# Responsibilities

Give a bot goals it looks after without being asked, with an optional daily or weekly check-in, and see its routines and webhooks in one place.

Canonical page: https://themachine.myapps.ai/docs/desktop/bots/responsibilities

**Responsibilities** shows what each bot looks after without being asked:

- its **Goals**: standing jobs you've given it, each with an optional check-in,
- what it does **On a schedule**: its routines,
- what wakes it up **When something happens**: its webhooks.

Adding a goal here is the whole setup. The bot knows the goal from its next
message, and the check-in starts on schedule.

![Responsibilities for Inbox: two goals with daily check-ins, a scheduled routine, and a webhook](/images/docs/desktop/responsibilities.webp)

## Open Responsibilities

Either of these:

- At the bottom of the sidebar, open **Tools → Responsibilities**.
- Click a bot's avatar in the chat header to open its profile card, then
  click **Responsibilities** (*"Goals, schedule, what wakes it"*).

If you have more than one bot, a row of bot tabs sits under the title. The
page starts on the bot you had open. Click another bot to see its
responsibilities.

Click the **Back** arrow at the top left to go back to your chat.

## Goals

A **goal** is something you want the bot to keep an eye on all the time, like
*"Keep my inbox under 20 unread"*. Under the **Goals** heading it says, for
example, *"Inbox keeps these moving and tells you when something needs you."*

### Add a goal

### Pick the bot

Click its tab at the top, like **Inbox**.
### Write the goal

Type it in the box (*"e.g. Keep my inbox under 20 unread"*). The box holds
one goal at a time, up to 200 characters, and pressing **Enter** adds it, so
add each goal separately. Say what "on track" looks like.

Or start from a suggestion. When a bot has no goals yet, three chips appear
above the box:

| Chip | Fills in | Check-in |
|---|---|---|
| **Watch my inbox** | *Watch my Gmail: flag anything urgent or from a real person, and draft replies I can send* | Daily |
| **Prep my day** | *Look at my Google Calendar each morning: what's on, what to prepare, and any clashes* | Daily |
| **Weekly review** | *Every week, sum up what got done, what slipped, and what's next* | Weekly |

A chip only fills in the box. Change the words if you like.
### Choose a check-in

| Choice | What happens |
|---|---|
| **Check in daily** | Every day at 9:00am, your time, the bot checks on the goal and reports. |
| **Weekly** | Every Monday at 9:00am, your time. |
| **No check-in** | No schedule. The bot keeps the goal in mind and brings it up when it matters, for example when you're already talking to it. |
### Choose where it reaches you

With a check-in, the **Also reach me by** menu appears:

| Choice | The bot |
|---|---|
| **In the app** | Reports in Machine only. |
| **+ text me** | Also texts you the report through Inkbox, by iMessage or SMS, **only when something needs you**. Needs [Inkbox](/docs/desktop/inkbox/set-up) connected to this bot. |
| **+ Slack me** | Also sends you the report as a Slack direct message, **only when something needs you**. Needs [Slack](/docs/desktop/integrations/channels#connect-slack) connected to this bot. |
### Click Add

Or press **Enter** in the box. The goal appears in the list.

Each goal in the list shows its check-in, for example *"Checks in every day at
09:00 · next in 14h"*, or *"No check-in: it brings this up when it matters"*.

### What adding a goal does

1. **The goal is written into the bot's Soul**, in a section called *My
   standing responsibilities*. The bot reads its Soul at the start of every
   conversation, so it knows the goal in every thread. See [Write a bot's
   Soul](/docs/desktop/bots/soul).
2. **If you chose a check-in, a routine is created** called *Check-in:*
   followed by the goal, like *Check-in: Keep my inbox under 20 unread*. A
   goal longer than 60 characters is cut to its first 57 characters and
   **…** in the routine's name. At
   each check-in the bot looks at what changed since the last one, does what
   is needed, and reports in two or three short lines. If nothing needs you,
   it says so in one line.
3. **Check-in reports post in the bot's main thread**: its oldest thread.
   They read like the bot checking in where you already
   talk, not a new thread every time.

The check-in is an ordinary routine. You'll find it in **Tools →
Automations**, where you can change its time, where it posts, or pause it. See
[Manage automations](/docs/desktop/automations/manage).

### Remove a goal

Click the **bin** icon next to the goal. This removes it from the bot's Soul
and deletes its check-in routine.

### Examples

| Bot | Goal | Check-in |
|---|---|---|
| **Inbox** | *Keep my inbox under 20 unread, and draft replies for anything from a customer* | Daily, **+ text me** |
| **Ops** | *Make sure every invoice in the Finance folder is paid within 30 days* | Weekly |
| **Scout** | *Track news about Acme, Globex, and Initech and tell me about anything big* | Daily |
| **Dev** | *Keep the main branch's tests passing* | No check-in |

## On a schedule

*"Routines it runs by itself."* Every routine for this bot, other than goal
check-ins, which show under their goal. Each shows its name, its schedule
(like *Weekdays at 08:00*), and its next run, or **paused**. On the right is
how its last run went: a green tick when it finished, or the status, like
**failed**, in red.

Click **Open Automations** to see and change them, with this bot already
selected. See [Automations](/docs/desktop/automations/overview).

With no routines you'll see *"No routines yet. Ask it to do something every
morning, or add one in Automations."*

## When something happens

*"Webhooks that wake it up."* Webhooks let another service start the bot, for
example a form tool every time someone fills in a form. Each shows its name and
whether it's **Listening** or **Paused**.

With none you'll see *"Nothing wakes it from outside yet."* Webhooks are
created on the Machine web app. See [Secrets and
webhooks](/docs/desktop/integrations/secrets-and-webhooks#webhooks).

## Good to know

- **Goals live in the Soul.** If you edit the bot's Soul by hand, leave the
  *My standing responsibilities* section alone and manage goals here instead.
  If that section is deleted, the goals disappear from this page.
- **Changing how a goal reaches you.** The **Also reach me by** choice is
  written into the check-in's instructions. To change it, remove the goal and
  add it again with the new choice.
- **Renaming a check-in breaks the link.** A check-in is tied to its goal by
  its name. If you rename it in Automations, it moves to **On a schedule**, and
  removing the goal no longer deletes it.
- **Each check-in uses your balance**, like any other work a bot does.

## Troubleshooting

| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| **Add** is greyed out. | Type a goal first. |
| Clicking **Add** does nothing. | That bot already has exactly the same goal. |
| The goal was added, but no check-in appears. | You chose **No check-in**. Remove the goal and add it again with **Check in daily** or **Weekly**. |
| I chose **+ text me** but got no text. | Texts only go out when something needs you. Also check Inkbox is connected for this bot. See [Inkbox troubleshooting](/docs/desktop/inkbox/troubleshooting). |
| I chose **+ Slack me** but got no Slack message. | Check Slack is connected in the bot's **Channels**, and that something needed you. |
| The check-in runs at the wrong time. | Open it in **Tools → Automations** and **Edit** its time. |
| An error shows under the box. | Read the message, then try again. If it keeps happening, check you're online. |

## Related

- [Today](/docs/desktop/bots/today): your day across every bot, with a one-click brief.
- [Inkbox from Machine Desktop](/docs/desktop/inkbox/from-machine-desktop)
- [Create an automation](/docs/desktop/automations/create)