How do I choose when an automation runs?
Updated 1 September 2026
The Short Answer
When is a single control in the automation panel. It reads back the whole schedule in words and opens a popover holding the calendar, the time and the repeat. There are eight repeats from Once Only to Every 3 Months, plus On Command, which has no clock and runs only when you ask.
Step one of four. The schedule is one control, not three, and it tells you what it is set to without being opened.
Where is the setting?
Click the automation in Extensions → Automations and look in the panel on the right for When.
It reads back the whole schedule as a sentence — Every 5 Days · 9:00am — so you can check a row without opening anything.
What repeats can I choose?
Once Only, Every Day, Every Weekday, Every Week, Every 2 Weeks, Every Month, Every 3 Months, and Every Few Days — where you type the number of days yourself.
Every Weekday skips Saturday and Sunday. The rest count plain calendar days.
What does On Command mean?
On Command has no schedule at all. The automation sits there until you ask for it, then runs immediately.
It is the right choice for something you want ready but not recurring — a launch announcement, a one-off invite.
What time of day does it run?
The time you set inside the When popover, read against your own local clock. A 2pm automation does not fire on a morning pass.
9:00am is what the four ready-made automations use.
Does it run twice if I leave it a while?
No. Each person is written to once per occurrence of the schedule, however often the automation is checked in between.
So an automation you left running over a long weekend does not fire four times when you come back.