FlowJoe features a powerful Background Scheduler that allows Joe to run automated task loops on a repeating schedule. If you want to refresh a node’s research links every morning, rotate reference images on an interval, or audit a campaign checklist weekly, you can write the rule once and let Joe execute it in the background.

​
How Scheduling Works

A scheduled task executes a headless loop of the AI assistant in the background. Joe can perform any flow mutation that a human can request in chat—reading outline structures, searching the web, generating images, updating slot notes, or managing tags.
[!IMPORTANT] Desktop-Only Rule: Scheduled tasks only execute while FlowJoe is running. It is not a cloud cron job. If you close the app, the scheduler pauses. Any jobs that missed their scheduled runtime will execute immediately the next time you open FlowJoe.

​
📅 Scheduling Cadences

FlowJoe supports three repeating cadences for automations:
  1. Daily: Runs once a day at a specific 24-hour time and timezone.
    • Example JSON: { "cadence": "daily", "time": "08:00", "timezone": "America/New_York" }
  2. Weekly: Runs once a week on a specific day.
    • Example JSON: { "cadence": "weekly", "dayOfWeek": 0, "time": "18:00", "timezone": "Europe/London" } (0 = Sunday, 6 = Saturday)
  3. Interval: Runs repeatedly after a set duration in minutes.
    • Example JSON: { "cadence": "interval", "everyMinutes": 120 } (runs every 2 hours)
For short intervals (e.g. sub-hourly), the interface displays a warning estimate (~N runs/day) to help you manage API token spend on your OpenAI key.

​
🛠️ Task Creation & Management

You can configure and manage scheduled tasks in two ways:
  • Natural Language Chat: Ask Joe: “Search the web for new references on quantum computing and update my Research node every morning at 9:00 AM.” Joe will draft a proposal card showing the task parameters. Approving the proposal card registers the task.
  • The Automation Settings Panel: Go to Settings → Automation to view active tasks, monitor running logs, pause/resume schedules, delete tasks, or click Run Now to trigger an immediate execution (Run Now always runs in-place, bypassing proposal reviews).

​
🛡️ The Safety Seatbelt

To prevent an unattended background run from clobbering your outlines due to an AI hallucination, FlowJoe wraps automations in a Safety Seatbelt:
  • Propose-Only (Review Inbox): By default, scheduled runs do not edit your tree directly. Instead, the scheduler places updates into a Review Card in your automation inbox for you to verify.
  • Auto-Apply: You can authorize a task to apply edits directly on completion.
  • The Seatbelt Gate: Even with Auto-Apply enabled, if a background task attempts a risky action, FlowJoe halts the write and diverts the patch to your review inbox. Risky actions include:
    • Deleting outline nodes (deletes_nodes).
    • Deleting a scheduled task record (deletes_scheduler_task).
    • Deleting content that the task does not own (removes_unowned or deletes_content like deleting stacks, tags, or memories).
    • Creating or changing a scheduled task or a saved Joe memory (changes_scheduler_task, changes_memory) — a run can’t silently rewrite your other automations.
    • Revealing a node you hid from Joe (reveals_hidden_from_joe).
  • Approve Once: Confirming a held destructive run in the review inbox prompts you to authorize Auto-Apply Destructive for that task, so recurring runs can write changes without bothering you again.
Each scheduled run has its own Undo in the run history, separate from your Cmd/Ctrl+Z in the tree — undoing a run never touches your own manual edits. If the revert itself can’t be saved (for example, a storage problem at that moment), FlowJoe tells you so with a warning instead of quietly showing “undone” for a change that may come back after a restart.

​
📌 Ownership & Stable Slot Identity

The scheduler uses two mechanisms to edit content precisely and safely:

​
1. Adopt-on-Create

When you create a task, it automatically adopts all existing slots on its target node, stamping them with adopted-on-create provenance. This lets the task refresh or replace those specific slots on later runs without triggering the “removes unowned content” seatbelt warning.

​
2. Stable Slot Identity (slotEntryIds)

If you configure a task to update a specific slot (e.g. “keep slot 1 updated”), the scheduler anchors to that slot’s permanent database ID. On later runs, Joe edits that specific slot in place by its ID, preventing duplicate slots or structural renumbering bugs.

​
💡 Real-World Examples

​
Example 1: Daily News Aggregator

  • Prompt: “Every morning at 8:30 AM, search the web for the latest wargame rules balancing updates and replace the links under my rules-balance node.”
  • Configuration:
    • Cadence: Daily at 08:30
    • Web Search: Enabled
    • Behavior: Adopts existing slots on creation; swaps them with fresh web cards every morning.

​
Example 2: Interval Mood Board Generator

  • Prompt: “Every 180 minutes, generate a new retro-futuristic sketch reference and place it on my concept-art node.”
  • Configuration:
    • Cadence: Interval (every 180 minutes)
    • AI Actions: Calls the image generation tool to write a new slot.
    • Seatbelt: Non-destructive (applies directly without prompt).

​
Example 3: Weekly Project Auditor

  • Prompt: “Every Friday at 5:00 PM, scan my project milestones tree and flag any nodes that are marked ‘Flagged’ but have empty summaries.”
  • Configuration:
    • Cadence: Weekly (Friday at 17:00)
    • Behavior: Scans metadata, writes summary notes, and flags incomplete nodes.