Routines are in research preview. Behavior, limits, and the API surface may change.
- Scheduled: run on a recurring cadence like hourly, nightly, or weekly
- API: trigger on demand by sending an HTTP POST to a per-routine endpoint with a bearer token
- GitHub: run automatically in response to repository events such as pull requests, pushes, issues, or workflow runs
/schedule.
This page covers creating a routine, configuring each trigger type, managing runs, and how usage limits apply.
Example use cases
Each example pairs a trigger type with the kind of work routines are suited to: unattended, repeatable, and tied to a clear outcome. Backlog maintenance. A schedule trigger runs every weeknight against your issue tracker via a connector. The routine reads issues opened since the last run, applies labels, assigns owners based on the area of code referenced, and posts a summary to Slack so the team starts the day with a groomed queue. Alert triage. Your monitoring tool calls the routine’s API endpoint when an error threshold is crossed, passing the alert body astext. The routine pulls the stack trace, correlates it with recent commits in the repository, and opens a draft pull request with a proposed fix and a link back to the alert. On-call reviews the PR instead of starting from a blank terminal.
Bespoke code review. A GitHub trigger runs on pull_request.opened. The routine applies your team’s own review checklist, leaves inline comments for security, performance, and style issues, and adds a summary comment so human reviewers can focus on design instead of mechanical checks.
Deploy verification. Your CD pipeline calls the routine’s API endpoint after each production deploy. The routine runs smoke checks against the new build, scans error logs for regressions, and posts a go or no-go to the release channel before the deploy window closes.
Docs drift. A schedule trigger runs weekly. The routine scans merged PRs since the last run, flags documentation that references changed APIs, and opens update PRs against the docs repository for an editor to review.
Library port. A GitHub trigger runs on pull_request.closed filtered to merged PRs in one SDK repository. The routine ports the change to a parallel SDK in another language and opens a matching PR, keeping the two libraries in step without a human re-implementing each change.
The sections below walk through creating a routine and configuring each of these trigger types.
Create a routine
Create a routine from the web, the Desktop app, or the CLI. All three surfaces write to the same cloud account, so a routine you create in the CLI shows up at claude.ai/code/routines immediately. In the Desktop app, click New task and choose New remote task; choosing New local task instead creates a local Desktop scheduled task, which runs on your machine and is not a routine. The creation form sets up the routine’s prompt, repositories, environment, connectors, and triggers. Routines run autonomously as full Claude Code cloud sessions: there is no permission-mode picker and no approval prompts during a run. The session can run shell commands, use skills committed to the cloned repository, and call any connectors you include. What a routine can reach is determined by the repositories you select and their branch-push setting, the environment’s network access and variables, and the connectors you include. Scope each of those to what the routine actually needs. Routines belong to your individual claude.ai account. They are not shared with teammates, and they count against your account’s daily run allowance. Anything a routine does through your connected GitHub identity or connectors appears as you: commits and pull requests carry your GitHub user, and Slack messages, Linear tickets, or other connector actions use your linked accounts for those services.Create from the web
Name the routine and write the prompt
Give the routine a descriptive name and write the prompt Claude runs each time. The prompt is the most important part: the routine runs autonomously, so the prompt must be self-contained and explicit about what to do and what success looks like.The prompt input includes a model selector. Claude uses the selected model on every run.
Select repositories
Add one or more GitHub repositories for Claude to work in. Each repository is cloned at the start of a run, starting from the default branch. Claude creates claude/-prefixed branches for its changes. To allow pushes to any branch, enable Allow unrestricted branch pushes for that repository.
Select an environment
- Network access: set the level of internet access available during each run
- Environment variables: provide API keys, tokens, or other secrets Claude can use
- Setup script: run install commands before each session starts, like installing dependencies or configuring tools
Select a trigger
Schedule
GitHub event
API
Review connectors
Create the routine
Click Create. The routine appears in the list and runs the next time one of its triggers matches. To start a run immediately, click Run now on the routine’s detail page.Each run creates a new session alongside your other sessions, where you can see what Claude did, review changes, and create a pull request.
