How to Use Claude Cowork Scheduled Tasks (2026)
If you open Claude Cowork every morning to run the same tasks — checking your calendar, summarizing emails, pulling a quick report — you’re doing it the slow way.
Claude Cowork scheduled tasks let you write a prompt once, set a schedule, and walk away. Claude runs the task automatically at the time you choose. No code, no APIs, no clicking the same buttons every morning.
This guide covers everything you need to know: what scheduled tasks are, how to set them up two different ways, what the scheduling options look like, and the most useful tasks to build first. If you’re new to the app, it helps to start with our Claude Cowork tutorial first.
What Are Claude Cowork Scheduled Tasks?
Claude Cowork scheduled tasks are automated prompts that run on a recurring schedule inside the Claude desktop app. You describe what you want Claude to do, choose how often to run it, and Claude executes the task automatically at the scheduled time.
Each scheduled task spins up its own Cowork session with access to every tool, plugin, and MCP server you have connected — the same capabilities available in a regular Cowork session. When the task completes, the results stay in the sidebar under the Scheduled section so you can review them anytime.
Common uses include daily morning briefings, weekly report generation, recurring file cleanup, and monitoring tasks that check for new data on a schedule.
Scheduled tasks are available on paid Claude plans (Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise) and run through the Claude Desktop app only.
Important: Scheduled Tasks Only Run When Your Computer Is Awake
Before setting up your first scheduled task, there is one critical thing to understand: scheduled tasks only run while your computer is awake and the Claude Desktop app is open.
If your computer is asleep or the app is closed when a task is scheduled to fire, Cowork skips that run and automatically picks it back up the next time your machine is active. You’ll get a notification alerting you to any skipped runs.
What this means in practice: don’t schedule tasks for 5 AM if your computer isn’t on at 5 AM. A daily task set for 7 AM works well if you’re at your desk by then. For background pipelines or reports that need to run overnight, scheduled tasks in Cowork aren’t the right tool — those belong in a server-side automation platform like n8n.
For most knowledge worker use cases — morning briefs, daily reports, weekday reminders — the computer-awake requirement isn’t a problem. You’re at your desk when these things matter anyway.
How to Create a Scheduled Task in Claude Cowork
There are two ways to create a scheduled task in Cowork: directly from the Scheduled Tasks panel, or by using the /schedule command inside any Cowork conversation.
Method 1: From the Scheduled Tasks Panel
This is the most straightforward approach and gives you full control over every setting upfront.
Open the Claude Desktop app and look for the clock emoji icon in the left sidebar. Click it to open the Scheduled Tasks panel. From there, click the icon to create a new task.
You’ll fill in four fields:
- Name: A short label for the task (e.g. ‘Daily Calls’, ‘Weekly Sales Report’)
- Description: A one-line summary of what the task does
- Prompt: The full instruction you want Claude to run — this is the most important field
- Frequency: How often to run it (manual, hourly, daily, weekdays, or weekly)
After setting the frequency, pick a specific time. Then click the More Options section to choose which AI model to use and optionally set a working folder for the task to operate in.
Click Save and your task is created. It will appear in the Scheduled Tasks panel with a summary showing the description, repeat cadence, and any stored approvals.
Method 2: Using the /schedule Command in a Conversation
If you’re already working in Cowork and want to turn a task into a recurring schedule, the /schedule command is the fastest path.
Start a new Cowork task and ask Claude to do whatever you want automated. For example: ‘What were the MLB scores from yesterday?’ Once Claude responds, type ‘/schedule’ and Claude will suggest turning that conversation into a scheduled task.
Claude will ask you a clarifying question — typically what time you want the task to run each day. Answer it, confirm when the scheduling popup appears, and you’re done. Claude automatically populates the task name, description, and prompt from your conversation.
This method is great when you’ve already tested a task and confirmed it works, then want to make it recurring without re-typing the prompt from scratch.
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Scheduling Frequency Options
Cowork currently offers five scheduling frequencies. Here’s when to use each:
- Manual: The task only runs when you click ‘Run Now.’ Useful for tasks you want on-demand but not fully automated yet.
- Hourly: Runs every hour while your computer is on. Not recommended for most tasks — it adds up fast in API usage and usually isn’t necessary.
- Daily: Runs once per day at the time you set. Good for morning briefs or end-of-day summaries.
- Weekdays: Runs Monday through Friday at the time you set. The best option for work-related tasks you don’t need on weekends.
- Weekly: Runs once per week. Good for weekly reports, digests, or anything that summarizes the past 7 days.
Monthly and quarterly options are not available yet but are expected to be added in future updates.
Using Claude Cowork Skills Inside Scheduled Tasks
The prompt field in a scheduled task isn’t limited to simple instructions. You can reference Claude Cowork skills directly in the prompt, and Claude will load and execute that skill when the task runs.
