Scheduled & Background Tasks
Push long jobs to the background, or have Otta run work automatically on a schedule.
Background tasks
Long jobs move to the background automatically and hand control straight back.
Compress the three hundred images in this folder
It replies "running in the background", and you can carry on chatting, close the window or do something else. It comes back when done.
Progress
How is that task going?
Cancel
Stop that compression task
Scheduled tasks
Creating one
Describe it in the conversation:
Every weekday at 9am, summarise yesterday's notes into a new note
Every Friday at 5pm, check whether this folder has new files
Plain language works — "every morning at nine", "every Monday", "the first of each month".
One-off runs:
Remind me to submit the weekly report at 3pm tomorrow
Where results go
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Separate conversation (default) | Each run is fresh; results stay on the scheduled tasks page |
| Report back | Results are posted into the conversation you created it from |
For the second, say so: "tell me the result when it finishes".
Managing
What scheduled tasks do I have?
Turn off the Friday one
Run the morning summary now
Settings also lists them with switches, run history and the last error.
Available capabilities
Scheduled tasks can: read and write files, run commands, use installed plugins, use MCP servers.
They cannot: ask you questions (unattended), or use computer control.
Troubleshooting
A scheduled task did not run
- Nothing runs while the machine is off or asleep. One missed run is made up on the next start
- Check the task is not disabled
- Look at the run history and last error in settings
It ran but produced nothing
The task may include a step that needs confirmation, which stalls unattended. Rewrite it so no on-the-spot decisions are needed.
I wanted it to use a plugin and it did not
Say so when creating it: "send it with the mail plugin". Scheduled tasks carry base capabilities only.