Scheduled tasks
What is a scheduled task?
Set Claude to run workflows automatically — daily, weekly, or monthly.
Example: Every Monday morning, Claude checks three competitor websites, compiles what's changed, and drops a summary in your inbox before you've finished your coffee.
This is the kind of work that's important but never urgent — so it never gets done. Automation fixes that.
What scheduled tasks are for
Use one when the same job comes round again, and you keep forgetting to start it.
A morning brief. A check that is ready when you sit down. A monthly look through a file in your folder.
You say what done looks like. Claude asks what it still needs. Then it runs at the time you set, without you opening a chat.
A skill runs when you ask for it. A scheduled task runs because the time has come.
Everyday examples
Morning brief. Today's calendar, the emails that need a reply, and the follow-ups you promised. If a section is empty, it says "nothing".
Each weekday morning, write my brief. Ask if anything here is ambiguous before you rely on it.
1. Today's calendar as a table: time, who, why it matters, the one thing I should know before I walk in.
2. Email that needs a reply from me. Skip newsletters and threads someone else owns.
3. Follow-ups I promised and haven't sent.
If a section is empty, write "nothing". Don't pad it.
Don't send any email.
Skip the built-in briefing template. Describe the brief you actually want.
Expense check. Once a month, drop the export in the folder. The task lists anything that doesn't match the policy. You send any follow-up yourself.
How to set one up
Scheduling is on paid plans. Pro includes it. Check the current price at claude.com/pricing.
- Do the job once in a normal chat, until the result is right.
- Open Scheduled in the desktop app, then New task. Name it, paste the brief, and set how often it runs.
- Let Claude ask its questions before you save.
- Choose where it runs. Some tasks run in the cloud, so the laptop can stay shut. Others need this computer. Check that choice when you create the task. If you aren't sure, assume it needs the machine until you've seen it run once with the lid shut.
- Run it once yourself, then find the result.
Tell the task not to send anything. A draft is enough. You do the sending.
If a run doesn't appear, check the simple causes. The laptop may have been asleep on a task set to this computer. Or you may be looking at a different account from the one that created it.