.
Tips
- Change it any time. Click the routine and choose Edit. To take a break, use Pause routine, and Resume routine to start again.
- Put lasting preferences in the bot's Soul, like "Always include a link for every item". The bot reads its Soul at the start of every conversation.
- Want it saved as a file? Add "Save the briefing as briefing.md" to the instruction. It's saved on the computer of that run's thread, where you can open and download it.
- Watch the cost. Each run uses your balance, like any other work a bot does. A short, focused instruction usually costs less than "tell me everything".
- Routines from a recipe start paused. Resume them in Automations when you're ready.
