Claude scheduled tasks: 12 copy-paste examples

How to set up a Claude scheduled task

Steps below follow Anthropic's help article on scheduled tasks (checked October 22, 2026). Claude's interface is changing as chat and Cowork merge, so labels may look slightly different for you.

From a conversation (the newer Claude experience, where the message box no longer shows separate Chat and Cowork options):

1. Open a routine below, use Fill in the blanks to add your details, and click Copy prompt.
2. Paste it into Claude and say how often it should run, for example "Run this every weekday at 8 AM."
3. Answer any questions Claude asks, review the task name, schedule and instructions it proposes, then click Schedule.

From Cowork: click Scheduled in the left sidebar, then New task. Choose Create with Claude to set it up in a chat, or Set up manually to enter a name, the prompt, an approval mode and a frequency (hourly, daily, weekly, on weekdays, or manually), plus an optional model and folder.

Your tasks live under Scheduled in the sidebar, where you can see upcoming and past runs, edit the instructions or cadence, pause, resume, delete, or run a task on demand. Run a new task once on demand before relying on the schedule.

Plans and where tasks run

According to the same article, scheduled tasks are available on paid Claude plans (Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise). They run remotely, so they keep running while your computer is asleep or the desktop app is closed, but a task that needs local files or apps only runs locally. Each run is its own session you can open and review. On Team and Enterprise plans, admins control access. Availability changes, so check that page for the current details.

Developers: Claude Code has its own cloud scheduled tasks (formerly called routines), created at claude.ai/code/routines or with /schedule in the CLI. Per the Claude Code docs (checked October 22, 2026), they are in research preview, accept a custom cron expression but not schedules more often than once an hour, and can use every tool in the connectors you include without asking during a run, so remove connectors a task doesn't need.

Writing a task that stays useful

• Match the schedule to a preset. If a routine says "Mondays at 9 AM", pick weekly; for "every 3 hours", hourly is the closest built-in option, or keep it daily. The cron line on each page is for agents that accept cron.
• Give it a quiet rule. "If nothing changed, send nothing" (or one line) keeps a daily task from becoming noise.
• Name your sources and connectors. Tell it which sites or connected tools to use, and to say "not found" instead of guessing.
• Draft, don't act. Every routine here tells the agent to draft replies or alerts and never send, post, buy or book on its own. Pick an approval mode that keeps it that way.