Automated Routines

Routines are named, persistent, user-owned tasks that fire automatically based on triggers (cron schedules, event patterns, or webhooks). Each routine runs independently with only its specific prompt and context sent to the LLM.

Architecture

┌──────────┐     ┌─────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐
│  Trigger  │────▶│ Engine  │────▶│  Execution Mode  │
│ cron/event│     │guardrail│     │lightweight│full_job│
│ webhook   │     │ check   │     └──────────────────┘
│ manual    │     └─────────┘              │
└──────────┘                               ▼
                                    ┌──────────────┐
                                    │  Notify user │
                                    │  if needed   │
                                    └──────────────┘

Routine Types

Lightweight

Single LLM call, no tools. Fast and cheap for checks and notifications.

Full Job

Multi-turn execution with tool access. For complex automation tasks.

Trigger Types

Cron Schedule

Fire on a recurring schedule:

{
  "trigger": {
    "type": "cron",
    "schedule": "0 9 * * MON-FRI"
  }
}

Supported formats:

Standard cron: 0 9 * * MON-FRI (9am weekdays)
Human-readable: every 2h, every monday at 9am
Shortcuts: @hourly, @daily, @weekly

Use crontab.guru to validate cron expressions.

Event Pattern

Fire when a channel message matches a regex:

{
  "trigger": {
    "type": "event",
    "channel": "signal",
    "pattern": "(?i)urgent|emergency|down"
  }
}

The pattern is compiled as a Rust regex. Common patterns:

(?i)keyword - Case-insensitive match
\b(word1|word2)\b - Word boundary match
^deploy.*prod - Starts with “deploy”, contains “prod”

Webhook

Fire on incoming HTTP POST:

{
  "trigger": {
    "type": "webhook",
    "path": "github-deploy",
    "secret": "your-hmac-secret"
  }
}

Webhook URL: http://your-host/hooks/routine/{id} or http://your-host/hooks/routine/{path}

Manual

Fire only via tool call or CLI:

{
  "trigger": {
    "type": "manual"
  }
}

Execution Modes

Lightweight

Single LLM call with context injection, no tool access:

{
  "action": {
    "type": "lightweight",
    "prompt": "Check if there are any urgent messages. If yes, summarize them. If no, reply HEARTBEAT_OK.",
    "context_paths": ["context/priorities.md"],
    "max_tokens": 4096
  }
}

Best for:

Periodic health checks
Notification summarization
Simple decision logic
Read-only operations

Full Job

Multi-turn agent loop with full tool access:

{
  "action": {
    "type": "full_job",
    "title": "Deploy to production",
    "description": "Pull latest main, run tests, deploy to prod if passing",
    "max_iterations": 10
  }
}

Best for:

Complex automation
Multi-step workflows
Tool-heavy operations
File manipulation

Guardrails

Routines enforce safety constraints:

{
  "guardrails": {
    "cooldown": "5m",
    "max_concurrent": 1,
    "dedup_window": "1h"
  }
}

Cooldown

Minimum time between fires:

Duration::from_secs(300)  // 5 minutes

Prevents rapid-fire execution from event triggers.

Max Concurrent

Limit simultaneous runs of the same routine:

max_concurrent: 1  // Only one instance at a time

Prevents resource exhaustion.

Dedup Window

For event triggers, ignore duplicate content:

dedup_window: Some(Duration::from_secs(3600))  // 1 hour

Uses content hash to detect duplicates.

Notification Config

Control when and how users are notified:

{
  "notify": {
    "on_start": false,
    "on_success": true,
    "on_failure": true,
    "channel": "signal",
    "quiet_hours": {
      "start": "23:00",
      "end": "08:00",
      "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles"
    }
  }
}

Quiet Hours

Suppress notifications during sleep hours:

quiet_hours: Some(QuietHours {
    start: "23:00",
    end: "08:00",
    timezone: "America/Los_Angeles",
    allow_urgent: true,  // Override for urgent keywords
})

Creating Routines

Via CLI

# Create from JSON
ironclaw routine create routine.json

# Create interactively
ironclaw routine create --interactive

# List all routines
ironclaw routine list

# Enable/disable
ironclaw routine enable <id>
ironclaw routine disable <id>

# Fire manually
ironclaw routine fire <id>

# View history
ironclaw routine history <id>

Via Tool

{
  "tool": "routine_create",
  "name": "morning_standup",
  "description": "Daily standup check",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "cron",
    "schedule": "0 9 * * MON-FRI"
  },
  "action": {
    "type": "lightweight",
    "prompt": "Review today's calendar and yesterday's notes. Suggest priorities.",
    "context_paths": ["daily/"]
  }
}

Example Routine Definitions

Heartbeat Monitor

{
  "name": "heartbeat",
  "description": "Periodic health check",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "cron",
    "schedule": "0 */4 * * *"
  },
  "action": {
    "type": "lightweight",
    "prompt": "Check HEARTBEAT.md checklist. If nothing urgent, reply HEARTBEAT_OK.",
    "context_paths": ["HEARTBEAT.md"],
    "max_tokens": 1024
  },
  "guardrails": {
    "cooldown": "3h",
    "max_concurrent": 1
  },
  "notify": {
    "on_start": false,
    "on_success": false,
    "on_failure": true,
    "quiet_hours": {
      "start": "23:00",
      "end": "08:00",
      "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles"
    }
  }
}

