Coming soonOOMU is launching soon. Downloads will open at launch.
OOMU
← All documentation

How-to guides

Scheduling Routines

Have OOMU do recurring work on a schedule; a morning brief, a weekly summary, and deliver the result even when the window is closed.

A Routine is a workflow that runs itself on a schedule. You describe when it should run in plain language, OOMU proposes the exact times, and once you confirm it runs on its own; reporting into Tasks and, if you like, pinging you on Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, or Discord when it's done or needs a decision.

Routines live in Tasks → Scheduled.

Before you start

A Routine runs a workflow, so you'll want one saved first; see Building Automated Workflows. Routines that reach the internet or a connected service also respect the Project data policy of whichever Project they belong to.

Step 1; Describe when it should run

  1. Open Tasks, choose the Scheduled section, and select New.
  2. Give the Routine a name, choose its Project, and choose the workflow it runs.
  3. Under When should it run?, type a schedule in plain language; *"every weekday at 8am," "the first of each month," "daily at 9 AM."*
  4. Choose a Timezone, then Preview next runs to see the exact times OOMU worked out. Nothing activates until you confirm, so you can correct a misread schedule before it's live.

You never see or type a cron expression. OOMU reads your words, shows you "Every day at 9:00 AM · America/Chicago," and that plain summary is what it stores and displays.

Step 2; Decide what happens if the Mac was asleep

A schedule is only useful if OOMU handles missed times sensibly. Choose a missed-run policy:

OptionBehaviour
Skip missed runsIf the Mac was asleep at the scheduled time, don't run late.
Run once on wakeRun a single catch-up when the Mac wakes.
Run each missed time, with a capWork through each missed occurrence, up to a safe limit.

Step 3; Choose how you're notified

Under Delivery channel, pick where results and approval requests go:

  • Local notifications only; a Mac notification, nothing leaves the machine.
  • Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, or Discord; sent to an authorized destination you've connected (see Connecting Services). OOMU delivers the artifact reference or a bounded summary; never a raw local path or private payload.

From an authorized channel you can also run now, check status, pause, resume, cancel, or approve a run remotely. Those remote decisions are bound to the exact task, action, and identity; see Working Remotely.

Step 4; Turn on background operation

For a Routine to run while OOMU's window is closed, enable Background operation. OOMU uses a supported macOS Login Item, so you'll be asked to allow it in System Settings → General → Login Items. The Routines screen tells you the current state honestly:

  • Background work is ready; due work will run in the background.
  • Background work is turned off; Routines run only while OOMU is open.
  • …isn't available on this Mac / …needs attention; with guidance to recover.

Only one owner runs due work at a time, so a Routine never fires twice because both the window and the helper were awake.

Step 5; Manage a Routine over time

Each Routine supports Run now, pause, resume, edit, duplicate, and delete, plus upcoming runs and a readable history (when it ran · what happened · a link into the Task).

OOMU also protects you from a Routine that keeps failing: after several runs don't finish, it pauses itself and asks you to review the workflow before resuming; *"This routine paused after several runs didn't finish."*

Safety: headless work fails closed

When a Routine runs unattended, anything consequential (writing a file, sending a message, changing a calendar) is blocked unless the Routine holds valid, task-scoped authority granted in advance. OOMU never turns a missing approver or an expired grant into an approval, and it never repeats a confirmed side effect after a restart. Every run, and its delivery; is recorded in Tasks as evidence.