Task Automations

Task automations turn an existing task into a recurring scheduled task without leaving the task view.

They are intentionally a bridge into CoWork's existing Scheduled Tasks engine, not a separate Codex heartbeat system and not a new Routine object. Use this flow when a one-off task proves useful enough to repeat.

Where It Fits

CoWork's current automation model has three layers:

• Workflow Intelligence is the always-on cognitive runtime.
• Routines are the primary saved automation product for policy, triggers, outputs, and observability.
• Scheduled Tasks are the lower-level cron-backed execution engine used directly by advanced users and as a compiled backend for schedules.

Task automations use the third layer. They create a real cron scheduled task from a selected task by calling the same scheduler API used by Settings > Automations > Scheduled Tasks.

Task Overflow Menu

In task view, the task title includes a three-dot overflow menu. The menu exposes actions that are supported by the current task surface:

• Pin task / Unpin task
• Rename task
• Archive task
• Copy working directory
• Copy task ID
• Copy deeplink
• Copy as Markdown
• Fork session
• Add automation...
• View outputs when task outputs are available

Copy deeplink copies cowork://tasks/<taskId>. The app handles that URL by reopening the matching task, so copied links can be pasted into another task, a note, or an external place that can launch the CoWork URL scheme.

Add Automation Flow

Clicking Add automation... opens an Add automation modal over the current task.

Defaults come from the selected task:

• name: current task title
• taskTitle: current task title
• prompt: current task prompt
• workspaceId: current task workspace
• description: Created from task <taskId> plus the task deeplink
• taskPrompt: the edited automation prompt plus a source reference containing the original task title, task ID, and deeplink

The modal includes:

• a large prompt editor prefilled from the task
• a footer Run in selector
• an editable automation name control
• a schedule selector
• Cancel and Save
• a Use template view with built-in template prompts

Save is disabled until the name, prompt, workspace, and schedule are valid. If scheduler creation fails, the modal shows the returned error inline and stays open.

Run Modes

Chat is the default run mode. It creates the safest unattended automation:

• shellAccess: false
• allowUserInput: false

Local runs in the current workspace and enables shell access:

• shellAccess: true
• allowUserInput: false

Worktree is shown only for tasks with a worktree path. It is currently disabled because the cron creation API stores a workspace target but does not yet preserve an individual task worktree execution context. The UI should make that limitation visible instead of silently creating a job in the wrong place.

Schedule Presets

The modal supports these presets:

Custom schedules use the existing cron-expression path and are invalid until the expression is non-empty.

Templates

Use template opens a compact template grid. Selecting a template returns to the create modal and fills:

• automation name
• prompt
• schedule preset

Built-in templates cover common scheduled-task examples:

• daily summary
• scan recent changes
• CI failure summary
• weekly update
• inbox check-in
• regression watch

Templates are deliberately small and local to the task automation modal. They are starting points for the scheduled-task prompt, not separate managed routines.

Scheduler Payload

Saving calls window.electronAPI.addCronJob with a CronJobCreate payload:

{
  name,
  description,
  enabled: true,
  shellAccess,
  allowUserInput: false,
  deleteAfterRun: false,
  schedule,
  workspaceId,
  taskTitle,
  taskPrompt,
}

The resulting job appears in Settings > Automations > Scheduled Tasks and uses the normal cron runtime, history, enable/disable behavior, and scheduler persistence.

Current Limitations

• Task automations create cron scheduled tasks directly; they do not create a high-level Routine.
• Worktree execution context is not preserved yet, so Worktree is visibly disabled when the current task has a worktree.
• Automations are unattended by default: allowUserInput is false. A prompt that requires interactive clarification should be rewritten before saving.
• Remote-session task views should not create local automations from the remote shadow task.

Implementation Notes

The task automation UI is implemented in src/renderer/components/MainContent.tsx.

Important helper exports:

• TaskAutomationModal
• TASK_AUTOMATION_TEMPLATES
• buildTaskAutomationSchedule
• buildTaskAutomationPrompt
• buildTaskAutomationCronJobCreate

The focused renderer test coverage lives in src/renderer/components/__tests__/main-content-working-state.test.ts and verifies:

• modal defaults from a selected task
• default Every 30m scheduler payload
• template defaults
• Local run mode enabling shellAccess

When changing this flow, run:

npx vitest run src/renderer/components/__tests__/main-content-working-state.test.ts
npm run build:react