> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.lovable.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Automations: schedule recurring work with Lovable > Set up recurring checks, weekly digests, and project upkeep on a schedule. See how each run went, and change or pause an automation from your dashboard. An automation is a task Lovable repeats on a schedule, such as checking your published sites or summarizing last week's signups. You set one up in [Chats](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/chats.md), your conversations with Lovable outside your projects. Say what the work is and when it should happen. Lovable runs it on that schedule and posts results in the automation's chat when a run has something to report. Each run is [chat usage](https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/credits-and-usage.md#chat-costs), priced the same way as a message in **Chats**, so an automation that runs often costs more. See [Pricing and limits](#pricing-and-limits). Automations are personal, so nobody else in your workspace sees one or its results. The exception is an automation you set up in a Slack channel, whose results everyone in that channel can read. Free, Pro, and Business plans include automations. Anyone in the workspace who can create projects can set one up. > [!NOTE] > > This page is about automations, where Lovable repeats a task on a schedule and posts results in a chat. Looking for scheduled work inside an app you built? See [Jobs](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/jobs.md). Looking for a scheduled check of one app's code and errors? See [Project monitoring](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/project-monitoring.md). All three are different features. ## What you can automate Automations suit work you need done regularly and already ask Lovable for. For example, an automation can: * Check every morning that your published sites are reachable, and tell you which of today's errors are new. * Summarize last week's signups every Monday, along with the most common support themes or what changed in a tool you connected. * List the three oldest items in your backlog every Friday, so you can decide what to work on next. * Refresh a project's sample data before a weekly demo, or make the weekly content update you would otherwise ask for yourself. ## Create an automation Ask Lovable for an automation in [Chats](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/chats.md), or in a conversation with Lovable in [Slack](https://docs.lovable.dev/integrations/lovable-for-slack.md) or [Telegram](https://docs.lovable.dev/tips-tricks/lovable-telegram-bot.md). You can also select **Schedule a task** on the **Automations** page in the dashboard sidebar, and Lovable opens a new chat with a starter message you can edit. **1. Describe the task and its schedule** Say what you want done and how often. Each run starts from the task you describe here and cannot rely on earlier messages in the conversation, so include everything a run needs: * Name each source, such as a project, a [connected tool](https://docs.lovable.dev/integrations/introduction), or a web address. * Say what each run should deliver, such as a summary or a list. * Say what a run must not change. * Say whether a run with nothing new should still post a message. By default, it posts nothing. Some tasks need more detail: * If a run sends messages for you through a connected tool, such as emails, say how they should sound and how to sign them. * For a large source, such as a busy mailbox, say how much each run should read. By default, Lovable sets a limit, and each run says how much it left out. * If the work has an end, say when the automation should stop. Keep each automation to one purpose, and set up a separate automation for other work. ```text wrap theme={null} Every Monday at 08:00 London time, list last week's signups by day from the Growth project's database, name the largest source, and tell me whether the total dropped compared with the week before. Post it in this chat and change nothing in the project. ``` **2. Answer what Lovable asks** If your request does not say how often, Lovable suggests two or three schedules, with its recommendation first, and waits for you to choose one. Lovable asks for your timezone when it does not know it. A task that runs at an interval, such as every hour, needs no timezone. Your plan limits how often an automation can run. If you ask for a faster schedule, Lovable says how many runs a day it would mean and suggests one your plan allows. See [Pricing and limits](#pricing-and-limits). **3. Check a test run** Before it creates the automation, Lovable usually tries the task once. For a task that gathers information, such as last week's signups, Lovable shows you what a run would post. If Lovable cannot reach a source, or the result does not match your request, you see it in this preview, before the first run. For a task that needs a service you have not connected, Lovable asks you to [connect it](https://docs.lovable.dev/integrations/introduction) before creating the automation. For a task that posts, sends, or uploads something, Lovable also offers to take that action once now, the way a run would, such as sending one real message to the channel a run would post in. If you accept, Lovable asks for your approval while you are still setting up. Choose **Always allow** so later runs take that action without stopping. To have an automation run on its own, choose **Always allow** for every action that needs your approval. If you turn down the offer, Lovable still creates the automation. A run can then stop at any action that needs your approval and wait for your answer. See [Review requests and approvals](#review-requests-and-approvals). **4. Check the summary** Lovable then creates the automation and summarizes it: its schedule, and how Lovable understood anything your request left open. Reply to change anything in the