Create from the CLI
Run/schedule in any session to create a scheduled routine conversationally. You can also pass a description directly, as in /schedule daily PR review at 9am. Claude walks through the same information the web form collects, then saves the routine to your account.
/schedule in the CLI creates scheduled routines only. To add an API or GitHub trigger, edit the routine on the web at claude.ai/code/routines.
The CLI also supports managing existing routines. Run /schedule list to see all routines, /schedule update to change one, or /schedule run to trigger it immediately.
Create from the Desktop app
Open the Schedule page in the Desktop app, click New task, and choose New remote task. The Desktop app shows both local scheduled tasks and routines in the same grid. See Desktop scheduled tasks for details on the local option.Configure triggers
A routine starts when one of its triggers matches. You can attach any combination of schedule, API, and GitHub triggers to the same routine, and add or remove them at any time from the Select a trigger section of the routine’s edit form.Add a schedule trigger
A schedule trigger runs the routine on a recurring cadence. Pick a preset frequency in the Select a trigger section: hourly, daily, weekdays, or weekly. Times are entered in your local zone and converted automatically, so the routine runs at that wall-clock time regardless of where the cloud infrastructure is located. Runs may start a few minutes after the scheduled time due to stagger. The offset is consistent for each routine. For a custom interval such as every two hours or the first of each month, pick the closest preset in the form, then run/schedule update in the CLI to set a specific cron expression. The minimum interval is one hour; expressions that run more frequently are rejected.
Add an API trigger
An API trigger gives a routine a dedicated HTTP endpoint. POSTing to the endpoint with the routine’s bearer token starts a new session and returns a session URL. Use this to wire Claude Code into alerting systems, deploy pipelines, internal tools, or anywhere you can make an authenticated HTTP request. API triggers are added to an existing routine from the web. The CLI cannot currently create or revoke tokens.Open the routine for editing
Add an API trigger
Scroll to the Select a trigger section below the prompt, click Add another trigger, and choose API.
Copy the URL and generate a token
The modal shows the URL for this routine along with a sample curl command. Copy the URL, then click Generate token and copy the token immediately. The token is shown once and cannot be retrieved later, so store it somewhere secure such as your alerting tool’s secret store.
Call the endpoint
Authorization: Bearer header when you POST to the URL. The Trigger a routine section below shows a complete example.Trigger a routine
Send a POST request to the/fire endpoint with the bearer token in the Authorization header. The request body accepts an optional text field that’s appended to the routine’s configured prompt as a one-shot user turn. Use text to pass context like an alert body or a failing log.
The example below triggers a routine from a shell:
API reference
For the full API reference, including all error responses, validation rules, and field limits, see Trigger a routine via API in the Claude Platform documentation. The/fire endpoint is available to claude.ai users only and is not part of the Claude Platform API surface.
Add a GitHub trigger
A GitHub trigger starts a new session automatically when a matching event occurs on a connected repository. Each matching event starts its own session.Open the routine for editing
Add a GitHub event trigger
Scroll to the Select a trigger section, click Add another trigger, and choose GitHub event.
Install the Claude GitHub App
Running /web-setup in the CLI grants repository access for cloning, but it does not install the Claude GitHub App and does not enable webhook delivery. GitHub triggers require installing the Claude GitHub App, which the trigger setup prompts you to do.
