Scheduled Tasks

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Introduction

Scheduled tasks let users write instructions once and have them run on a schedule: a morning briefing every weekday, a summary of the week every Friday, a reminder once on a set date. Each run sends the instructions to the assistant as a new chat, as if the user had typed them. The reply appears in the user’s library like any other chat, and the user is notified when it finishes or fails. Users can set up a task with a form, or just ask for one in chat.

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Turning it on

Scheduled tasks are off by default. Go to Settings → Features → Chat and, under Other Features, turn on Scheduled tasks. Chat must also be on. Runs start from the cron job and are carried out as background jobs, so cron must be running. Tasks don’t run without it.

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Plans

Open a plan, go to Entitlements, and under Quota set the Scheduled tasks cap:

• Blank: unlimited.
• A number: how many tasks a workspace can have. Paused and ended tasks count.
• 0: the plan doesn’t include scheduled tasks.

Every member’s tasks count towards the workspace’s cap. When a workspace has more tasks than a plan allows, checkout for that plan stops with Scheduled task limit exceeded and a View scheduled tasks button, so the owner can delete some first. The Scheduled item stays in the sidebar whatever the plan allows. On a plan without tasks, the page says scheduled tasks are not included in the plan and offers View plans.

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Credits and models

Each run is charged to the workspace like a chat reply. A run uses the workspace’s own API keys if it has brought its own. Before it starts, a run checks that the plan includes scheduled tasks and the chosen model, that the workspace has credits left, and that it is within its usage limit. If not, the run fails with the reason, and the user is notified.

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What users see

Users find their tasks under Scheduled in the sidebar. The list can be filtered by Type (how often a task repeats) and Status (Active, Paused or Ended). Each row shows when the task runs next, and its menu has Run now, Pause or Resume, Edit and Delete. New task offers three ways to start:

• Create with chat opens a new chat with the start of a request filled in.
• Set up manually opens the form.
• Suggested lists a few templates, and View all templates opens the rest.

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The task form

The timezone is taken from the user’s browser each time the task is saved. When someone in another timezone views the task, the schedule shows the task’s own timezone.

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The task page

A task’s page has two tabs:

• Overview: the instructions, schedule, model and permissions, with Run now, Pause/Resume, Edit and Delete.
• History: every run, when it ran and whether it ran on schedule or from Run now. A run that didn’t complete shows Queued, Running, Needs your input or Failed, with the error. Each run links to its chat.

The chat of each run says which task started it. Deleting a task removes it and its history. The chats of its past runs stay in the library.

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Creating a task in chat

Users can ask for a task in any chat, for example “every Friday at 4pm, summarize my week”. The assistant creates it straight away, asking first only if the request is unclear. A card in the chat shows the task’s name, schedule, permission and instructions, with a link to the task. A task created in chat uses the chat’s model and the user’s timezone. Creating it costs no extra credits. Tasks can’t be created in private mode, or from inside a task’s own run.

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How runs work

• The system task Run due scheduled tasks checks every minute for tasks that are due, and queues a run for each.
• If a task came due several times while cron wasn’t running, it runs once and then carries on from the current time. Missed runs are not repeated.
• Run now queues a run straight away, whatever the schedule.
• With Auto, the assistant isn’t offered tools that would have to wait for the user. With Ask, a run can stop at Needs your input, and the user is notified to answer in the run’s chat.
• A paused task doesn’t run until it is resumed. A task that runs once, or whose end date has passed, is Ended after its last run.

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Workspaces

Tasks belong to the member who created them. Only that member can open, change or run them. The workspace owner sees a Scheduled tasks section on the workspace overview, with View all listing every member’s tasks. The owner can delete any of them, for example to make room under a smaller plan’s cap.

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Templates

Templates are the suggestions users see when they create a task. Manage them under Templates in the admin panel, with the type Scheduled task template. Like other templates, a template has a title, description, category and Recommended model. Its Prompt becomes the task’s instructions, and its Schedule section sets the Repeat (Daily, Weekdays, Weekly or Monthly), the Time and, for weekly ones, the Days of the week. Times are in each user’s own timezone. Users can change anything before they save the task. Aikeedo ships ten templates, such as Morning briefing, Weekly work summary and Evening reflection, in two categories, Productivity and Personal. Import them from Settings → Starter content with the Scheduled task templates set. See Starter Content.

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Troubleshooting

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Need Help?

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