---
title: "Routines"
description: "A morning brief, check-ins at the time you pick, and the work your whale finished while you were away."
works_on: [desktop]
---

# Routines

Let your whale work while you're away: a morning brief, a check-in at the
time you pick, and the work it finished waiting for you.

**Works on:** the desktop app. "These run on this computer while it's awake
and Codewhale is open." The phone and the web: not available yet.

![Routines with the morning brief scheduled, a check-in posted and tasks waiting](images/routines-page.png)

## Open Routines

Select **Routines** in the sidebar, or choose **Routines** in the palette (⌘K
or Ctrl+K). The `/automation` command opens it too. Press Esc to go back to
your conversation.

## Start a suggestion

Under **Suggested**, each card says what the whale would do and when. Press
**Start** and it's scheduled.

- **Morning brief** runs on weekdays at 08:00 and posts to your whale's
  conversation: what changed and what's waiting for you. The palette's **Get
  a morning brief** starts it too.
- **End-of-day check-in** runs on weekdays at 17:00.

Press **Hide** if you don't want a suggestion. **Undo** in the message that
follows brings it back.

## Make your own routine

Press **New routine**, or choose **New routine…** in the palette. Give it a
name, say what the whale should do, and pick when it repeats:

| Repeat | Runs |
| --- | --- |
| Weekdays | Monday to Friday at the time you pick |
| Every day | Every day at the time you pick |
| Every week | On the day and at the time you pick |
| Every few hours | Every 1, 2, 4, 8 or 12 hours |

**Where it posts** is your whale's conversation, the conversation you're in,
or a new conversation each time. Press **Start routine**.

Each routine shows its schedule, where it posts and when it runs next, for
example "Weekdays at 08:00 · Posts to Whale" and "Next today at 08:00".

## Run, pause, stop and delete

Right-click a routine, or focus it and press Shift+F10:

| Choose | Key | What happens |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Open conversation | ⌘↩ (Ctrl+Enter) | Opens where it posts. A routine that starts a new conversation each time has nothing to open. |
| Run now | R | Runs it once now. Its schedule doesn't change. |
| Stop | S | Ends the run in progress. The routine keeps its schedule. |
| Pause / Resume | P | Holds the schedule until you resume it. Nothing runs while it's paused. |
| Edit… | E | Not available yet. |
| Delete… | D, or ⌘⌫ (Ctrl+Backspace) | Asks once, then removes it for good: "It won't run again. This can't be brought back." |

**Stop** is for now, **Pause** is for later, and **Delete** is for good. A
running routine also shows **Stop** in its row.

To pause everything that posts to your whale's conversation, right-click the
whale at the top of the sidebar and choose **Pause check-ins** (P). **Resume
check-ins** turns them back on.

## Ask for a check-in

Choose **Check in later…** on the Routines page, in the palette, in a
conversation's menu (L) or in the whale's menu (L). Say what it's about, pick
when (**In 20 minutes**, **In an hour**, **This evening**, **Tomorrow
morning**, or **Pick a time**) and where it posts, then press **Set
check-in**.

A waiting check-in shows its time. To call it off, choose **Cancel check-in**
(C) from its menu, or press **Cancel** in its row. Once it has posted, it
shows when, such as "Posted today at 03:32". **Open conversation** (⌘↩ or
Ctrl+Enter) opens where it posted.

## Tasks you mark done

**Tasks** lists "Work finished while you were away. It stays here until you
mark it done." Each run of a routine and each check-in is a task.

Press **Mark as done** in its row, or choose it from the task's menu (D).
Codewhale never clears a task for you. **Undo** in the message that follows
brings it back. A task that's still running has **Stop** (S) instead.

## Notifications

Codewhale shows a desktop notification only when something needs you or work
has finished, and only when you're not using the app. Select the
notification to open the conversation. It never sends email.

## Related

- [Maintainer mode](maintainer-mode.md)
- [The whale on your screen](whale-on-screen.md)
- [The conversation](conversation.md)
- [Commands and the palette](commands.md)

Previous: [Review what changed](review.md) · Next: [Your account and cloud computers](account-and-cloud.md)