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Scheduled tasks

A scheduled task is something you ask BrowseWiz to do on a schedule, such as every day at a set time. You see and manage your scheduled tasks in the scheduled tasks drawer. The free plan allows 1 scheduled task and a paid plan allows up to 10.

Create a task​

Ask in the chat for something to be done on a schedule, such as "Every weekday at 9 AM, add new job posts from … to my sheet". BrowseWiz answers with a plan card. It shows the steps, the output, the schedule with its time zone, and the tools the task can use ("Tools"). The task gets the tools that are on in that chat.

  • Approve & run saves the task. It does not run it now: the first run is at the next scheduled time.
  • Reject saves nothing. Tell BrowseWiz what to change, and it proposes a new plan.

Once you approve it, the task appears in the scheduled tasks drawer, and the plan card shows an "Open scheduled tasks" link.

Tasks run in background tabs, which needs the tab access permission. If BrowseWiz does not have it yet, Chrome asks for it when you click "Approve & run". The task is saved whether you grant or decline, but its runs fail with "tab access required" until you grant it.

BrowseWiz plans tasks with the browser agent, so the browser agent must be on (it is by default) and the chat model must support tools. If you already have as many tasks as your plan allows, BrowseWiz asks you to delete one in the drawer first.

The first time in a chat that BrowseWiz's reply uses the browser agent, writes to a Google Sheet and finishes with an answer, an "Update this sheet daily" button appears above the chat input. It goes away when you send another message. Click it to ask BrowseWiz to turn that work into a daily task that updates the same sheet.

Schedules​

You can schedule a task to run:

  • every day at a set time;
  • on set days of the week at a set time, such as weekdays at 5:30 PM;
  • on set days of the month, or only in set months, such as on the 1st at 9:00 AM;
  • every hour at a set minute (paid plans only).

A task runs at one set time of day, or every hour. Schedules such as every 2 hours, twice a day, or once on a later date are not supported. Times are in your browser's time zone unless you ask for another one.

On the free plan a task runs at most once a day. If you ask for an hourly schedule on the free plan, BrowseWiz tells you that hourly schedules need a paid plan and offers a daily one instead. After a downgrade to the free plan, an hourly task runs at most once a day.

Edit a task​

With the browser agent on and a chat model that supports tools, ask in any chat to change a task, such as "Move my news task to 7:00" or "Add Reuters to my morning news task". BrowseWiz shows the whole revised plan on a card that says "Updates scheduled task" with the task's name. If the change adds or removes tools, the card lists them after "This update adds" or "This update removes". Click "Approve update" to save it, or "Reject" to keep the task as it is.

The task keeps its runs in History, its previous result and its "Use previous result" setting. If you changed the schedule or time zone, the next run moves to match. A run already in progress finishes with the old plan.

You can also edit tasks over your plan's limit. To pause or delete a task, use the drawer: you cannot do that from chat.

Open the drawer​

In the top menu, click the clock button (tooltip: "Scheduled tasks"). The drawer lists every task and shows how many tasks you have out of the number your plan allows (1 on the free plan, 10 on a paid plan). Press Esc or click outside the drawer to close it. The drawer also holds the Monitors section.

With no tasks, the drawer shows: "No scheduled tasks. Ask for something to be done every day at a set time and approve the plan."

Each task row shows:

  • the task name;
  • its schedule in words, such as "every day at …" or "weekdays at …";
  • a run line: "next run" with the time in the task's time zone if the task has not run yet, otherwise "last run" with how long ago it ran and its status. A failed last run is shown in the error color. A paused task shows "Paused" instead;
  • a "Grant tab access" button, if the last run failed because tab access is missing. Click it to open Chrome's permission prompt;
  • four buttons: a play button ("Run task now"), a pause button ("Pause task"), a document button ("Show plan") and an X ("Delete task");
  • a "Use previous result" switch.

The list updates on its own when a task is created, changed or deleted, so you do not need to reopen the drawer.

If you have more tasks than your plan allows, for example after a downgrade, they stay listed and keep running on schedule. You can't add a new task until you are under the limit.

Open a task's latest run​

Click a task row. The drawer closes and the chat of the task's most recent run opens from History. If the task has not run yet, you see a notice: "No runs yet. Next run …", or "No runs yet. The task is paused." for a paused task.

