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Schedule Trigger

The Schedule trigger allows you to run flows automatically at specific times or intervals. Perfect for reports, maintenance tasks, batch processing, monitoring, and any work that needs to happen on a regular schedule. Schedule triggers can run once at a specific date and time, or repeatedly at intervals like every hour, day, week, month, or year.

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How It Works

Add a Schedule trigger to your flow. Set the initial start date and time. Choose a frequency for recurring execution (optional). The flow runs automatically at the scheduled times. No manual intervention required.

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Configuration

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Initial Start Time

Set the date and time for the first execution. Use your local timezone or UTC. The flow will first execute at this time. Date Format: YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., 2025-10-15) Time Format: HH:MM (24-hour format, e.g., 14:30 for 2:30 PM) Timezone: Select from dropdown or use UTC For immediate execution, set start time to current time or past time. For future execution, set any future date and time.

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Frequency (Trigger Every)

Choose how often the flow should repeat after the initial execution. One-Time Execution: Leave frequency blank or set to “Never”. Flow runs once at the initial start time. No repeat executions. Useful for scheduled reports or one-time data migrations. Recurring Execution: Set frequency using time units:
  • Minutes: 1m, 5m, 15m, 30m
  • Hours: 1h, 2h, 6h, 12h
  • Days: 1d, 2d, 3d, 7d
  • Weeks: 1w, 2w, 4w
  • Months: 1M, 2M, 3M, 6M
  • Years: 1y
Examples:
  • 1h - Every hour
  • 1d - Every day at the same time
  • 1w - Every week on the same day
  • 1M - Every month on the same date
  • 15m - Every 15 minutes
  • 6h - Every 6 hours
The trigger will run at the frequency specified until it is removed or disabled.

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Timezone Handling

Local Timezone: Schedule uses your selected timezone. Executions happen at the same local time even during daylight saving changes. Best for business hours schedules. UTC: Schedule uses UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). Executions happen at fixed UTC times regardless of local timezone. Best for global operations and avoiding DST complications. When scheduling for specific business hours, use local timezone. When coordinating across multiple timezones, use UTC.

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Common Schedule Patterns

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Business Hours

Daily at 9 AM:
  • Start Time: Today at 09:00
  • Frequency: 1d
  • Timezone: Local
Weekday Mornings: Create 5 separate schedules for Monday through Friday at 9 AM, or use a single schedule with 1d frequency starting on Monday. Every Business Hour:
  • Start Time: Today at 09:00
  • Frequency: 1h
  • Run from 9 AM to 5 PM (requires logic to stop after hours)

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Reports and Analytics

Daily Report at Midnight:
  • Start Time: Today at 00:00
  • Frequency: 1d
  • Timezone: UTC
Weekly Report (Monday Morning):
  • Start Time: Next Monday at 08:00
  • Frequency: 1w
  • Timezone: Local
Monthly Report (First of Month):
  • Start Time: 2025-11-01 at 00:00
  • Frequency: 1M
  • Timezone: UTC
Quarterly Report:
  • Start Time: 2025-10-01 at 00:00
  • Frequency: 3M
  • Timezone: UTC

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Maintenance and Cleanup

Nightly Cleanup (2 AM):
  • Start Time: Today at 02:00
  • Frequency: 1d
  • Timezone: Local
Weekly Backup (Sunday 3 AM):
  • Start Time: Next Sunday at 03:00
  • Frequency: 1w
  • Timezone: UTC
Hourly Cache Clear:
  • Start Time: Now
  • Frequency: 1h
  • Timezone: UTC

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Monitoring and Alerts

Every 5 Minutes:
  • Start Time: Now
  • Frequency: 5m
  • Use for system health checks
Every 15 Minutes:
  • Start Time: Now
  • Frequency: 15m
  • Use for API monitoring
Every Hour:
  • Start Time: Now
  • Frequency: 1h
  • Use for metrics collection

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Data Processing

Hourly Data Sync:
  • Start Time: Now
  • Frequency: 1h
  • Fetch and process new data every hour
Daily Batch Processing:
  • Start Time: Today at 01:00
  • Frequency: 1d
  • Process accumulated data overnight
Real-time Processing (Every Minute):
  • Start Time: Now
  • Frequency: 1m
  • For near-real-time data updates
Note: For very frequent schedules (every minute), consider if a different trigger type like webhooks or streams would be more efficient.

