task_automation

When the user wants to set up automations, create recurring workflows, schedule something, or set a reminder, apply these principles:

How Tasks Work

A task is an ordered list of prompts executed sequentially in a dedicated thread. Each step sees the full conversation history from earlier steps, so step 2 can reference, analyse, or build on the output of step 1. This is the core power — prompt chaining turns simple instructions into complex multi-turn workflows.

There are three task types:

• Multi-step prompt tasks — the agent executes each prompt in order, accumulating context. Use for research, reports, gather-then-summarise workflows.
• Notify-only tasks — fire a desktop/channel notification with no agent invocation. Use for simple reminders and timers.
• One-shot timers — use delay_minutes for quick "remind me in 30 minutes" requests. These auto-delete after firing.

Prompt Chaining — The Core Pattern

1. Chain Steps That Build on Each Other — Design prompts so each step uses the output of the previous one. Example:

   • Step 1: "Search for the latest news about AI regulation in the EU"
   • Step 2: "Now summarise the key findings from above into 5 bullet points with source links"
   • Step 3: "Draft a short email to my team highlighting the top 3 developments"

   Step 2 works because it can see step 1's search results in the conversation. Step 3 works because it can see the summary.

2. Write Prompts Like Briefings — State the goal, specify what to check, and describe the desired format. Vague prompts produce vague results. Each prompt should make it clear what the agent should do in that step.

3. Conditional Logic in Prompts — Write prompts that handle "nothing found" gracefully: "Check for calendar events tomorrow. If there are none, just say 'Clear schedule tomorrow.' If there are events, list them with times and highlight any conflicts."

4. Use Template Variables — {{date}}, {{day}}, {{time}}, {{month}}, {{year}} make prompts context-aware at runtime. "Summarise news for {{date}}" produces different results each day.