Schedule work on the Calendar
See the work your squad repeats on a schedule, and start a recurring job. Change, pause, run, or stop it, set its time zone, and know what happens when a run fails.
What a scheduled job is
A scheduled job is one piece of work that repeats. It has a name, such as "Weekly competitor check", a schedule, and a time zone. It also holds the work to repeat in full, the squad member who does it, and where its results go.
Each run creates a task for that squad member on Tasks, and the task ends with a report. The Morning Brief playbook is the one exception: each run posts one message in your lead's Chat and creates no task.
Like any task, a run uses credits only for the research it does, such as web searches and page reads. See What SquadRoom costs and what uses credits.
Start a recurring job
- In Chat or in a task, ask for recurring work, such as "check our three competitors every Monday". You get a ticket with a Scheduled job card.
- Read Repeats for when it runs, and Details for the full instructions and where results go.
- Select Approve. The task says "The job is on the calendar." and the first run time.
- In Skills > Playbooks, select Set up on a playbook.
- Answer your lead's questions in Chat. A job named after the playbook, such as "Morning Brief", goes on the Calendar.
See Run a playbook.
Read the Calendar
Open Calendar in the sidebar. The page is titled Scheduled Jobs. Week (the default) shows Monday to Sunday, and Month shows the whole month. The arrows move a week or a month, and Today brings you back.
A job card in Week shows the job's name and its time in 24-hour form, such as "09:00". A pause mark means the job is paused. A status mark shows how that day's run went. A plane mark means results also go to your Telegram chat.
Month shows up to 3 jobs a day, then "+2 more" with the number left. It marks only runs that need a look: running, failed, or waiting for your input.
Open a job
Select a job card. A panel opens with:
- the job's name and Active or Paused;
- the schedule in words, such as "Weekdays at 09:00", its time zone, and Next run;
- Assigned to: the squad member who does the work;
- Results go to: Telegram, or the squad member's chat;
- Work to repeat: the full instructions;
- Recent runs: up to the last 12.
Each run shows its status, when it started, how long it took, and a short summary. Select one for its Run output (the report) and Open Task. A run waiting on you shows Needs input: answer its ticket on Tasks > Tickets. For every run status, see What each status word means.
Run a job now
- Open the job.
- Select Run now. The run shows as Running in Recent runs.
While a run is going, the button reads "Running", and you can't start another. This run counts like any scheduled run.
Run now starts nothing while the job can't run. A line next to it says what is paused and where to resume it:
| What is paused | What to do |
|---|---|
| Your squad | Select Resume squad on Tasks, then Run now again. |
| Your squad, because the monthly credit limit is used up | Raise the limit in Settings > Usage, then Run now again. |
| The squad member on the job | Resume it on Squad, then Run now again. |
Change a job
- Open the job and select Edit. The Edit Scheduled Job window opens.
- Change the fields you need.
- Select Save Changes.
| Field | What it sets |
|---|---|
| Job Name | The name |
| Schedule | When it runs. Select it for the schedule picker, then select Done. |
| Timezone | The zone. Find one with Search timezone.... Read Time zones first. |
| Send results to | Telegram or Local. Shows only when Telegram is connected and your Telegram user ID (the number that names your Telegram account) is saved. |
| Work to repeat | What each run does |
The schedule picker
Under Repeat every, choose a unit, then fill in what it asks for:
| Unit | You set |
|---|---|
| Minutes | Every 1 to 59 minutes |
| Hours | Every 1 to 23 hours, on the hour |
| Days | Every 1 to 365 days, and a time |
| Weeks | The days (On days), and a time |
| Months | A day from the 1st to the 31st, and a time |
| Years | A month, a day, and a time |
The time picker sets the hour, the minute in 5-minute steps, and AM or PM. In Weeks, at least one day stays selected.
Time zones
Your workspace runs every job on one time zone.
- A playbook takes your browser's time zone when you set it up. If the workspace already runs jobs on a zone with different clock rules, setup stops and names the workspace's zone. See Run a playbook.
- A job that a squad member asks for uses the workspace's time zone. The ticket shows it after the time, under Repeats.
Pause and resume a job
- Open the job and select Edit.
- Select Pause Schedule, or Pause Job (the pause icon at the top).
A paused job keeps its settings and stays on the Calendar with a pause mark. Next run reads "Paused", and no run starts. To resume, select Resume Schedule or Resume Job.
Stop a job
- Open the job and select Edit.
- Select Stop Job (the bin icon at the top).
- Confirm.
The job leaves the Calendar for good. Tasks and reports from its earlier runs stay. To bring back a playbook's job, select Set up again on the playbook's card. See Pause or stop a playbook.
Pause every job at once
Pause squad on Tasks pauses your whole squad, scheduled jobs included. Each run is skipped while it is paused, and your schedules stay as they are. Select Resume squad, and the next run starts on time.
When a run fails
A failed run shows Failed in Recent runs, with what went wrong. What comes next depends on where the job came from.
A job you approved in a ticket
- Each failed run adds a line to the task the job came from: "Scheduled Job run failed (1/3):" and the error.
- After 3 failed runs in a row, the job pauses.
- The squad member who runs it gets a new task, "Fix Scheduled Job:" and the job's name. The task comes with a ticket: "Scheduled Job paused after 3 failures".
- Pick an option on the ticket:
| Option | What happens |
|---|---|
| Retry now (recommended) | The squad member resumes the job and runs it once, unchanged |
| Change the job | It updates the schedule or instructions, then resumes the job |
| Stop the job | It removes the job for good |
A run that succeeds sets the count back to 0. So does resuming the job.
A job from a playbook
After 3 failed runs in a row, the job pauses, Recent activity on the Dashboard says so, and the playbook's card shows Needs attention. No ticket opens. Check the job, then resume it from the Calendar.
What the Calendar doesn't do
- It shows only scheduled jobs: no tasks, due dates, or meetings.
- It can't change who does a job. The field that names the squad member is locked. Ask the squad member you want for a new job, then stop this one.
- It can't give each job its own time zone. The whole workspace shares one.
- It doesn't mark a missed run. A past day with no run record stays blank.
- A job can't post, send, or change anything in your connected apps on its own. Drafts from a run come to you as tickets. Only delivery to your own Telegram chat goes out without asking.
If something goes wrong
You seeTelegram Home Channel Not Set
Telegram is connected, but SquadRoom doesn't know which chat gets results. Until you fix it, Send results to doesn't show, and results stay in SquadRoom.
Add your Telegram user ID in Settings > Messaging and click Save Changes.
You seeCould not start this run
The run didn't start.
If a run is already going, wait for it to finish. Then select Run now again.
You seeThe run stopped before it could finish.
A run you started with Run now stopped partway.
Select Run now again. If it keeps happening, open the job's last task to see the error.
You seeDescribe the work this job should repeat
Work to repeat is empty.
Write the instructions, then select Save Changes.
"The Scheduled Job could not start:" and a reason
You approved a job, but it couldn't go on the Calendar. The task shows why.
Ask the squad member in that task to try again.
You seeScheduled Job registration could not be confirmed after 6 attempts. Check Calendar before retrying because the job may already exist.
SquadRoom tried 6 times and couldn't confirm that the job is on the Calendar.
Open the Calendar first. If the job is there, it is running. If not, ask the squad member in the task to try again.
Related pages
- Approving a recurring job: Answer questions and approve drafts.
- Ready-made recurring work: Run a playbook.
- Pausing your whole squad: Track work on Tasks.
- Telegram results: Reach your squad from Telegram.
- Today's runs in the Today’s schedule panel: Use the Dashboard.