Invocations and schedules

Set your teammate to work the way you want: ask them yourself, have them check in every morning, or let an incoming message wake them up — all from one place in the Agent Builder.

In short

• A teammate can start work three ways: you ask them, a schedule runs them, or a trigger wakes them when something comes in.
• The Invocations tab is the menu of those start methods; the Schedule tab is where you set the recurring ones (like “every morning”).
• A schedule can be a routine check-in or a specific instruction you write once and reuse.
• You can turn a chat message or a task into a recurring schedule in a couple of taps.
• Scheduled work follows the same rule as everything else. Ask before sending is ON; nothing goes out without your OK.

This is a how-to page. For what a teammate is and how a piece of work travels from start to finish, see How work flows.

The three ways a teammate starts work

Think of it like a real colleague. Sometimes you walk over and ask. Sometimes they have a standing routine (“check the inbox first thing”). And sometimes something lands — an email, a message — that pulls them in.

1. You ask them. A chat message, or always-on Live mode, where the conversation stays in one continuous thread.
2. A schedule. A wall-clock time you set — every morning, every Monday, the 1st of the month — covered below.
3. A trigger. An incoming message on a connected channel (Slack, Telegram, Email, and more) wakes the teammate. Setting those up lives with Connectors; this page is about the first two.

You’ll find both tabs inside a teammate’s Agent Builder. Open a teammate from your roster, then look for the Invocations and Schedule tabs.

Set a recurring schedule

Save your teammate first. The Schedule and Invocations tabs unlock once the teammate exists — if you just created one, save it and the options appear.

Open the Schedule tab and add a schedule

In the teammate’s Agent Builder, open the Schedule tab and tap Add schedule.

*The Schedule tab lists every recurring run for this teammate — start with Add schedule.*

Name it and choose how often it runs

Give the schedule a clear name (for example, “Morning inbox check”). Then pick a Frequency — a friendly menu of Every day, Weekdays, Weekly, Monthly, and more — and set the time of day. Pick Weekly and you choose the days; pick Monthly and you choose the date.

*Pick a frequency and a time — no codes to learn for the common cases.*

Set the timezone

Choose the Timezone so “every morning” means your morning. France-first: Europe/Paris is in the list.

*The schedule runs in the timezone you pick — Europe/Paris for France.*

Choose what the teammate does on each run

Pick one of two actions:

• Heartbeat — a routine check-in: the teammate wakes up to check its inbox and assignments and pick up anything waiting. Best for “keep an eye on things.”
• Custom prompt — a specific instruction you type once. The teammate runs that message on every run. Best for a recurring job like “Draft this week’s client follow-ups for me to review.”

*Heartbeat for a routine check-in; Custom prompt for a specific recurring job.*

Leave it Enabled and create it

Keep Enabled on and tap Create. Your schedule now shows in the list with its plain-English cadence — for example “Every day at 10:00 AM · Europe/Paris · Custom prompt.”

*A finished schedule, written in plain language so you can read it at a glance.*

You’ll know it worked when the schedule appears in the list with its cadence and an on/off toggle beside it.

Turn a chat or task into a schedule. Already asked for something in a chat or written it up as a task? You can promote it into a recurring schedule — it opens the Schedule editor pre-filled with that instruction, so you just set the cadence and create it. No retyping.

Good to know

Pause without losing it. Flip a schedule’s toggle off and it’s kept but won’t run — handy for a holiday or a quiet month. Flip it back on whenever you like. You can also edit or delete any schedule from the list.

Every-minute and Custom (cron) are there for advanced needs. Most people only need Every day / Weekdays / Weekly. The Custom (cron) option lets a power user type an exact pattern — beginners can ignore it and use the friendly presets. (Recommended: start with a preset.)

Scheduled work is still work — and it follows the same safety rule as a chat. A teammate can draft, prepare, and check in on a schedule, but anything that would go out of your workspace waits for you. Ask before sending is ON; nothing goes out without your OK. Your teammates also check each other’s work before calling it done, so a scheduled job doesn’t cut corners.

What if it isn’t working?

If a schedule doesn’t seem to run, check these first:

1. It’s switched off — make sure the schedule’s toggle is on; a disabled schedule is kept but never runs.
2. The timezone is wrong — a schedule set to the wrong timezone runs at the wrong local hour. Open it and confirm Europe/Paris (or yours).
3. You didn’t save the teammate — the Schedule tab only works after the teammate is saved; create it first, then add schedules.
4. A Custom prompt is empty — a Custom-prompt schedule needs an actual instruction in the prompt box, or it won’t create.
5. You expected a send — a schedule never sends on its own; outbound work waits for your OK, so check for anything Needs attention.

Still stuck? See Getting help.

FAQ

What's the difference between a check-in and a custom instruction?

A Heartbeat check-in just wakes your teammate to look at its inbox and assignments and pick up whatever’s waiting. A Custom prompt runs a specific message you wrote — the same instruction, every time. Use a check-in to keep an eye on things; use a custom prompt for a repeating job.

Will a scheduled run send an email or message on its own?

No. A schedule can prepare and draft work, but anything outbound still waits for your approval. Ask before sending is on, so nothing leaves your workspace without your OK.

Can I set more than one schedule for the same teammate?

Yes. Add as many as you like — for example a daily morning check-in plus a weekly Monday report. Each one shows in the list with its own on/off toggle.

I asked for something once in chat — can it repeat automatically?

Yes. You can promote that chat message (or a task) into a recurring schedule. It opens the schedule editor pre-filled with your instruction, so you only pick how often it should run.

What time will 'every morning' actually run?

Whatever hour you set, in the timezone you choose. Set the timezone to Europe/Paris and “every day at 8:00 AM” means 8 in the morning, Paris time.

Next steps

Chat with a teammate

The most direct way to start work — just ask, in plain words.

Managing your roster

Hire, pause, change, or remove the teammates you have.

How work flows

See the full journey from your ask to your final OK.

Trust and safety

Why nothing gets sent without your approval.