Scheduled Jobs

Two cron-driven primitives: workflow schedule triggers (zero-code automation) and scheduled agents (AI-written Python). Pick by how much code you want to write.

Workflow Schedules

In the Workflow Builder, set the trigger to Schedule. Configure the interval (every minute, hour, day, week) or paste a cron string. The workflow runs on time and execution history records every run.

Pair Schedule with HTTP Request + Conditional nodes to build daily sync jobs, weekly digest emails, or polling integrations without writing code.

Scheduled Agents

See Scheduled Agents. The AI writes Python that runs on a cron schedule with access to your app data via Data Insights. Best when the job needs nontrivial logic, looped queries, or AI-driven decisions.

Both schedulers use the same Google Cloud Scheduler infrastructure under the hood, so reliability and timing characteristics are identical.

Picking the Right One

Workflow Schedule: visual canvas, no code, fans out across nodes (HTTP, Email, Slack, AI Generate). Best for "every Monday, do these 4 things."
Scheduled Agent: Python script the AI writes for you, can run arbitrary logic + Data Insights queries. Best for "every hour, summarize what changed."
Function with external scheduler: if your scheduler lives elsewhere (GitHub Actions cron, Vercel Cron, your own cron host), have it POST to your Function URL on schedule.

Tips

Start with a short interval during testing (every 5 minutes), then back off to the production cadence once verified.
Always have a kill switch: pause the schedule from the workflow / agent UI without deleting it, so you can resume later.
Send yourself an email or Slack message on first run after a schedule change to confirm the change actually took.

FAQs

Which scheduler should I pick?▾

For zero-code timed automation that fans out to multiple actions, use a workflow Schedule trigger. For AI-written Python that runs on cron and can query app data with Data Insights, use a Scheduled Agent. For very simple periodic calls (ping a URL, refresh a cache), either works.

What is the schedule format?▾

Standard 5-field cron: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. Workflows also offer simple presets ("every hour", "daily 9am"); backend agents accept raw cron strings (default 0 */6 * * * = every 6 hours).

Can I trigger a scheduled job manually for testing?▾

Yes. Both workflows and scheduled agents have a Run Now button that fires the job synchronously and shows the result without affecting the schedule.

How do scheduled jobs handle failures?▾

Each execution writes a row to history (workflow execution / agent run). Failed runs include the error so you can debug. The schedule keeps firing on the next interval; there is no automatic retry beyond what your code itself does.

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