View a task's plan​

Click the document button on a task's row ("Show plan"). The task's plan opens under its row: what it does, its steps, its output and its schedule with the time zone. Click the button again ("Hide plan") to close it. This does not open the task or start a run. To change the plan, see Edit a task.

Use previous result​

Each task has a "Use previous result" switch. When it is on, each run of the task is given the previous run's final answer. Clicking the switch changes it for that task only, saves it at once, and does not open the task.

If you ask for a task that reports only what is new, BrowseWiz turns the switch on when it creates the task, and the plan card says "Each run sees the previous run's result". A failed run does not replace the previous result.

Run a task now​

Click the play button on a task's row ("Run task now") to start one run right away. It runs like a scheduled run: it adds an item to History, alerts you when it finishes or fails, and uses the previous result if "Use previous result" is on. It does not change the task's next scheduled run, and clicking it does not open the task. Paused tasks and tasks over your plan's limit can be run this way too.

The button is disabled:

  • while any task run is in progress (tooltip: "A run is in progress");
  • while the side panel is generating a reply (tooltip: "Waiting for the current reply to finish").

If you are signed out, the run fails, as a scheduled run would.

Pause and resume a task​

Click the pause button on a task's row ("Pause task"). A paused task gets no scheduled runs, and its run line shows "Paused". Click the circled play button ("Resume task") to start it again. It next runs at its next scheduled time: times missed while it was paused are not run.

  • "Run task now" still works on a paused task, and the task stays paused.
  • A paused task still counts toward your plan's limit. To free a slot, delete it.
  • A run already in progress when you pause the task finishes as usual.

Delete a task​

Hover over a task row and click the X (its accessible name is "Delete task"). The X is also reachable with the Tab key. Clicking it does not delete the task yet. The row is replaced by a confirmation that asks whether to delete the task by name and says "Future runs stop. Past runs stay in History.", with two buttons:

  • Cancel (or press Esc) brings the task row back.
  • Delete removes the task.

Only one confirmation is open at a time. A run that is already in progress when you delete the task finishes, and its result stays in History.

When tasks run​

  • Tasks run only while Chrome is open. If Chrome was closed at a task's time, the task runs once soon after you open Chrome again, even if it missed several times.
  • Tasks run one at a time. While the side panel is generating a reply, due tasks wait until it finishes.
  • A run opens the pages it needs in background tabs in the BrowseWiz Tabs group and closes them when it ends.
  • A run that takes longer than 20 minutes is stopped and fails with "timed out".
  • Runs always use BrowseWiz's own model, whatever model you chose in the chat, and never your own API keys. You must be signed in to BrowseWiz, or the run fails with "sign-in required".
  • Runs don't ask you to approve the browser agent's actions. See When no approval is asked.
  • In History, a finished run keeps only its final answer. A failed run keeps the whole conversation, so you can see what went wrong.

Run alerts​

When a scheduled task run finishes or fails, BrowseWiz alerts you, even when the side panel is closed. The alert names the task and shows "Finished" with how long the run took, or "Failed" with the reason: "sign-in required", "Google sign-in required", "tab access required", "timed out", "interrupted" or "something went wrong". Clicking the alert opens the side panel on that run's chat.

The "Notify me when a task finishes" switch at the top of the drawer turns these alerts on or off. It is on by default.

BrowseWiz uses one of three alerts, depending on what you are doing:

  1. In the side panel. If your browser window is focused and the side panel is open, a notice appears in the panel with an "Open" button.
  2. On the page. If your browser window is focused but the side panel is closed, a small pill appears in the top-right corner of the page. Click it, or press Enter on it, to open the run. It closes by itself, or with its close button or Esc.
  3. System notification. If no browser window is focused, the window is minimized, or the page is one where BrowseWiz cannot show a pill, you get a system notification titled "Task finished: " or "Task failed: " followed by the task name.

When the alert is a page pill or a system notification, the toolbar icon also gets a badge: a green badge for a finished run or a red "!" for a failed run. The badge clears when you open the side panel.

Test the notifications​

While the "Notify me when a task finishes" switch is on, a "Send test notification" button appears under it. It shows a system notification titled "BrowseWiz test notification". Clicking that notification only dismisses it.

If you do not see it, the drawer shows: "Didn't see it? Allow notifications for Google Chrome and turn off Do Not Disturb in your system settings." On Windows and macOS, "system settings" is a link that opens your system's notification settings.

If the run was deleted from History before you click an alert, the side panel opens and shows "This task run is no longer in your history."

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