> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tempestai.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Automations

> Run AI agents on a schedule. Status reports, release checks, quality scans — dispatched headlessly, results piped into a live terminal.

# Automations

An **automation** is a scheduled, headless run of any Tempest-supported agent. You pick an agent, write a prompt, choose a schedule, and Tempest fires the CLI in the background whenever the schedule ticks. Output streams into a live terminal on the automation's detail page.

Automations live under the **Automations** section in the sidebar.

## What an automation is

Each automation bundles:

* **Agent** — any agent from your manifest that supports non-interactive output (`printArgs` set)
* **Prompt** — the message sent to the agent on every run
* **Schedule** — an RRULE-backed rule (Hourly / Daily / Weekly / Monthly + time)
* **Model** *(optional)* — free-text, only shown when the agent manifest declares `modelArgs`. Accepts aliases (`haiku`, `sonnet`, `opus`, `fable`) or `provider/model` strings.
* **Scope** — Global (runs from your home directory) or one open project (runs from that project's root). A project-scoped automation whose project isn't open at fire time is marked `dispatch_failed` with a message telling you to open it first.

## Creating an automation

Click **New Automation** in the Automations page. The dialog has two tabs:

* **Compose** — start blank. Name, agent, model, schedule, prompt.
* **Templates** — pick from 12 built-ins across four categories: **Status reports**, **Release prep**, **Quality & health**, **Growth**. Templates prefill agent, prompt, and a sensible schedule; you can edit any of it before saving.

## The schedule picker

`SchedulePicker` is a shadcn-styled form (not a cron string field). It has:

* **Frequency** — Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly
* **Interval** — every N units
* **Day of week / day of month** — shown only for Weekly and Monthly
* **Time** — with a 12-hour / 24-hour toggle and your local timezone label
* **Quick presets** — *Every hour*, *Daily 9am*, *Mon 9am*, *Fri 5pm*

Times are stored as UTC hour/minute and rendered in your local zone. A human-readable summary line appears below the picker so you can double-check the rule before saving.

## The detail page

Open any automation to edit it. The page has:

* **Header** — back link, name, **Run now** button
* **Schedule** — the picker plus the summary line
* **Prompt** — a textarea that auto-saves 800ms after you stop typing; every save creates a prompt version you can browse
* **Output** — a live `TerminalPane` bound to the current or most recent run's PTY. Clicking a run in the sidebar swaps the terminal to that run.
* **Sidebar** — Agent picker, Model input, **Next run** timestamp, and **Recent runs** (last 8, with status)

Each row in the automations list has an enable/disable toggle. Disabled automations skip the scheduler but stay editable.

## How runs are dispatched

A background scheduler thread wakes every 60 seconds. For every automation whose `next_run_at` is due, it emits a `automation:dispatch` event that the frontend catches and hands to the same runner used by **Run now**.

The runner:

1. Resolves the working directory (project path or `$HOME` for Global scope)
2. Builds the command from the agent manifest:
   * `hint` — the CLI (`claude`, `gemini`, `opencode`, …)
   * `printArgs` — the non-interactive form (e.g. Claude's `-p "{PROMPT}"`, opencode's `run … {PROMPT}`). `{PROMPT}` is substituted with the automation's prompt.
   * `modelArgs` — appended with `{MODEL}` substituted, if a model override is set
   * `autoApproveArgs` — appended when Settings → **Auto-approve agent tool calls** is on
3. Spawns a PTY session in the resolved cwd and streams output to the terminal pane
4. Marks the run `dispatching → dispatched → succeeded` (or `dispatch_failed`)

Agents without a `printArgs` entry in the manifest are hidden from the agent picker — automations refuse to run without one.

## Storage

Automations, runs, and prompt versions live in the Tempest SQLite database, in three tables: `automations`, `automation_runs`, `automation_prompt_versions`. Deleting an automation cascades to its runs and versions.

## Related Tauri commands

The Rust backend exposes: `list_automations`, `get_automation`, `create_automation`, `update_automation`, `delete_automation`, `list_automation_runs`, `upsert_automation_run`, `list_prompt_versions`, `save_prompt_version`. The frontend store (`src/store/automations.ts`) wraps them.

## Global settings that apply

* **Auto-approve agent tool calls** (Settings → Security) — if on and the agent's manifest has `autoApproveArgs`, those flags are appended to headless runs, matching the behaviour of interactive sessions.