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Use Cases

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Automated Reports

Daily Sales Report: Schedule: Every day at 8 AM Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1d at 08:00)
  • HTTP Request: Fetch sales data from yesterday
  • Agent: Analyze data and generate insights
  • HTTP Request: Send report email to team
Weekly Analytics Summary: Schedule: Every Monday at 9 AM Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1w on Monday at 09:00)
  • Multiple HTTP Requests: Gather data from analytics platforms
  • Agent: Summarize key metrics and trends
  • HTTP Request: Post to Slack channel

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Maintenance Tasks

Nightly Database Cleanup: Schedule: Every day at 2 AM Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1d at 02:00)
  • HTTP Request: Delete expired records
  • HTTP Request: Archive old data
  • HTTP Request: Run database optimization
  • HTTP Request: Send completion notification
Weekly Backup: Schedule: Every Sunday at 3 AM Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1w on Sunday at 03:00)
  • HTTP Request: Trigger backup job
  • Delay: Wait for backup completion
  • HTTP Request: Verify backup success
  • Condition: Alert if failed

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Monitoring and Alerts

Hourly System Health Check: Schedule: Every hour Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1h)
  • Multiple HTTP Requests: Check service endpoints
  • Agent: Analyze response times and status codes
  • Condition: Any failures?
    • Yes: Send alert to on-call team
    • No: Log success
API Rate Limit Monitor: Schedule: Every 15 minutes Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (15m)
  • HTTP Request: Check API usage
  • Agent: Calculate remaining quota
  • Condition: Below threshold?
    • Yes: Send warning notification
    • No: Continue monitoring

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Data Synchronization

Hourly CRM Sync: Schedule: Every hour Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1h)
  • HTTP Request: Fetch new leads from website
  • Agent: Qualify and enrich lead data
  • HTTP Request: Create/update records in CRM
  • HTTP Request: Notify sales team of hot leads
Daily Inventory Update: Schedule: Every day at midnight Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1d at 00:00)
  • HTTP Request: Get inventory data from warehouse system
  • Map: Transform data format
  • HTTP Request: Update e-commerce platform
  • HTTP Request: Send low stock alerts if needed

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Scheduled Notifications

Weekly Team Update: Schedule: Every Friday at 4 PM Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1w on Friday at 16:00)
  • HTTP Request: Gather project status updates
  • Agent: Summarize progress and blockers
  • HTTP Request: Post to team Slack channel
Monthly Invoice Reminder: Schedule: First of every month at 9 AM Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1M at 09:00)
  • HTTP Request: Fetch unpaid invoices
  • Agent: Generate personalized reminders
  • HTTP Request: Send email to customers

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Content Publishing

Daily Social Media Post: Schedule: Every day at 10 AM Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1d at 10:00)
  • HTTP Request: Get content from queue
  • Agent: Optimize for platform
  • HTTP Request: Post to social media
  • HTTP Request: Track engagement
Weekly Blog Post: Schedule: Every Wednesday at 9 AM Flow:
  • Trigger: Schedule (1w on Wednesday at 09:00)
  • HTTP Request: Get scheduled blog post
  • Agent: Final review and SEO optimization
  • HTTP Request: Publish to website
  • HTTP Request: Share on social channels

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Best Practices

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Choose Appropriate Frequencies

For Real-time Needs: Use webhooks or streams instead of very frequent schedules (every minute). Schedules are best for batch operations. For Monitoring: Every 5-15 minutes is reasonable. More frequent monitoring should use event-driven triggers. For Reports: Match business needs. Daily, weekly, or monthly is typical. For Maintenance: Schedule during low-traffic hours (overnight or weekends).

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Timezone Considerations

Business Hours: Use local timezone for schedules tied to business operations. Global Operations: Use UTC to avoid confusion across timezones. Daylight Saving Time: If using local timezone, be aware of DST transitions. UTC avoids this issue. Test Timezone: Always test schedules to ensure they run at expected times.

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Performance and Efficiency

Batch Processing: Group multiple operations in one scheduled run instead of many frequent runs. Off-Peak Execution: Schedule resource-intensive tasks during low-traffic periods. Timeout Handling: Ensure flows complete within reasonable time. Long-running flows should use background mode. Error Recovery: Implement retry logic and error notifications for critical scheduled tasks.

