A routine is work a bot does on a schedule: a morning briefing, a weekly report, a disk check. Each run is a turn in the bot’s chat, so the output lands where you already read that bot. Routines run on the Allternit API on your computer, so they keep running with every window closed while the desktop app is running.

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Every routine has a bot

A routine runs as one of your bots, so every create form asks which bot runs it. The bot whose screen you are on is selected by default, otherwise your main bot (the one with the crown at the top of the Bots rail). You can pick any other bot from the list. If you have no bots yet, the forms tell you to create one first. The API refuses a local routine with no bot (agent_required); see Automation API.

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The Routines tab

Open a bot and choose Routines. Each routine shows:
  • Schedule in plain words, for example “Every day at 8:00 AM”, “Weekdays at 9:00 AM” or “Every 6 hours”.
  • Next run, or Paused if it is not scheduled.
  • Last run result: when it last ran, and whether it worked.
  • Run now starts a run at once. The result appears in the bot’s chat and in the history a few seconds later.
  • Pause / Resume switches the schedule off and on.
  • Run history: select a routine to see its last 10 runs. Each run shows its time, whether you started it, and any error. Open thread opens the chat that run wrote to.
Choose New routine to open the same scheduled-task form used by Automation Tasks, with this bot already selected. Saving refreshes the bot’s routine list. Automation Tasks and the bot’s Routines tab manage the same routines; the form includes advanced options such as cron expressions and goals. The tab is the same on Desktop, on ai.allternit.com (including the phone layout) and in the m.allternit.com app.

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When a routine fails

You are told in three places:
  1. A notice at the top of the bot’s Routines tab that names the routine and the error.
  2. The bot’s status line in the rail and the Inbox → Needs attention list show the problem, with the attention badge, until the routine works again.
  3. A notification pops up once for each new failure, with Open routines to go straight to the tab. It does not come back after you reload.

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Automatic pause after 3 failures

After 3 failed runs in a row, the routine pauses itself so it stops failing on every run. The notice says it was paused and shows the last error. Fix the cause (for example a missing key or an exhausted quota), then choose Resume. Resuming gives the routine another 3 tries. A run that works resets the count.

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Routines that need a bot

Routines made before bots were required may have no bot. They never run. They are listed under Needs a bot on the Routines tab, and your main bot shows “routines need a bot” in the rail and Inbox. For each one, choose Assign to main bot or pick another bot from Another bot…. The routine starts on its normal schedule from then on.