Run a workflow on a schedule

A schedule starts a workflow on its own, on a timetable: a digest every morning, a report every Monday. It always runs the published version, with the input you set, and each run shows in Past runs marked Schedule.

Before you start

• A published workflow. The schedule can't be switched on while the workflow is a draft.
• An API key on your account: scheduled runs use it. If you've never opened the API keys page, open it once to create the key.

Steps

1. 1

   Open the schedule

   In the designer, click an empty part of the canvas (or select the Start block). Schedule is in the settings panel, just above Call this workflow.

2. 2

   Switch it on

   Use the switch beside Schedule.

3. 3

   Choose when

   Under Repeat, pick Every hour (on the hour), Every day, Weekdays, Every Monday or Custom (cron). Every day, Weekdays and Every Monday take a time under At.

4. 4

   Or write a cron expression

   With Custom (cron), type five parts in Cron expression: minute, hour, day of the month, month and day of the week. 0 9 * * 1-5 is 9:00 on weekdays, and 30 7 * * 1,4 is 7:30 on Mondays and Thursdays.

5. 5

   Pick the time zone

   Choose the Timezone the times are in. Daylight saving is handled for you.

6. 6

   Set the input

   Input (JSON) is what each run starts with, read as {{input.<name>}}. It must fill the Start block's required inputs. If the Start block has no inputs, the whole object is {{input}}.

7. 7

   Check the next runs and save

   Next runs shows the next 3 times in the schedule's time zone. Choose Save schedule (or Save changes).

How scheduled runs work

• A schedule runs at most once every 5 minutes. Every minute, and every 2 to 4 minutes, are refused.
• Schedules are checked every minute, so a run starts within a minute or so of its time.
• A scheduled run is a live run of the published version. It counts towards your account's 30 runs a minute and 5 at once, and costs what any live run costs: 1 credit when it starts if it has an HTTP, Webhook, Slack, Email or App action block, plus its Agent, Classify and Extract blocks as they run.
• If a run can't start (no credits, too many runs at once, input that doesn't fit the Start block), it's recorded in Past runs as a failed run with the reason, and the schedule carries on.
• A time missed by more than an hour is skipped, not caught up. Failed runs aren't retried.
• Publishing a change applies from the next run. While the workflow is back to draft, scheduled runs are skipped.

Pause or stop a schedule

Switch it off and save. The repeat, time zone and input are kept, so switching it back on picks up where you left off.

If something goes wrong