Routines

A routine is a prompt that an agent runs on a schedule, or whenever you click Run now. Each run happens on one of your Macs. Routines are private: no one else in the workspace sees them or their runs.

Click Routines in the sidebar to see your routines and their run history.

Create a routine

1. On the Routines page, click New routine.
2. Type a title. The routine is saved once it has one.
3. Under Instructions, describe the job and what is worth reporting. Matter tells every run how to report back.
4. Check its Settings and Schedule.

A new routine runs daily at 9:00 AM in your timezone, on the Mac you created it on, with your default model. You can also ask the assistant in any thread to create or change a routine.

Schedule

Repeats offers Hourly, Daily, Weekdays, Weekly and Monthly, with a Minute, Time, Days or Day of month to match. A schedule an agent set with a cron expression shows as Custom. Timezone follows Your Timezone unless you choose a specific zone.

The switch beside each routine pauses it. A paused routine doesn’t run on schedule until you turn it back on.

Where it runs

Runs on sets which of your Macs runs the routine. A dot shows whether each Mac is online. The routine uses that Mac’s agents, so its model’s provider must be installed and signed in there. If it isn’t, a warning under the settings says what’s missing.

When a run is due and its Mac is asleep, offline or not running agents, the run waits and starts when the Mac is back. Missed runs don’t pile up: while one run waits, later scheduled times are skipped, so a week away gives you one run, not seven. If the Mac drops offline in the middle of a run, the run fails.

To stop your Mac sleeping mid-run, turn on Keep computer awake while agents work in Settings > General. It keeps the Mac awake only while an agent is working. Also when the lid is closed extends this to a closed lid, using battery down to 10%. Neither wakes a Mac that is already asleep.

Two more settings:

• Folder: the folder new run threads start in, on the routine’s Mac. Choose it from that Mac.
• Threads: New thread each run, or Continue latest thread to keep one conversation going. Start fresh then runs now in a new thread, which later runs continue. If the thread is busy when a run is due, that run is skipped.

Model

Model starts on Default: each run uses your Default model from Settings > General, as it is when the run starts. Choose a specific model to fix it, then set Thinking and, for models that offer it, Speed.

Runs and results

Each run ends by recording its outcome: one plain sentence saying what it found or did, even when nothing needed doing.

Run history, under your routines, lists every run, newest first. Each entry shows the routine, its status, whether it was Manual or Scheduled, when it started, and its outcome. View conversation opens the run’s thread, which ends with a Run summary.

The outcome is only a record. Anything you should know, decide or do goes in your brief on Home, and long reports go in docs linked from it. When a run needs an answer from you, it asks in its thread, which waits under Action Requested on Home. See Home and the brief.

When a run fails

A failed run shows in red in Run history with its reason, the routine reads Last run failed, and any thread the run started is marked unread. Common causes are a routine with no Mac to run on, a routine on Default before you’ve chosen a default model, and a Mac that went offline mid-run. Matter doesn’t retry: fix the cause, then click Run now or wait for the next run.

Built-in routines

Everyone has two built-in routines. You can turn them off but not delete them. Both run in your timezone, skip their runs until you’ve chosen a default model, and have instructions you can edit.

• Matter Assistant checks your connected apps (email, calendar, issue trackers, chat), your work in Matter and recent routine results, and reports in your brief. It can start threads for clearly wanted work, but asks before sending messages or doing anything it can’t undo. Set How often, from every 15 minutes to once a day, and Hours. It starts every 30 minutes, 6 AM to midnight. While it runs, Home shows Checking in.
• Matter Checkup reviews how you use Matter and suggests up to three improvements a run, under Improve Your Setup in your brief. It changes nothing itself. It runs Daily or Weekly, or choose Off; it starts daily at 7:00 AM.

App routines

When you set up a Matter app, its routines join your list. You can pause an app routine or choose its model. Its instructions and schedule come from the app.

Delete a routine

Open the routine and, under Manage, click Delete. Its run history is deleted with it.