Configure the trigger
Supported events
GitHub triggers can subscribe to any of the following event categories. Within each category you can pick a specific action, such aspull_request.opened, or react to all actions in the category.
| Event | Triggers when |
|---|---|
| Pull request | A PR is opened, closed, assigned, labeled, synchronized, or otherwise updated |
| Pull request review | A PR review is submitted, edited, or dismissed |
| Pull request review comment | A comment on a PR diff is created, edited, or deleted |
| Push | Commits are pushed to a branch |
| Release | A release is created, published, edited, or deleted |
| Issues | An issue is opened, edited, closed, labeled, or otherwise updated |
| Issue comment | A comment on an issue or PR is created, edited, or deleted |
| Sub issues | A sub-issue or parent issue is added or removed |
| Commit comment | A commit or diff is commented on |
| Discussion | A discussion is created, edited, answered, or otherwise updated |
| Discussion comment | A discussion comment is created, edited, or deleted |
| Check run | A check run is created, requested, rerequested, or completed |
| Check suite | A check suite completes or is requested |
| Merge queue entry | A PR enters or leaves the merge queue |
| Workflow run | A GitHub Actions workflow run starts or completes |
| Workflow job | A GitHub Actions job is queued or completes |
| Workflow dispatch | A workflow is manually triggered |
| Repository dispatch | A custom repository_dispatch event is sent |
Filter pull requests
Use filters to narrow which pull requests start a new session. All filter conditions must match for the routine to trigger. The available filter fields are:| Filter | Matches |
|---|---|
| Author | PR author’s GitHub username |
| Title | PR title text |
| Body | PR description text |
| Base branch | Branch the PR targets |
| Head branch | Branch the PR comes from |
| Labels | Labels applied to the PR |
| Is draft | Whether the PR is in draft state |
| Is merged | Whether the PR has been merged |
| From fork | Whether the PR comes from a fork |
- Auth module review: base branch
main, head branch containsauth-provider. Sends any PR that touches authentication to a focused reviewer. - External contributor triage: from fork is
true. Routes every fork-based PR through an extra security and style review before a human looks at it. - Ready-for-review only: is draft is
false. Skips drafts so the routine only runs when the PR is ready for review. - Label-gated backport: labels include
needs-backport. Triggers a port-to-another-branch routine only when a maintainer tags the PR.
How sessions map to events
Each matching GitHub event starts a new session. Session reuse across events is not available for GitHub-triggered routines, so two pushes or two PR updates produce two independent sessions.Manage routines
Click a routine in the list to open its detail page. The detail page shows the routine’s repositories, connectors, prompt, schedule, API tokens, GitHub triggers, and a list of past runs.View and interact with runs
Click any run to open it as a full session. From there you can see what Claude did, review changes, create a pull request, or continue the conversation. Each run session works like any other session: use the dropdown menu next to the session title to rename, archive, or delete it.Edit and control routines
From the routine detail page you can:- Click Run now to start a run immediately without waiting for the next scheduled time.
- Use the toggle in the Repeats section to pause or resume the schedule. Paused routines keep their configuration but don’t run until you re-enable them.
- Click the pencil icon to open Edit routine and change the name, prompt, repositories, environment, connectors, or any of the routine’s triggers. The Select a trigger section is where you add or remove schedules, API tokens, and GitHub event triggers.
- Click the delete icon to remove the routine. Past sessions created by the routine remain in your session list.
Repositories and branch permissions
Routines need GitHub access to clone repositories. When you create a routine from the CLI with/schedule, Claude checks whether your account has GitHub connected and prompts you to run /web-setup if it doesn’t. See GitHub authentication options for the two ways to grant access.
Each repository you add is cloned on every run. Claude starts from the repository’s default branch unless your prompt specifies otherwise.
By default, Claude can only push to branches prefixed with claude/. This prevents routines from accidentally modifying protected or long-lived branches. To remove this restriction for a specific repository, enable Allow unrestricted branch pushes for that repository when creating or editing the routine.
Connectors
Routines can use your connected MCP connectors to read from and write to external services during each run. For example, a routine that triages support requests might read from a Slack channel and create issues in Linear. When you create a routine, all of your currently connected connectors are included by default. Remove any that aren’t needed to limit which tools Claude has access to during the run. You can also add connectors directly from the routine form. To manage or add connectors outside of the routine form, visit Settings > Connectors on claude.ai or use/schedule update in the CLI.