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Routines let you define triggers: when something happens in the workspace or on a schedule, an agent wakes up and handles it — no manual messaging needed. Where to go: Dashboard → Routines

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What routines do

Trigger (event or schedule)  →  Routine matches  →  Inbox item created  →  Dispatcher wakes agent  →  Agent processes it
A routine is: when [trigger] matching [conditions], assign work to [agent]. Routines support two trigger types:
  • Event triggers — fire when a workspace event occurs (contact created, status changed, task assigned, etc.)
  • Schedule triggers — fire on a cron schedule (every 15 minutes, hourly, daily, etc.)
The work arrives in the agent’s inbox as a background task. The agent picks it up on its next active session, runs the relevant skill, and marks it done.

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Event triggers

Contact created

Fires when a new contact is added to the CRM — manually, by another agent, or via import.

Contact status changed

Fires when a contact moves to a new pipeline stage (e.g. Lead → Qualified).

Contact fields updated

Fires when specific fields on a contact record change.

Task assigned

Fires when a task is assigned or reassigned to a specific agent.

Agent mentioned

Fires when @agent-slug appears in any task comment.

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Schedule triggers

Schedule triggers wake an agent on a recurring cadence. Use these for periodic work: checking inboxes, generating reports, running sweeps, or any task that should happen on a timer. Available presets include:
  • Every 15 minutes
  • Every 30 minutes
  • Hourly
  • Every 6 hours
  • Daily
  • Weekly
Custom cron expressions are also supported for advanced scheduling.

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Creating a routine

1

Open Routines

Go to Routines in the left sidebar. You’ll see a list of existing routines (empty on a fresh install).
2

Click New routine

Click the + New routine button in the top right.
3

Set the trigger

Choose between Event and Schedule:For event triggers: pick a trigger type from the dropdown. For CRM triggers (contact created, status changed, fields updated), you can optionally add conditions:
  • Pipeline stage — only fire when the contact is in a specific stage
  • Field value — only fire when a specific field matches a value
Leave conditions empty to fire on every event of that type.For schedule triggers: pick a cron preset or enter a custom cron expression.
4

Choose the agent

Pick which agent should receive the work. Only agents with status ready (not paused or over budget) will actually be woken.
5

Write a summary

Add a short note describing what the agent should do. This becomes part of the inbox item that wakes the agent:
“New contact from demo form. Research their company and draft a personalized intro.”
The agent sees this note alongside the event data (contact record, task details, etc.).
6

Save and activate

Click Save. The routine is active immediately — the next matching event or schedule tick will trigger it.

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Example routines

Trigger: Contact created
Agent: crm-researcher
Summary: “New contact added. Research their LinkedIn, company, and recent news. Update the contact record with findings.”Every time a contact lands in your CRM, the researcher wakes up, browses the web, and fills in the missing context.
Trigger: Contact status changed
Condition: New stage = “Proposal sent”
Agent: sales-copywriter
Summary: “Contact moved to Proposal Sent. Draft a follow-up email for 3 days from now and save it as a draft.”Stage moves automatically trigger the agent to prep the next touchpoint.
Trigger: Schedule — daily at 9:00 AM
Agent: chief-of-staff
Summary: “Morning sweep. Review open tasks, check for stale contacts, and summarize priorities for today.”The agent wakes every morning and produces a daily briefing.
Trigger: Schedule — every 6 hours
Agent: social-strategist
Summary: “Check social channels for engagement on recent posts. Flag anything that needs a response.”Regular monitoring without manual prompting.
Trigger: Agent mentioned
Agent: assistant
Summary: (the mention text is passed automatically)When anyone types @assistant in a task comment, the assistant wakes up and responds in-thread.

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How the agent receives the work

When a routine fires, HQ creates an agent_inbox_items row containing:
  • The trigger event type (or schedule for schedule routines)
  • A summary (your routine note + event context)
  • The related record (contact ID, task ID, etc.) if applicable
The inbox dispatcher wakes the agent within seconds via openclaw agent --message "[inbox] ...". The agent reads its inbox, finds the item, and processes it using its skills. The agent marks items done as it goes. You can see inbox history in Settings → System → Inbox.

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Pausing and deleting routines

  • Pause a routine: toggle the routine off. Existing inbox items are unaffected. Schedule routines stop generating new items while paused.
  • Delete a routine: click the trash icon. Events that already created inbox items will still be processed.

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Troubleshooting routines

Routine fired but agent never responded:
  1. Check the agent status — it must be ready, not paused or over budget
  2. Check the dispatcher logs: docker compose logs -f dispatcher
  3. Check inbox history: Settings → System → Inbox — find the item and check its status
Event routine is not firing:
  1. Confirm the trigger type matches the event you’re testing
  2. Check that conditions are correct (wrong stage name, etc.)
  3. Verify the routine is enabled (toggle should be on)
Schedule routine is not firing:
  1. Confirm the cron expression is correct
  2. Check that pg_cron is enabled in your Supabase project
  3. Verify the routine is enabled
Agent responded but work is wrong: Edit the routine summary to be more specific. The summary is the agent’s instruction — treat it like a short task description.