# Schedule a routine

A routine is an agent that runs on a schedule in one brain: a weekly
digest, a check for stale pages, stand-up prep. It follows instructions
kept in that brain, and acts as the member who owns it.

You need the Write role or above. An admin can limit routines to admins
and the owner.

## Create a routine

1. Select **Routines** in the sidebar, then **New routine**.
2. Choose the brain it works in.
3. Give it a name, such as `weekly-digest`: lowercase letters, numbers
   and hyphens.
4. Set the schedule as a cron expression, in UTC. `0 9 * * 1` runs at
   09:00 UTC every Monday.
5. Under **Connections this routine may use**, tick any connected tool
   it needs, such as Linear. Nothing is ticked by default.
6. Select **Add**.

ako creates the routine's instructions file in the brain's `routines/`
folder, and you become its owner.

## Tell it what to do

Open the routine's file in `routines/` and write its instructions in
plain language, as you would to a colleague. For example:

> Every Monday, read last week's changes in `decisions/` and
> `projects/`. Write a short digest to `digests/` with what changed,
> who changed it, and anything that looks out of date.

`routines/` is protected, so a change to a routine's instructions is
approved by a person before the next run uses it.

## Try it first

Each routine has two buttons:

- **Shadow run**: runs it as a preview. Everything it would write
  becomes a proposal you can read, then keep or discard. Nothing lands
  in the brain on its own.
- **Run now**: runs it for real, exactly as a scheduled run would. It
  doesn't move the next scheduled run.

Expand a routine to see its run history, and select **Review** on a
shadow run to see what it proposed.

## Ask the assistant for one

Ask in a chat, for example "Set up a routine that writes a weekly
digest of this brain". The assistant proposes it, and the proposal waits
under **Proposals**. Approving it creates the routine with you as its
owner.

## Ownership

A routine acts as its owner, with their access, and never approves its
own changes. If its owner leaves, loses access to the brain, or moves
below Write, the routine pauses. An admin can give it a new owner and
switch it back on.

Use the switch on a routine to turn it off and on. The owner and admins
can do this.