summary. Every automation posts its results in one chat. By default, Lovable uses the chat where you set up the automation, or starts a separate chat when the task is unrelated to that conversation. To choose, tell Lovable whether to post in this chat or in a separate one. A card in the automation's chat shows its name and when it runs. The automation also appears on the **Automations** page, with its schedule and no runs yet. ## View results and activity Select **Automations** in the dashboard sidebar. The page lists your automations under **Active** and **Paused**. A paused automation shows the reason it stopped, and one that has not run yet shows its schedule. Under each automation, the page shows its latest run. Select **Show more** to see earlier runs, 5 at a time, newest first. Each run shows the time it ran and one of these: * A line naming what the run did, for a run with something to report. * **Ran**, for a run that found nothing to report. Lovable groups a series of runs with nothing to report into one line with a count, which reads, for example, "Ran 4 times". * **Running now**, for a run in progress. * **Waiting on you**, for a run that stopped for your answer. Select **View request** on it to answer. * **Hit a problem**, for a run that failed, with what went wrong under it. * **Didn't run**, for a run that could not start. The reason appears with it when Lovable has one, such as **Didn't run: out of credits** or **Didn't run: credit limit reached**. Some reasons, such as running out of credits, also pause the automation. For what to do about **Hit a problem** or **Didn't run**, see [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting). A run with nothing new to report posts nothing in the automation's chat. That chat can then show no new message for days, while the automation still runs on schedule. To read a run in full, open the automation's chat. On the **Chats** page, a chat with automations in it shows a clock badge with the number of its automations. The **Automations** page lists only work that repeats. For a task you ask Lovable to do once at a later time, see [Why doesn't my one-time check appear on the Automations page?](#why-doesnt-my-one-time-check-appear-on-the-automations-page) ## Review requests and approvals Some actions need your approval, such as sending a message through a connected tool or [sending work to a project](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/chats.md#approve-the-handoff). When a run reaches one, the run stops, and the automation does not run again until you answer. Your other automations keep running. You find a waiting request in these places: * On the **Automations** page. * In a notification on your phone, if you use the [Lovable mobile app](https://docs.lovable.dev/integrations/lovable-mobile-app.md). * In the Slack or Telegram conversation, for an automation you set up there. If you already chose **Always allow** for an action in any of your chats, runs take that action without asking. This includes sending work to a project, as described in [Approve the handoff](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/chats.md#approve-the-handoff). The **Automations** page groups waiting requests by what they need: * **Needs attention**: an action a run needs your permission for, such as sending a message. * **Needs input**: values a run is waiting for, which you enter in a short form. You can also skip the form, and the run continues with what it already has. A run with a request in either group shows **Waiting on you**. You can approve several waiting permissions at once. Some requests can be answered only in the automation's chat, such as one that needs a secret or a credential. Select **Answer in chat** on it to open that chat. For a permission request, your answer sets whether Lovable goes ahead and whether it asks again: * Allow it once: Lovable goes ahead this time and asks again next time. * Always allow it: Lovable goes ahead and stops asking for permission to use that connected tool or project, in all your chats and automations. For some tools, the permission covers only the same action on that tool. * Allow it for this thread, on some requests: Lovable goes ahead with every later action through that connection in the automation's chat, without asking. * Deny it: Lovable does not go ahead. A request you leave unanswered for 7 days disappears from the **Automations** page, and its run shows **Hit a problem**. The automation stays blocked. To unblock it, answer the request in the automation's chat. Lovable then catches up in a single run, which takes every missed scheduled time into account. ## Manage automations Ask Lovable to change or pause an automation, in the automation's chat or in any other chat in the same workspace. ```text wrap theme={null} Make the weekly signups report run on Fridays instead of Mondays. ``` You can also manage an automation from its menu. Open the menu from the automation's row on the **Automations** page, or under **Automations** in its chat's [Context panel](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/chats.md#manage-context-and-files): * **Run now**: runs the task once, immediately, and costs the same as a scheduled run. The next scheduled run keeps its usual time. **Run now** is available only while the automation is active. * **Edit task**: opens a form where you change the automation's name, its schedule, and the task itself. To set a schedule the form does not list, such as every 15 minutes, ask Lovable in a chat. * **Pause task**: stops the runs and keeps the setup, for an automation you might want back. A paused automation runs again only after you select **Resume task**. * **Delete task**: removes the automation, and you cannot undo it. Paused automations count toward your plan's limit, so delete the ones you no longer need to make room for new ones. Lovable also pauses an automation when something only you can fix stops its runs, such as an empty credit balance. The