A scheduled task runs a prompt on a recurring cadence using Anthropic-managed infrastructure. Tasks keep working even when your computer is off. A few examples of recurring work you can automate:
- Reviewing open pull requests each morning
- Analyzing CI failures overnight and surfacing summaries
- Syncing documentation after PRs merge
- Running dependency audits every week
Scheduled tasks are available to all Claude Code on the web users, including Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise.
Compare scheduling options
Claude Code offers three ways to schedule recurring work:
| Cloud | Desktop | /loop | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Anthropic cloud | Your machine | Your machine |
| Requires machine on | No | Yes | Yes |
| Requires open session | No | No | Yes |
| Persistent across restarts | Yes | Yes | No (session-scoped) |
| Access to local files | No (fresh clone) | Yes | Yes |
| MCP servers | Connectors configured per task | Config files and connectors | Inherits from session |
| Permission prompts | No (runs autonomously) | Configurable per task | Inherits from session |
| Customizable schedule | Via /schedule in the CLI | Yes | Yes |
| Minimum interval | 1 hour | 1 minute | 1 minute |
Create a scheduled task
You can create a scheduled task from three places:
- Web: visit claude.ai/code/scheduled and click New scheduled task
- Desktop app: open the Schedule page, click New task, and choose New remote task. See Desktop scheduled tasks for details.
- CLI: run
/schedulein any session. Claude walks you through the setup conversationally. You can also pass a description directly, like/schedule daily PR review at 9am.
The web and Desktop entry points open a form. The CLI collects the same information through a guided conversation. The steps below walk through the web interface.
Frequency options
The schedule picker offers preset frequencies that handle time zone conversion for you. Pick a time in your local zone and the task runs at that wall-clock time regardless of where the cloud infrastructure is located.
| Frequency | Description |
|---|---|
| Hourly | Runs every hour. |
| Daily | Runs once per day at the time you specify. Defaults to 9:00 AM local time. |
| Weekdays | Same as Daily but skips Saturday and Sunday. |
| Weekly | Runs once per week on the day and time you specify. |
For custom intervals like every 2 hours or first of each month, pick the closest preset and update the schedule from the CLI with /schedule update to set a specific schedule.
Repositories and branch permissions
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 scheduled tasks 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 task.
Connectors
Scheduled tasks can use your connected MCP connectors to read from and write to external services during each run. For example, a task that triages support requests might read from a Slack channel and create issues in Linear.
When you create a task, 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 task form.
To manage or add connectors outside of the task form, visit Settings > Connectors on claude.ai or use /schedule update in the CLI.
Environments
Each task runs in a cloud environment that controls network access, environment variables, and setup scripts. Configure environments before creating a task to give Claude access to APIs, install dependencies, or restrict network scope. See cloud environment for the full setup guide.
Manage scheduled tasks
Click a task in the Scheduled list to open its detail page. The detail page shows the task’s repositories, connectors, prompt, schedule, 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 tasks
From the task 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 tasks keep their configuration but don’t run until you re-enable them.
- Click the edit icon to change the name, prompt, schedule, repositories, environment, or connectors.
- Click the delete icon to remove the task. Past sessions created by the task remain in your session list.
You can also manage tasks from the CLI with /schedule. Run /schedule list to see all tasks, /schedule update to change a task, or /schedule run to trigger one immediately.
- Desktop scheduled tasks: schedule tasks that run on your machine with access to local files. The Desktop app’s Schedule page shows both local and remote tasks in the same grid.
/loopand CLI scheduled tasks: lightweight scheduling within a CLI session- Cloud environment: configure the runtime environment for cloud tasks
- MCP connectors: connect external services like Slack, Linear, and Google Drive
- GitHub Actions: run Claude in your CI pipeline on repo events