Chapter 17: Scheduled & Background Tasks — let the AI work on schedule
A scheduled task = set a time, and the AI automatically does one thing (in a fresh background session). For example:
- Every day at 8:00, the AI summarizes yesterday's to-dos;
- Every Friday at 18:00, the AI makes a data backup;
- On the 1st of every month, the AI exports a backup to the cloud drive.
Reading time: about 15 minutes.
17.1 Four schedule types
| Type | Trigger parameters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Once | specific date & time | Tomorrow 09:00: remind me to handle email |
| Daily | hour + minute | Every day 22:00: generate today's writing progress summary |
| Weekly | weekday (1=Mon … 7=Sun) + hour + minute | Every Friday 18:00: backup |
| Monthly | day of month + hour + minute | On the 1st: export backup to WebDAV |
17.2 How to create one? — just say it
Create a scheduled task: every Friday at 6 PM, write the novel progress summary in my workspace to
summary.md.
- Creating/modifying/deleting/enabling-disabling all require your confirmation;
- Scheduled tasks can use their own model and data, and don't appear in normal chat history;
- Write the prompt clearly: output to which file, in what format — because the task runs in a brand-new independent session where the AI has no context.
You can also set up background tasks manually and view download tasks in the sidebar tasks page.
17.3 Background commands (long-running services)
For services that must keep running (a local dev server, a long download), use background mode:
- The app saves the startup output to a file and gives you a process ID;
- ⚠️ Started ≠ healthy: have the AI separately check the process and logs (
ps -ef | grep xxxor read the output file); - Don't hand-compose
nohup ... &— background mode handles it automatically.
17.4 Timeouts & recovery
- Foreground commands can run up to 600 seconds; a timeout may mean the command is still running or quietly finished;
- First check the scene with read-only commands, then decide retry or wrap-up;
- Screen-off / app killed during scheduled tasks can affect triggers — for important tasks, add the app to your battery whitelist via system power management.
17.5 Keeping background tasks alive
Background tasks need background keep-alive to execute. In general, they're not recommended for non-root users, because root users have better system-level keep-alive methods.
17.6 Beginner FAQ
Q: A scheduled task didn't fire? A: Check: ① is the task enabled? ② time/timezone/weekday settings? ③ did the phone kill the app? ④ is the prompt clear (output where)?
Q: Can scheduled tasks go online and use tools? A: Yes — it's a full AI session with tools. But note: it runs while you're away, so how do approvals work? Only schedule low-risk tasks you trust.
End of chapter · Next: Skills — teach the AI new skills