Schedules

A schedule starts a session from a prompt at set times. Use it for work that comes back: “review yesterday’s open pull requests” every weekday at 08:00, “check for dependency updates” on Mondays, “write the standup summary from yesterday’s commits”. Every run is a new session.

The Schedule a session dialog: a name, Monday to Friday picked under Repeat, 08:00, Run when Switchboard starts, three next runs and what each run starts with

Schedule a prompt

In New session, pick the project and write the prompt.
Set the choices each run should start with: model, effort, mode, branch or worktree, profile. Images and files you added go with it.
Choose Schedule… in Start’s ▾ menu, after Add to queue.
In Schedule a session, set when it runs, then choose Schedule (Command, ReturnControl, Enter).

A message in the corner says when it runs next, such as “Review open pull requests is scheduled. Next: Tomorrow 08:00”, and New session empties.

In the command palette, Schedule a session… does the same with the prompt you are writing in New session. Anywhere else it opens New session to write one.

The dialog

Field	What it does
Name	Filled in from the prompt’s first line. Each run’s session is titled with it and the day, such as “Review open pull requests · Mon 19 Oct”.
Repeat	Once, Every day, Monday to Friday, Every week or Every month. Once shows a Date field, and a new schedule starts an hour from now, so “run this in an hour” is two clicks. Every week shows a toggle for each day (M T W T F S S), with today on. Every month shows a Day field, from 1 to 31.
At	The time, shown the way your computer shows times. Next to it, the rule in words: “Once on Tue 20 Oct at 09:00”, “Weekdays at 08:00”, “Mondays and Thursdays at 09:30”, “On the 1st at 10:00”.
If missed	Run when Switchboard starts (the default) or Skip it. See Missed runs.
Next runs	The next three runs, such as “Tue 20 Oct 08:00”. They change as you edit the rule, so you can check it.
Runs with	The project, the worktree or branch, the model, effort, mode and profile, from New session. To change them, use Edit… (see Change a schedule).

A day of the month that a month doesn’t have, such as the 31st in a 30-day month or the 29th of February, runs on that month’s last day.

Where schedules show

Upcoming, with every schedule and the runs of the next 7 days, where you can skip a single run. Schedules… in the command palette opens it on the schedules.
The Schedules card on Home, under the queue, with the first three and Schedule a session, which opens New session.
The Schedules section in a project’s Sessions tab, for that project.
In the command palette, Schedules: pick one… lists them. Pick one to Run now, Edit…, Pause or Resume, or Delete it.

The Schedules card on Home: four schedules with their rule, last run and next run, one skipped, one missed and one paused

Each row shows:

the project’s icon and the schedule’s name;
the rule in words, after the repeat icon;
the last run: “Last: Mon 19 Oct” with a check, which opens that run’s session. When a run didn’t start, it says why instead: “Skipped Tue 08:00: the last run was still working”, “Missed Mon 08:45” or “Folder not found”;
on the right, the next run, such as “Next: Tomorrow 08:00”, or Paused;
Run now and a ⋯ menu.

A schedule set to Once leaves the lists after its run. Upcoming shows its run under History for 7 days, then Switchboard removes it. The session it started keeps the repeat icon.

A paused schedule keeps its place, dimmed.

In the sidebar, a session a schedule started has the repeat icon before its second line.

When a run starts

At its time, Switchboard starts a new session from the prompt and its choices, the same way Start starts a queued item. A notification says “Scheduled: Review open pull requests started”, with the project. A click opens the session. When Claude finishes, the usual “Claude finished” notification follows.

A run never asks you anything, since nobody may be there:

The last run is still busy. When the session of the last run is still working, or waiting for you, this run is skipped. The row says “Skipped Tue 08:00: the last run was still working”, and a notification says it was skipped.
The focus limit. At the focus limit, the run goes to the queue as an item that starts by itself. It starts when a slot frees. A notification says “Scheduled: Review open pull requests is in the queue”, with the reason.
A usage limit. When the run’s Claude profile is at its usage limit, it goes to the queue the same way and starts when the limit resets.
The folder is gone. A schedule whose project folder isn’t there doesn’t run. It pauses, and the row says “Folder not found”. Removing a project from Switchboard pauses its schedules too.

Run now starts a run straight away, with the same rules. It doesn’t move the next run.

Missed runs

When Switchboard was closed, or the computer was asleep, at a schedule’s time:

With Run when Switchboard starts, it runs once when Switchboard starts or the computer wakes, however many runs were missed.
With Skip it, it doesn’t run. The row says “Missed Mon 08:45”, and it runs again at its next time.

When several schedules run at once this way, one notification says so: “3 scheduled sessions started”.

Time changes

Times are your computer’s local time. A schedule follows a change of time zone, and the clock changing for daylight saving time:

On the day the clocks go forward, a time that doesn’t exist (02:30 when 02:00 jumps to 03:00) runs at 03:00.
On the day the clocks go back, a time that happens twice runs once, the first time.

Change, pause or delete

The row’s ⋯ menu (or a right-click on the row) has:

Item	What it does
Run now	Starts a run now. The next run stays as it is.
Skip next run	Skips the next run only. The schedule stays active. Upcoming shows it as Skipped by you, with Undo.
Edit…	Opens New session filled in with the schedule’s prompt and choices. Change them, then choose Save schedule in Start’s ▾ menu, which opens the dialog with the schedule’s values.
Pause	Stops it until you choose Resume. Runs that were due while it was paused don’t run.
Delete	Deletes it without asking. The message in the corner has Undo, which puts it back.

When schedules run

Schedules run while Switchboard is running. Closing its windows leaves it running, so schedules still run. Quitting Switchboard stops them until you open it again.

Schedules run while a Switchboard window is open. Closing the last window quits Switchboard, and schedules wait until you open it again. A run that was due meanwhile is a missed run.

Switchboard doesn’t start itself or wake the computer for a run.

Export and import

Schedules travel in the Schedules section of a settings file. A schedule whose project folder isn’t on the other computer is imported paused, with “Folder not found”.