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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 for something to be done on a schedule in the chat, and approve the plan. Once you approve it, the task appears in the scheduled tasks drawer.

You can schedule a task to run:

  • every hour (paid plans only);
  • every day at a set time;
  • on set weekdays at a fixed time, such as weekdays at 5:30 PM.

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.

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 play button ("Run task now") and an X ("Delete task").

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

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 …".

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.

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. 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.

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.

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 the run time, or "Failed" with the reason. 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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