# 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.

Canonical page: https://themachine.myapps.ai/docs/desktop/automations/overview

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](/docs/desktop/cloud-computer/overview) 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

![The Automations calendar in week view, with routines from several bots](/images/docs/desktop/automations-calendar.webp)

- **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

![The Automations list view](/images/docs/desktop/automations-list.webp)

- **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](/docs/desktop/bots/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](/docs/desktop/bots/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.

## Next

- [Create an automation](/docs/desktop/automations/create)
- [Manage automations and read run logs](/docs/desktop/automations/manage)
- Guide: [Get a briefing every weekday](/docs/desktop/guides/daily-briefing)