Skip to main content
A scheduled task is a set of instructions that one agent runs on a schedule, even while you are away. Each time it fires, the agent starts one run. All scheduled tasks for all agents are on the Automations page, on the Scheduled tab. To start work when something happens instead of at a set time, use a trigger. See Start work when something happens (triggers).

​
Create a scheduled task

You can create a task on the Scheduled tab, or ask an agent in chat.
Ask any agent
The agent creates the task, and it shows on the Scheduled tab. To create it yourself:
1

Open Automations

Select Automations in the sidebar. The Scheduled tab opens.
2

Start a new task

Select + New task.
3

Pick the agent

Under For which agent?, select the agent.
4

Add a title

In Title, type a short name.
5

Write the instructions

In Instructions, write what the agent must do on each run. See Write instructions that work alone.
6

Set the schedule

In Schedule, select a preset, or Custom (cron) and type a cron expression.
7

Pick a model (optional)

Optional: in Model, select a model. Agent default uses the agent’s own model.
8

Choose what happens after a run

Under When it finishes, select Notify me (Sends you the result of each run) or Run quietly (Runs without sending a message).
9

Create the task

Select Create task.

​
Schedule presets

The presets are Every 5 minutes, Every 10 minutes, Every 15 minutes, Every 30 minutes, Every 45 minutes, Hourly, Every 2 hours, Every 4 hours, Every 12 hours, and Daily. A new task starts with Hourly. The presets repeat at a fixed interval. Daily runs every 24 hours, not at a set clock time. To run at a set time, use Custom (cron). For example, 0 7 * * 1 runs at 07:00 every Monday. Squad shows the schedule in words under the field, or an error if the expression is not valid. A cron expression has five fields: minute, hour, day, month, and weekday.

​
Model and time limit

  • Model: each task can use its own model. Run now also uses the task’s own model. For models, see Choose models and manage AI accounts.
  • Time limit: the task editor has no time limit field. Each task that you create on the Scheduled tab gets 24 hours. Squad does not stop a run because it is slow. Your workspace computer stops a run that shows no progress for 15 minutes.
A task can still have a shorter limit from an earlier setting. A task that an agent created can have no limit saved, and such a task stops after 60 minutes. The task editor then says “This task stops after [time]. Runs longer than that are stopped even while they are still working. New tasks get 24 hours.” Select Raise to 24 hours, then Save changes. The workspace computer also raises every limit below 24 hours to 24 hours each time it restarts. See Time limits.

​
Choose the accounts of a scheduled task

When your workspace has teammates, or had them before, the task editor on the Scheduled tab and in Agent Configuration has the field Accounts it can use. It stays after the last teammate leaves, so you can move tasks back to your own accounts. It decides which connected app accounts each run of the task may use.
  • “My own accounts” always means the person who saves the task. Nobody can point a task at another person’s accounts. When another person chose their own accounts, the editor names that person and says that only they can choose their own accounts there.
  • You and your Administrators can set this field. A new task that you create on the Scheduled tab starts with Shared accounts and my own accounts.
  • A task that an agent creates takes the setting of the person who asked for it. When you ask, in the dashboard or on Telegram, Discord, or Slack, the task uses the accounts shared with everyone and your own accounts. When a teammate asks, it uses the shared accounts and that teammate’s own accounts. When the request came from several people, for example in a group chat, or Squad cannot tell who asked, the task uses only the accounts shared with everyone. A task that an agent creates while it handles an email or a heartbeat uses your accounts. A task created during a scheduled run takes that task’s setting.
  • A task that nobody set uses your accounts if it ran before your first teammate joined. Otherwise it uses only the accounts shared with everyone until someone sets it. This includes tasks that an agent created before October 7, 2026, tasks that an agent on a Claude Code account creates, and tasks created with a command instead of the agent’s scheduling tool.
  • Duplicate (paused) keeps the setting of the task. A copy of a task that uses another person’s accounts starts with Only accounts shared with everyone.
  • When a teammate leaves or you remove them, their tasks use only the accounts shared with everyone.
  • A task that runs in the agent’s main session keeps using your accounts. Heartbeats also use your accounts.
The same setting decides what each run may do. A task that runs in the agent’s main session, and a heartbeat, can do everything that you can do. For other tasks:
  • A task that uses only the accounts shared with everyone works like a Collaborator. It can work on missions, docs, and tickets, but it cannot send email, change agents, skills, or MCP tools, or set credit limits. This includes a task that nobody set and that uses only shared accounts.
  • A task that you saved with Shared accounts and my own accounts can do everything that you can do.
  • A task that an Administrator saved with Shared accounts and my own accounts can do what that Administrator can do.
To let a task send email, you or an Administrator save it with Shared accounts and my own accounts. The task then works with the accounts and the role of the person who saved it. See Agents work within the teammate’s role. To share an account, see Who can use an account.

