Turn a request into a routine

Use this when Pencel did something useful once and you'd like it done again every day, week or month, without asking each time. There are three ways to do it. The first is the easiest.

From a reply in a room

When a room gives you exactly what you wanted, save that reply as a routine.

1. In the room, find the reply you want repeated.
2. Click the Save as workflow icon on that reply.
3. Pencel reads the reply and lists the steps it would repeat. If the reply was a one-off lookup rather than a repeatable job, it tells you so instead.
4. Next to Run, choose Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
5. Click Turn this into a daily workflow (the button names the rhythm you picked).

A card confirms the workflow is saved and is being checked. Pencel runs the new workflow once in the background as a safe test: it reads real information but sends and changes nothing. What happens next:

• The test passes. The schedule turns on by itself. You don't need to do anything.
• The test runs into a problem. The schedule stays off, and the room posts a message explaining what went wrong.

Click View workflow to open it. You'll find it later under Studio ▸ Workflows, and each time it runs, the run is listed under Studio ▸ Jobs. Weekly routines run on Mondays and monthly ones on the 1st. To pick a different day or time, open the workflow and use its Schedule tab. See Run work on a schedule.

Get it right once first

Keep chatting with the room until a reply is exactly what you want (the right sources, the right format, the right length). Then save that reply. The routine repeats what the room actually did.

Build a new routine for a room

Use this when you know what you want repeated but the room hasn't done it yet.

1. In the room's message box, switch the Chat / Build toggle to Build.
2. Describe the routine, for example "Every Friday, summarize the week's new bids and list the three best fits."
3. Send it. The workflow builder opens with your description.
4. Work through the builder and save. See Build a workflow.

The saved workflow belongs to that room and appears in the room's settings under Schedule ▸ Routines, where you can also press Run now.

Build a routine from Home

Use this for a routine that doesn't belong to any room.

1. In the message box on Home, switch from Run to Build.
2. Describe the process in your own words, for example "Every Monday morning, list my overdue invoices and draft a friendly reminder for each."
3. Press Build. The workflow builder opens with your description. If you mentioned a rhythm, like "every Monday morning", the schedule is filled in for you.
4. Work through the builder and save.

A routine built from Home shows up in Studio ▸ Jobs, not in the Workflows list.

Which one should I use?

You want to	Use
Get something done once, right now	Run on Home, or Chat in a room
Repeat something a room just did well	Save as workflow on the reply
Add a new routine to a room	Build in the room's message box
Set up a routine that isn't tied to a room	Build on Home

Tips

• Say what you want back. "A one-page summary with a table of the top five" gives a better routine than "summarize".
• Watch the first few runs. Check the room's Activity tab or Studio ▸ Jobs after the first two or three runs to make sure the results are what you expect.
• Turn off what you don't read. Every run uses credits. Switch off or pause routines you've stopped reading. See Run work on a schedule.

Related

• Run work on a schedule
• Build a workflow
• Team and rooms
• Check on scheduled work