row then shows the reason. [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting) covers each reason and its fix. An automation you set up through Slack or Telegram has **Rename task** and **View prompt** in its menu instead of **Edit task**. To change its task or schedule, ask Lovable in that Slack or Telegram conversation, or in any chat in the same workspace. ## Pricing and limits Each run of an automation is [chat usage](https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/credits-and-usage.md#chat-costs) and follows the chat pricing model. Lovable prices a run on the work that run does. The daily chat allowance covers it first, then your daily build credits, then your general credits. When a run sends build work to a project, that work is treated as standard build usage and consumes credits. Your plan sets how many automations you can keep, **per person in each workspace**, and how often each one can run. Paused automations count toward that number, and one-time checks do not. | Plan | Automations per person | Most frequent schedule | | :- | :- | :- | | Free | 3 | Every 24 hours | | Pro | 10 | Every hour | | Business | 25 | Every 15 minutes | The more often an automation runs, the more it costs. For example, if each run does similar work, a task that runs every hour costs about 24 times as much as the same task once a day. Choose the least frequent schedule that still gives you results when you need them. A paused automation costs nothing. ## Troubleshooting Each entry names a status the **Automations** page shows, or a message from Lovable. > [accordion] Didn't run: out of credits > > Neither the daily chat allowance nor any credits were left when the run was due, so Lovable paused the automation, and it now shows **Paused — out of credits**. Add credits, then resume the automation. When an automation consumes more than you expected, run it less often. See [Out of credits](https://docs.lovable.dev/introduction/out-of-credits.md). > [accordion] Didn't run: credit limit reached > > A credit limit on the workspace blocked the spending, so Lovable skipped that run and kept the schedule. The automation runs again when the limit resets, or when workspace admins and owners raise it. See [Usage limits and alerts](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/usage-limits-and-alerts.md). > [accordion] Hit a problem > > The run started and failed, most often because it could not reach a source or a connection expired. Open the automation's chat to see where the run stopped. Reconnect the service, or correct the task, then select **Run now** or wait for the next run. After 3 failures in a row, Lovable pauses the automation and shows **Paused — failing**. Resume it after you fix the cause. > > A run also shows **Hit a problem** when you have left its request unanswered for 7 days. Answer the request in the automation's chat, as described in [Review requests and approvals](#review-requests-and-approvals). > > When you disconnect Telegram or move your Telegram connection to another workspace, an automation you set up in Telegram can no longer post. After 3 missed runs in a row, Lovable pauses it and shows **Paused — failing**. See [Lovable in Telegram](https://docs.lovable.dev/tips-tricks/lovable-telegram-bot.md#manage-your-connection) for how to restore it. > [accordion] Paused — Slack app removed > > Slack was disconnected from your Lovable workspace, or the Lovable app was removed from Slack. Either way, Lovable loses the link to the automation's Slack conversation and pauses the automation. Reconnecting Slack does not restore that link, so resuming the automation does not bring it back. > > After workspace admins and owners [reconnect Slack](https://docs.lovable.dev/integrations/lovable-for-slack.md#set-up-lovable-in-slack), ask Lovable in Slack to set up the automation again, then delete this one. **View prompt** in the automation's menu shows the saved task, so you can reuse it. > [accordion] Lovable says I already have this automation > > An automation with the same task, schedule, and timezone already exists in that chat, so Lovable did not create a second one there. Open the **Automations** page to find it, and resume it if you paused it. ## FAQ > [accordion] Can an automation change my projects? > > Yes. Name the changes you want in the saved task, and the changes a run must never make. A run sends the work to the project the same way a chat does. The run then waits for you to approve the project edit, unless you approved it earlier. The edit appears in that project's history like any other change. See [Review requests and approvals](#review-requests-and-approvals). > [accordion] Who can see my automations and their results? > > Only you, unless you set it up in a Slack channel. Lovable posts results in the automation's chat. A chat in **Chats** is private, and workspace admins and owners cannot read it. In a Slack channel, everyone in the channel can read what Lovable posts there. > [accordion] Why doesn't my one-time check appear on the Automations page? > > The **Automations** page lists only work that repeats, so a task you ask Lovable to do once at a later time does not appear there. Lovable runs that one-time check in the chat where you asked for it and posts the result in the same chat. Until the check runs, that chat's [Context panel](https://docs.lovable.dev/features/chats.md#manage-context-and-files) lists it under **Automations**. To reschedule or delete the check, use its menu in the **Context** panel, or ask Lovable in any chat in the same workspace. > [accordion] Can an automation create or change another automation? > > Yes, with your approval. A run can create, change, or resume an automation, and the run stops until you answer that request. The exception is a run that makes its own automation run less often, such as from every day to only Mondays at the same time. That change needs no approval, because it only removes runs and cannot add new ones.