Anthropic officially introduced Scheduled Tasks to the Claude Desktop App. This feature allows users to program their AI assistant to execute complex, recurring workflows autonomously—effectively putting Claude on “autopilot” to perform work while the user is offline or away from their desk.
The feature is primarily accessed through the Cowork tab (the graphical, agentic companion to the Claude Code CLI) and is available to Pro, Team, and Max subscribers.
How Scheduled Tasks Work
Scheduled Tasks utilize the same “agentic” architecture as Claude Code, meaning the AI doesn’t just respond to a prompt; it creates a plan, uses tools (via MCP servers), and modifies files on its own.
- The Interface: A new “Scheduled” menu item in the left sidebar of the Desktop App serves as a dashboard for all active, queued, and completed jobs.
- Slash Command: You can quickly set up a schedule by typing
/schedulein any Cowork task window. - Execution Environment: Tasks run locally in a secure, isolated VM-like sandbox (based on your working directory). For heavy lifting, the app can tap into Anthropic’s cloud infrastructure via API.
- Frequency Options: Tasks can be set to run hourly, daily, weekly, or on a custom cron-based schedule.
Key Technical Capabilities
| Feature | Description |
| Git Worktree Isolation | You can enable a “worktree toggle” so that each scheduled run happens in its own isolated Git branch, preventing it from interfering with your uncommitted local work. |
| MCP & Tool Access | Scheduled tasks have full access to your configured Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, allowing Claude to read your Jira tickets, pull Slack data, or check Google Drive on a schedule. |
| Persistence | While standard chats lose context, scheduled tasks in Cowork use Auto Memory to remember project-specific insights and progress across multiple runs. |
| Output Delivery | Results can be configured to be saved directly to your filesystem as PDFs, markdown reports, or updated code files. |
Practical Use Cases
Since the launch, power users have integrated Scheduled Tasks into several “zero-human-input” workflows:
- Daily Engineering Briefs: Claude can scan all unread emails and Slack messages at 8:00 AM, prioritize them by urgency, and generate a 2-sentence summary for each.
- Nightly Code Audits: A task can be set to run at midnight to review all new commits from the day for security vulnerabilities or architectural inconsistencies.
- Automated Dependency Updates: Claude can check for outdated libraries once a week, run the build to ensure no breaking changes, and automatically open a Pull Request with the fixes.
- Content Research: Marketing teams use it to “Research the latest advancements in [Topic] and compile a 10-page briefing overnight.”
Requirements & Constraints
- App Status: The Claude Desktop App must remain open and the computer must be awake for local tasks to execute at their scheduled time.
- Environment: On Windows, Git must be installed and authenticated for local sessions and worktree isolation to function.
- Permissions: You must provide one-time “Allow” permissions for tasks that involve file deletion or sensitive system changes.
