Scheduling
Set up automated recurring tasks so your agents work on autopilot.
Agents don't just respond when someone chats with them — they can also run tasks automatically on a schedule. This is perfect for recurring work like generating reports, checking for updates, or sending summaries at regular intervals.
Setting up a scheduled task
You can schedule tasks directly from your agent's settings.
Open the Scheduling tab
Navigate to your agent in AI Employees and open its Scheduling tab. You'll see any existing scheduled tasks and an option to add a new one.
Define the task
Describe what you want the agent to do in plain language. For example: "Summarize all new support tickets from the past 24 hours and create a bullet-point recap." The more specific you are, the better the results.
Set the frequency
Choose how often the task should run:
- Hourly — Runs every hour (or every N hours)
- Daily — Runs once a day at a time you choose
- Weekly — Runs on specific days of the week
- Monthly — Runs on a specific day of the month
- Custom — Define a custom cron expression for precise control
Activate the schedule
Review the configuration and toggle the schedule on. Your agent will start running the task at the next scheduled time.
Scheduled tasks run in the background — you don't need to be online or have Opisense open. Results will be waiting for you when you check in. For more on how automation works in Opisense, see Automation and Tasks.
Monitoring runs
Every time a scheduled task runs, Opisense logs the result. You can review past runs from the Scheduling tab to see:
- When the task ran and how long it took
- The output or result the agent produced
- Whether the run succeeded or encountered issues
If something doesn't look right, you can adjust the task instructions and the changes will apply to the next run.
Pausing and resuming
Need to temporarily stop a schedule? Toggle it off from the Scheduling tab. The configuration stays intact — when you're ready to resume, just toggle it back on. No need to recreate anything.
This is useful when you're iterating on the task instructions or when the scheduled work isn't needed for a period (like during a holiday break).
Best practices
- Start with a longer interval. Begin with weekly runs and increase frequency once you're confident the output is good.
- Check results regularly at first. Review the first few runs to make sure the agent is doing what you expect before letting it run unattended.
- Combine with notifications. Set up alerts so you're notified when a scheduled task completes, especially for critical workflows.