Frequently asked questions

What is an AI routine?

An AI routine is a saved prompt that a personal AI agent runs on a schedule, such as every weekday at 8 AM, so it does a recurring job for you without being asked each time. Examples are a morning brief, a price-drop alert, or a weekly inbox cleanup.

How do I set up a routine?

Open a routine on Routine Stack, click Copy prompt, replace everything in [BRACKETS] with your own details, then create a scheduled task in your agent using the listed schedule. Run it once by hand to check the output before you let it run on its own.

Is Routine Stack free?

Yes. Every routine on Routine Stack is free to read, copy and use.

Which AI agents do the routines work with?

The routines are written as plain-language prompts, so they work with most agents that can run scheduled tasks, including Grok Bot, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, ChatGPT Tasks and Claude. Each routine page lists the agents it is written for.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. A routine is plain text. You paste it into your agent and set a schedule. The cron expression on each page is optional, for agents or tools that accept cron syntax.

What does the cron schedule mean?

Cron is a standard five-field format for schedules: minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. For example, 0 8 * * 1-5 means 8:00 AM Monday to Friday. Every routine also shows the schedule in plain English.

Will a routine send emails or spend money on my behalf?

The routines on this site are written to draft rather than act: they summarize, alert and prepare drafts, and they tell the agent never to send, post, buy or trade. You should still review your agent's permissions and approve anything that sends, posts or spends.

Are the stock and crypto routines financial advice?

No. Market and crypto routines are informational only. They help you monitor data you choose; they do not recommend trades, and nothing on Routine Stack is financial advice.

How do I stop a routine from sending me too many messages?

Most routines include a quiet rule, such as staying silent unless a threshold is met. If a routine is noisy, raise its thresholds, reduce how often it runs, or add a line like "If nothing changed, do not message me."

Can I submit my own routine?

Yes. Use the Submit page to send a routine you have actually run. Include the schedule, which agents you tested it on, and the full prompt with personal details removed. Submissions are reviewed by hand before publishing.

How often are new routines added?

New routines are added on an ongoing basis, and newsletter subscribers get a short weekly email with new routines. The full list is always available as JSON at /data/routines.json.

Can AI assistants and search engines use this content?

Yes. Routine Stack publishes an llms.txt and llms-full.txt for AI assistants, a sitemap for search engines, and the raw routine data as JSON. Please link back to the routine page when you quote a routine.