> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-1a2462c9-cor-444-sanitize.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Routines

> Scheduled work on a bot you own. Routines fire in the owner's local weekday hours, pause and resume from the Computer rail, and follow your account across devices.

A routine is work a bot repeats on a schedule: every weekday morning, pull the report; on Fridays, check the release page; every hour during business hours, watch the queue. Routines belong to a bot you own and fire in **your** local weekday hours.

## Set one up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign in and open a bot you own">
    Guests cannot create routines; a routine has to belong to an account that can come back and stop it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a routine">
    Describe the repeated work and when it should run. The bot can also create one for you from the conversation — *do this every weekday at nine* — through its `routine` tool.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose how it reports back">
    Ask for a `notify` when something changes, or a short message each run.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pause and resume from the Computer rail">
    Routines are listed on the rail with their state.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Timing

| Rule  | Detail                                    |
| ----- | ----------------------------------------- |
| Clock | The **owner's local** clock               |
| Days  | Weekdays                                  |
| Not   | UTC on the guest, and not a Chat reminder |

A run wakes the bot's computer if it is asleep, does the work, and reports through the user-visible tools. Consequential steps inside a routine still park behind [approvals](/bot/approvals) unless you chose **Always** for that kind of step earlier.

## Routines follow your account

Your chats, projects, and **Bot routines** follow a signed-in account across devices — the web app and the [Bot desktop app](/bot/desktop) show the same routines.

## Routines are not…

| Object                   | What it is                                             |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| [Plans](/chat/plans)     | A task list in Chat                                    |
| [Skills](/bot/skills)    | Instructions on *how* to do a job, not *when*          |
| [CLI `/goal`](/cli/goal) | A long-horizon objective for the terminal coding agent |

## Related

* [Computer](/bot/computer) — where routines run.
* [Tools](/bot/tools) — `routine`, `notify`, `send_to_user`.