Emergency Responder

{
  "name": "emergency_responder",
  "description": "React to urgent keywords",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "event",
    "channel": "signal",
    "pattern": "(?i)\\b(urgent|emergency|down|outage)\\b"
  },
  "action": {
    "type": "full_job",
    "title": "Emergency Response",
    "description": "Check system status, review logs, notify team",
    "max_iterations": 5
  },
  "guardrails": {
    "cooldown": "5m",
    "max_concurrent": 2,
    "dedup_window": "30m"
  },
  "notify": {
    "on_start": true,
    "on_success": true,
    "on_failure": true
  }
}

GitHub Webhook Deploy

{
  "name": "auto_deploy",
  "description": "Deploy on push to main",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "webhook",
    "path": "github-main",
    "secret": "your-webhook-secret"
  },
  "action": {
    "type": "full_job",
    "title": "Deploy to Production",
    "description": "Pull latest, run tests, deploy if passing",
    "max_iterations": 15
  },
  "guardrails": {
    "cooldown": "1m",
    "max_concurrent": 1
  },
  "notify": {
    "on_start": true,
    "on_success": true,
    "on_failure": true,
    "channel": "signal"
  }
}

Daily Standup

{
  "name": "daily_standup",
  "description": "Morning priority summary",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "cron",
    "schedule": "0 9 * * MON-FRI"
  },
  "action": {
    "type": "lightweight",
    "prompt": "Review today's calendar and yesterday's notes. Suggest 3 priorities for today.",
    "context_paths": ["daily/", "context/priorities.md"],
    "max_tokens": 2048
  },
  "guardrails": {
    "cooldown": "8h",
    "max_concurrent": 1
  },
  "notify": {
    "on_start": false,
    "on_success": true,
    "on_failure": false,
    "channel": "signal"
  }
}

Engine Implementation

The routine engine runs two independent loops:

Cron Ticker

// Poll DB every 60 seconds for due routines
let mut ticker = tokio::time::interval(Duration::from_secs(60));
loop {
    ticker.tick().await;
    engine.check_cron_triggers().await;
}

Event Matcher

// Called synchronously from agent main loop
let fired = engine.check_event_triggers(&incoming_message).await;

Event triggers are cached in memory with compiled regexes.

Execution Flow

Trigger fires (cron, event, webhook, manual)
Guardrail checks (cooldown, max_concurrent, dedup)
Global capacity check (max_concurrent_routines)
Spawn execution
- Lightweight: Single LLM call
- Full Job: Delegate to scheduler
Record result (success/failure, message, iterations)
Notify user (if configured)
Update next_fire_at (for cron triggers)

Database Schema

CREATE TABLE routines (
    id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
    name TEXT NOT NULL,
    description TEXT,
    user_id TEXT NOT NULL,
    enabled BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT true,
    
    -- Trigger
    trigger_type TEXT NOT NULL,
    trigger_config JSONB NOT NULL,
    
    -- Action
    action_type TEXT NOT NULL,
    action_config JSONB NOT NULL,
    
    -- Guardrails
    guardrails JSONB NOT NULL,
    
    -- Notification
    notify_config JSONB NOT NULL,
    
    -- Runtime state
    last_run_at TIMESTAMP,
    next_fire_at TIMESTAMP,
    run_count BIGINT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    consecutive_failures INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
    state JSONB NOT NULL DEFAULT '{}',
    
    created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW(),
    updated_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
);

CREATE TABLE routine_runs (
    id UUID PRIMARY KEY,
    routine_id UUID NOT NULL REFERENCES routines(id),
    trigger_detail TEXT,
    status TEXT NOT NULL,
    result_message TEXT,
    iterations INT,
    started_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    completed_at TIMESTAMP,
    FOREIGN KEY (routine_id) REFERENCES routines(id) ON DELETE CASCADE
);

Configuration

# Global routine settings
export ROUTINE_ENABLED=true
export ROUTINE_MAX_CONCURRENT=10
export ROUTINE_CRON_POLL_INTERVAL=60  # seconds
export ROUTINE_EVENT_CACHE_REFRESH=300  # seconds

Monitoring

# View routine status
ironclaw routine status

# View run history
ironclaw routine history <id> --limit 20

# View currently running
ironclaw routine running

# Inspect state
ironclaw routine inspect <id>

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Features

Security

Guides

Automated Routines

Architecture

Routine Types

Lightweight

Full Job

Trigger Types

Cron Schedule

Event Pattern

Webhook

Manual

Execution Modes

Lightweight

Full Job

Guardrails

Cooldown

Max Concurrent

Dedup Window

Notification Config

Quiet Hours

Creating Routines

Via CLI

Via Tool

Example Routine Definitions

Engine Implementation

Cron Ticker

Event Matcher

Execution Flow

Database Schema

Configuration

Monitoring

Next Steps

Sandbox

API Reference

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Features

Security

Guides

​Architecture

​Routine Types

Lightweight

Full Job

​Trigger Types

​Cron Schedule

​Event Pattern

​Webhook

​Manual

​Execution Modes

​Lightweight

​Full Job

​Guardrails

​Cooldown

​Max Concurrent

​Dedup Window

​Notification Config

​Quiet Hours

​Creating Routines

​Via CLI

​Via Tool

​Example Routine Definitions

​Engine Implementation

​Cron Ticker

​Event Matcher

​Execution Flow

​Database Schema

​Configuration

​Monitoring

​Next Steps

Sandbox

API Reference

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Architecture

Routine Types

Trigger Types

Cron Schedule

Event Pattern

Webhook

Manual

Execution Modes

Lightweight

Full Job

Guardrails

Cooldown

Max Concurrent

Dedup Window

Notification Config

Quiet Hours

Creating Routines

Via CLI

Via Tool

Example Routine Definitions

Engine Implementation

Cron Ticker

Event Matcher

Execution Flow

Database Schema

Configuration

Monitoring

Next Steps