​
Write instructions that work alone

A scheduled run is a minimal session. Your agents’ instructions say that a scheduled run loads only the agent’s core files: its operating manual, its tool list, its Personality, its Identity, and About you. Do not rely on the agent’s Notes or on your chats in a scheduled run. So the instructions must carry the whole brief:
  • The inputs, by name: the docs, apps, or searches to read.
  • The work, step by step.
  • The output: where the result goes and in what form.
  • What to do in the edge cases, and when to open a ticket.
Instruction template

​
Manage tasks on the Scheduled tab

The summary at the top counts tasks, active tasks, paused tasks, and tasks that need attention. Up next shows the next runs. The caption says whether the times are in your local time or as scheduled on your workspace.
  • Select List or Week to change the view. Week shows seven day columns with the active tasks that fit a weekly grid. Select a task in it to edit the task. Paused tasks, and schedules that do not fit a weekly grid, show only in List.
  • Use All agents and the agent chips, the status list (All statuses, Active, Paused, Needs attention), and Search tasks… to filter.
Each row shows the schedule, the model, and notifies or quiet. The badge shows the last run: ✓ last run, skipped, or ✗ with the status. Select the badge to see that run in Runs.
Delete removes the task. You cannot restore it.
If an action fails, the row shows an error, for example Couldn’t update that schedule. Try again. or Couldn’t start. If a copy could not be paused, Squad shows Duplicated, but the copy couldn’t be paused. It is LIVE on the same schedule. Pause the copy yourself. With no tasks, the screen says No scheduled tasks yet. Create one with + New task, or just ask an agent in chat. At the bottom, Looking for what already ran? Runs → opens Runs.

​
Fix the health warnings

  • can never run: the task is set to remind the agent in the background, but background reminders are off, so it skips. Select Fix in Agent Configuration.
  • tasks fire at the same minute: several tasks start at minute :00 and wait behind each other. Select Stagger them. This moves only the start minutes. How often each task runs does not change.

​
Turn on heartbeats

A heartbeat is a scheduled task that wakes an agent to check its work. On each heartbeat the agent clears its mentions and assigned missions and moves its own work forward. If nothing needs attention, it does nothing. Setup creates the lead’s heartbeat. The lead creates a heartbeat for each agent that it adds. Every heartbeat is created switched off. Until you turn them on, agents work only when something wakes them, for example a chat message, an @mention, a mission you assign, a ticket you answer, or an email to their inbox. To turn on a heartbeat yourself:
1

Open Automations

Select Automations in the sidebar. The Scheduled tab opens.
2

Find the heartbeat task

Find the heartbeat task. Its name ends in -heartbeat, for example lead-heartbeat.
3

Turn it on

Select the switch on the row. The pill shows ACTIVE.
The lead’s heartbeat runs more often than the heartbeats of the other agents. For the intervals, see Limits and defaults. The lead turns its own heartbeat on only when you clearly ask for it. You can also ask the lead to turn on the other agents’ heartbeats.
Ask your lead
Each heartbeat is a run on your connected AI account, even when nothing needs attention. Heartbeats do not use credits. See What Squad costs and what uses credits.

​
See your week on the calendar

The Schedule calendar shows your agents’ recurring tasks by day and time. It is not in the sidebar. To open it, select View full calendar → in the TODAY’S SCHEDULE card on Home.
  • Select Week or Agenda. In Week, use Previous week and Next week, and This week or Back to today.
  • Agenda groups tasks under Runs continuously, Every day, Weekdays · Mon–Fri, and Specific days.
  • Select a task to see its schedule, model, typical duration, last run, next run, whether it notifies you, and its last result. A long last result shows only its start, followed by ”…”. Open the run on Runs to read all of it. See Limits and defaults.
  • In the task details, select Pause task or Resume task. To change anything else, select Open in and the agent’s config →.
With no recurring tasks, the calendar says No scheduled work yet.

​
Pause and resume an agent’s tasks

When you pause an agent, Squad pauses all of that agent’s scheduled tasks that are on. For how to pause an agent, see Add, change, and pause agents. When you resume the agent, Squad turns on again only the tasks that the pause turned off. Tasks that you paused one by one before, and heartbeats that were off, stay off.
An agent that you paused on or before 27 September 2026 can be an exception. When you resume it, Squad can turn on all of its scheduled tasks, including heartbeats. After you resume such an agent, open Automations > Scheduled and pause the tasks that you want to keep off.
Pausing an agent does not pause its triggers. Their events wait, and Squad delivers them when you resume the agent. See Pause, change, or delete a trigger.

​
What agents can do with schedules

Agents create scheduled tasks when you ask in chat, and the task shows on the Scheduled tab. For work that should start each time something happens, agents can suggest a trigger instead. See Approve a trigger that an agent suggests. The lead sets up a heartbeat, switched off, for each agent that it adds. It turns heartbeats on only when you clearly ask.
Ask your lead

​
Common questions

Tasks that start at the same minute wait behind each other. Select Stagger them when Squad warns about it.

​
Check that it works

  • The new task shows in the list with ACTIVE and a next run in Up next.
  • After Run now, a run for the task shows in Runs. See See what your agents did.
  • With Notify me, the result of each run is sent to you.

​
Troubleshooting

  • The Scheduled tab shows This agent is asleep. Cause: Squad reads schedules from your workspace computer, and it did not answer. Fix: select Wake & retry.
  • A task shows NEVER RUNS. Cause: it is a background reminder while background reminders are off. Fix: select Fix in Agent Configuration.
  • A daily task runs at a different time than you expected. Cause: Daily is an interval of 24 hours, not a clock time. Fix: use Custom (cron) with a set time.
  • A run skipped work it did last time. Cause: scheduled runs do not load the agent’s Notes or your chats. Fix: put the facts and doc names in the task’s instructions.