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Routines & Schedules

A routine is a recurring task that fires on a schedule, webhook, or manual trigger and creates a new issue assigned to a specific agent. Use routines to automate repeating work — status reports, syncs, health checks — without creating those issues by hand.

Prerequisites
  • SLAW running locally (see Quickstart).
  • At least one agent configured and active (see Managing agents).
  • A project to attach the routine to.

1. Create a routine​

Open the SLAW dashboard, navigate to your squad, and choose Routines in the sidebar. Select New routine and fill in the fields:

FieldRequiredDescription
TitleyesShort name for the routine (e.g., "Weekly status report")
DescriptionnoWhat the agent should do on each run
AgentyesThe agent who receives each run as a new issue
ProjectyesProject the routine belongs to
Prioritynocritical, high, medium (default), or low

Or via the API:

POST /api/squads/{squadId}/routines
Authorization: Bearer slaw_op_xxxx
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "Weekly status report",
  "description": "Compile squad status and post a summary comment on the goal issue.",
  "assigneeAgentId": "<AGENT_ID>",
  "projectId": "<PROJECT_ID>",
  "priority": "medium",
  "status": "active",
  "concurrencyPolicy": "coalesce_if_active",
  "catchUpPolicy": "skip_missed"
}

2. Add a trigger​

A routine needs at least one trigger to fire. Open the routine and choose Add trigger. Three trigger types are available:

Schedule​

Fires on a cron expression:

{
  "kind": "schedule",
  "cronExpression": "0 9 * * 1",
  "timezone": "Australia/Sydney"
}

cronExpression uses standard five-field cron notation (minute hour day month weekday). timezone is an IANA timezone string; defaults to UTC.

Webhook​

Fires when an external system POSTs to a generated URL. SLAW generates the URL and signing secret when you create the trigger.

{
  "kind": "webhook",
  "signingMode": "hmac_sha256",
  "replayWindowSec": 300
}

Signing modes: bearer (default) or hmac_sha256. Replay window range: 30–86400 seconds (default 300). Copy the generated URL and secret from the trigger detail screen.

To rotate a webhook secret after a potential exposure:

POST /api/routine-triggers/{triggerId}/rotate-secret

The previous secret is immediately invalidated.

API​

Fires only when called explicitly via a manual run. Useful for testing or one-off kicks. A routine can have multiple triggers of different kinds.

3. Set concurrency and catch-up policies​

Configure what SLAW does when triggers overlap or runs are missed. Set these when creating the routine or update them via Edit routine.

Concurrency policy — what happens when a trigger fires while a previous run is still active:

PolicyBehaviour
coalesce_if_active (default)New run is marked coalesced and linked to the active run — no new issue created
skip_if_activeNew run is skipped and linked to the active run — no new issue created
always_enqueueAlways create a new issue regardless of active runs

Catch-up policy — what happens with scheduled runs missed during server downtime:

PolicyBehaviour
skip_missed (default)Missed runs are dropped
enqueue_missed_with_capMissed runs are enqueued, capped at 25

Pause and resume a routine​

A paused routine does not fire. Toggle the status from the routine detail screen, or via the API:

PATCH /api/routines/{routineId}
{
  "status": "paused"
}

To resume:

PATCH /api/routines/{routineId}
{
  "status": "active"
}

The lifecycle is active ↔ paused → archived. Archived routines cannot be reactivated.

Archive a routine​

Archiving stops the routine permanently. From the routine detail screen, choose Archive:

PATCH /api/routines/{routineId}
{
  "status": "archived"
}

Archived routines remain visible in history but never fire again.

Run a routine manually​

Fire a routine immediately without waiting for its schedule — useful for testing:

POST /api/routines/{routineId}/run
{
  "source": "manual"
}

The concurrency policy still applies. If a previous run is active, SLAW follows the configured policy (coalesce, skip, or enqueue).

Edit a routine​

Update any field — title, description, agent, priority, or policies — from the routine detail screen. Each edit creates a new revision. Restore a previous revision from the History tab:

POST /api/routines/{routineId}/revisions/{revisionId}/restore

Delete a trigger​

Open the routine's Triggers tab, select the trigger, and choose Delete:

DELETE /api/routine-triggers/{triggerId}
caution

Deleting a webhook trigger immediately invalidates its signing secret. Any external systems using that URL will stop receiving wakes.

Verification​

Confirm the routine is live and firing:

  1. The routine shows active. On the routine detail screen the status reads Active, or fetch it directly:

    GET /api/routines/{routineId}

    The response status field should be "active".

  2. A manual run produces a run record. Trigger one run (step above), then list the routine's runs:

    GET /api/routines/{routineId}/runs

    You should see a new run entry. Unless the concurrency policy coalesced or skipped it, that run creates a new issue assigned to the routine's agent — it appears on the agent's board and in the activity log.

Next steps​