For example, instead of writing out a long custom prompt for email follow-up checking, you can write: ‘Use the no-reply-in-3-days skill to find emails I need to respond to.’ When the task fires at 9:30 AM, Claude loads the skill and runs the full workflow automatically.
This makes scheduled tasks significantly more powerful. A well-built skill can contain complex logic, specific formatting instructions, and multi-step workflows — and all of that gets triggered on your schedule without any manual setup.
If you haven’t explored what’s available, check out our guide to Claude Cowork skills to see what’s already built in and how to create your own.
Adding Scheduled Tasks to Claude Cowork Projects
Scheduled tasks don’t have to live as standalone items in the sidebar. You can attach scheduled tasks directly to a Claude Cowork Project, which keeps related automation in one place.
Inside any project, look for the Schedule section on the right side. Click the plus button and you can either create a new task or attach one of your existing scheduled tasks to that project. The task will then appear under that project and run using the project’s connected tools and files as context.
This is especially useful for business use cases. If you have a project for weekly sales reporting, adding a scheduled task to auto-generate that report on Friday afternoons keeps everything organized under one workspace.
See our guide to Claude Cowork Projects for a full breakdown of how projects work and what you can store in them.
Managing Tasks, Stored Approvals, and Running On Demand
After a scheduled task is created, click on it in the Scheduled Tasks panel to see its full detail view. From there you can run it manually, update the prompt or description, or delete it.
One field worth paying attention to: Stored Approvals. When Claude runs a scheduled task unattended, it may need permission to access a website, update a file, or use a connected tool. If you run a task manually the first time and approve those actions, Cowork stores those approvals so future automated runs don’t get stuck waiting for your input.
This is why it’s worth hitting ‘Run Now’ at least once after creating a task. Run it, approve any permission requests that come up, and your automated runs will proceed without interruption going forward.
You can also view the full history of past runs by expanding any task in the sidebar. Each run is logged by date, so you can see the output from any previous execution.
The Best First Scheduled Task to Build
If you’re not sure where to start, build a daily morning brief.
A morning brief task connects Claude to your calendar, email, and Slack (if you have those integrations set up), then compiles everything into a summary delivered in Cowork each morning when you sit down. Your meetings for the day, unread emails that need attention, and any Slack messages waiting for a reply — all in one place without clicking around.
Here’s a simple starting prompt for a morning brief:
‘Check my Google Calendar for today’s meetings and tell me when they are and who they’re with. Check my Gmail for any unread emails from the last 24 hours that need a response. Summarize everything in a short briefing.’
Set it to run at 7:30 AM on weekdays, pick Sonnet as the model, and save. That one task will save you 5-10 minutes of context-gathering every morning.
From there, you can build out more specific tasks: a weekly sales report, a daily competitor news check, or a Friday end-of-week summary. The Cowork Ideas Tab can also suggest automation ideas based on your connected tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if my computer is off when a scheduled task is supposed to run?
The task is skipped for that run. When your computer wakes up and Claude Desktop is open, Cowork will run the task at the next opportunity and notify you that a previous run was skipped. You won’t lose the task — it just fires later than scheduled.
Can I use multiple tools in a single scheduled task?
Yes. A scheduled task has access to every tool, plugin, and MCP server you have connected in Cowork — the same as a regular session. You can write a prompt that pulls from Google Calendar, reads Gmail, and summarizes Slack messages all in one task.
How do I edit the prompt in an existing scheduled task?
Click on the task in the Scheduled Tasks sidebar panel, then click Update. You can change the description and prompt, but the task name cannot be changed after creation. If you need a different name, delete the task and recreate it.
What model should I use for scheduled tasks?
For most everyday tasks like morning briefs, summaries, and light report generation, Sonnet 4.6 is the right choice. It’s fast and cost-effective. For tasks requiring deep reasoning or complex synthesis, Opus 4.6 is an option. Haiku 4.5 works well for simple, high-frequency tasks where speed matters more than depth.
Do scheduled tasks work inside Claude Cowork Projects?
Yes. You can attach scheduled tasks to a project from the Schedule section inside the project view. The task runs with the project’s context, connected files, and instructions in scope. This is useful for project-specific automation like weekly reporting tied to a specific client workspace.
Next Steps
Scheduled tasks are one of the features that shifts Cowork from a tool you use to a system that works for you. Start with one task — a morning brief or a weekly report — and see how much time it frees up before building more.
Here’s where to go next:
- Set up your first task using the Scheduled Tasks panel and run it manually once to approve any permissions
- Explore Claude Cowork skills to see what pre-built workflows you can drop directly into your scheduled task prompts
- Organize related tasks inside a Claude Cowork Project to keep automation and context in one place
- Check the Cowork Ideas Tab for suggestions on what else you could automate based on your connected tools
