# Automated and Workflows

Automations run saved prompts on a schedule; workflows replay them when you choose. Each run opens a fresh chat on the computer that owns it.

*Where in Studio: Navigation rail → Automated or Workflows*

*Last updated: 2026-10-25*

An automation runs saved prompts on a schedule. A workflow holds saved prompts that you start by hand, in one click. Both live on their own page in the navigation rail, **Automated** and **Workflows**, and every run opens a fresh chat that works through the steps in order.

| | Automated | Workflows | Scheduled chat |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Starts | On its schedule, or **Run now** | When you choose **Run now** | Once, at its time |
| What it runs | One or more saved steps | One or more saved steps | One first message |
| Each run | A fresh chat | A fresh chat | The chat itself |

For a single message at a set time, see [Scheduled chats](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/automation/scheduled-chats).

> **Note: Which agents can run them**
>
> Workflows and automations currently support Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and Devin only. The editor hides the other agents, and a definition saved on one of them must be given a supported agent before it can run.

## Create an automation

*Automated → New automation*

1. **Open the form**

   On the **Automated** page choose **New automation**, or **+** at the top of the sidebar.

2. **Name it and add steps**

   Give it a name and type each step, pressing Enter to add it. Each run sends the steps to the agent in order, in the same fresh chat. Nothing is sent while you edit. Write each step so it stands on its own: a run cannot see the chat you wrote it in.

3. **Choose what it runs with**

   Under **Runs with**, pick the **Project** and the **Agent and model**. Under **Checkout**, choose **Project folder** to work in the project's folder every run, or **New worktree each run** to give every run its own worktree and branch. Leave **Base branch** blank to start from the project's current branch.

4. **Set the schedule**

   Pick a **Repeat**: **Once**, **Every minute**, **Hourly**, **Daily**, **Weekly**, **Custom** (every few days) or **Days of week**. Set **Starts at** as `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM`. For **Days of week**, choose the days, the time and a **Time zone**; the automation then runs at that local time in that zone, also when the clocks change. The **Upcoming** list shows the next runs.

5. **Choose notifications and save**

   Pick when you hear about a run under **Notifications**, then choose **Create automation**.

![The New automation form with the name, steps, Runs with, the schedule card and the notifications card.](https://kelrova.com/docs/img/studio-automation/automation-editor.png)

*The New automation form: name, steps, Runs with, the schedule and notifications.*

**Run once after missed times (asleep or offline)** decides what happens when the computer was asleep or a run was still going when a time came: on, it runs once instead of once per missed time.

## Create a workflow

On the **Workflows** page choose **New workflow**. A workflow has a name, steps and **Runs with**, but no schedule. Choose **Create workflow** to save it.

## Save a chat as an automation or workflow

In a chat, open **Actions** in the row under the message box:

- **Create automation** saves that chat's own messages as the steps and asks for the schedule. Each scheduled run opens a new chat.
- **Create workflow** saves them as a workflow under a name you give.
- **Run workflow** starts one of your saved workflows in a fresh chat.

A chat can also propose an automation for you. See [When a chat proposes a schedule](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/automation/schedule-proposals).

## The Automated and Workflows pages

The sidebar lists your automations or workflows in cards, one per project and computer, with a search field. Select one and the page shows it the way a chat looks:

- the run in progress, if any, with its step, for example **Running step 2 of 4**;
- the runs so far, each with its outcome and **Open chat**;
- a bar at the bottom with **Run now**, or **Answer** or **Open run** while a run is open;
- beside it, cards for the **Schedule** (the next run and a switch to pause it), the **Health** (how long a run usually takes and the last failure) and the **Setup** (agent, access, folder, the steps and **Edit**).

![An automation on the Automated page with the live run, the runs timeline, the Run now bar and the Schedule, Health and Setup cards.](https://kelrova.com/docs/img/studio-automation/automated-page.png)

*An automation on the Automated page: the live run, the runs timeline, Run now and the Schedule, Health and Setup cards.*

## How a run ends

The agent reports how its last step ended. A run reads:

| Outcome | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Running** | A step is in progress. |
| **Needs input** | The agent asked you something and waits for your reply. Choose **Answer** to reply in the run's chat. |
| **Completed** | The work is done. |
| **Failed** | The work could not be completed. |
| **Stopped** | You stopped the run. |
| **No status** | The last step finished without reporting how it went. Read the run's chat to see. |

## Notifications

An automation notifies once per run, not once per step:

| Setting | What you get |
| --- | --- |
| **Default** | A banner on your computers when a run ends or needs you. |
| **Every run** | A banner and a push notification when a run ends or needs you. |
| **Failures** | A banner and a push notification only when a run fails. |
| **Off** | No notifications. Runs still appear on the page. |

Each computer's own notification settings still apply.

## Worktrees for each run

With **New worktree each run**, every run starts in its own new worktree and branch, so runs never touch your checkout. The 5 newest are kept. Older ones are removed only when they have no changes: no uncommitted files and no commits beyond their base, and no chat working in them.

## Pause, edit and delete

- **Pause.** Use the switch on the **Schedule** card, or in the edit form. No new runs start until you resume; the card shows the next run **If resumed**.
- **Edit.** Choose **Edit** on the **Setup** card. Changes apply from the next run.
- **Delete.** Choose **Delete** in the edit form and confirm. The definition is deleted for good; the chats of earlier runs stay.

## Where it runs

An automation or workflow belongs to one computer and runs there, in that computer's project folder. The **Setup** card names the computer. One that came from another computer shows **This came from another device. Save or resume it here to let it run on this device.** If the project folder moved, the bar offers **Fix & run** to point it at the new place and start.

## Related

- [Scheduled chats](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/automation/scheduled-chats)
- [When a chat proposes a schedule](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/automation/schedule-proposals)
- [Models, reasoning and accounts](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/chats/models)
- [Projects and checkouts](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/getting-started/projects)