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Monitoring and Alerts

Execution Logs: Regularly review scheduled flow execution logs. Failure Alerts: Set up notifications for failed scheduled executions. Success Confirmations: For critical schedules, send success confirmations. Metrics Tracking: Monitor execution time and resource usage.

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Maintenance

Review Schedules Regularly: Disable unused schedules to reduce costs. Update as Needed: Adjust frequencies based on actual business needs. Document Purpose: Add clear descriptions to each schedule explaining its purpose. Test After Changes: Always test schedules after modifying flow logic.

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Managing Schedules

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Enable and Disable

Toggle schedules on/off without deleting them. Useful for temporary pauses or seasonal schedules. To disable: Open flow, find Schedule trigger, toggle “Enabled” to off. To re-enable: Toggle back on. Next execution will occur at next scheduled time.

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Updating Schedules

Change start time: Updates apply to next execution, not current schedule. Change frequency: New frequency applies immediately. Next execution calculated from last run. Change timezone: Affects all future executions. Existing scheduled times recalculated.

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Deleting Schedules

Remove Schedule trigger from flow to permanently delete. All future executions canceled immediately. Past execution logs remain available.

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Multiple Schedules

You can add multiple Schedule triggers to a single flow. Each trigger operates independently. Useful for different execution patterns (daily report plus weekly summary). You can also create separate flows for different schedules if they have different logic.

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Execution Behavior

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First Execution

If start time is in the past: Executes immediately upon activation. If start time is in the future: Waits until specified time. One-time schedules: Execute once and stop. Recurring schedules: Execute, then wait for frequency interval.

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Recurring Execution

After initial execution, flow repeats at specified frequency. Frequency calculated from last execution time, not fixed intervals. Example with 1h frequency:
  • First execution: 10:00 AM
  • Second execution: 11:00 AM
  • Third execution: 12:00 PM
If an execution takes longer than the frequency, next execution waits until current one completes.

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Missed Executions

If system downtime occurs during scheduled time: Execution happens immediately when system recovers. Multiple missed executions: Only one catch-up execution occurs, not multiple. For critical schedules: Implement additional monitoring to detect missed executions.

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Overlapping Executions

By default, new execution waits if previous execution still running. To allow parallel executions: Configure in advanced settings (requires Team or Enterprise plan). Be cautious with parallel executions as they can cause resource contention.

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Troubleshooting

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Schedule Not Running

Check schedule is enabled: Verify toggle is on in trigger configuration. Check flow is published: Unpublished flows don’t execute schedules. Check start time: Ensure start time is correct and timezone is set properly. Check frequency: Verify frequency is set if recurring execution expected. Review execution logs: Look for errors or skipped executions.

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Running at Wrong Time

Verify timezone setting: Common issue when timezone is set incorrectly. Check daylight saving time: If using local timezone, DST transitions can shift times. Confirm start time: Double-check 24-hour time format (14:00 not 2:00). Review execution logs: Check actual execution timestamps.

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Executions Failing

Check flow errors: Review execution logs for error messages. Test flow manually: Run flow manually to identify issues. Check external services: Verify APIs and services are accessible. Review timeout settings: Ensure flow completes before timeout.

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Performance Issues

Long execution times: Optimize flow steps or break into smaller flows. Resource limits: Check if hitting plan limits for compute or storage. Concurrent executions: Reduce frequency if executions overlap. External API delays: Implement retry logic and timeout handling.

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Schedule Limits by Plan

Free Tier:
  • Maximum 5 active schedules
  • Minimum frequency: 1 hour
  • Best for: Testing and personal projects
Starter Plan:
  • Maximum 25 active schedules
  • Minimum frequency: 15 minutes
  • Best for: Small businesses
Pro Plan:
  • Maximum 100 active schedules
  • Minimum frequency: 5 minutes
  • Best for: Growing businesses
Team Plan:
  • Maximum 500 active schedules
  • Minimum frequency: 1 minute
  • Parallel execution support
  • Best for: Teams and departments
Enterprise Plan:
  • Unlimited schedules
  • Minimum frequency: Custom (down to seconds)
  • Advanced scheduling features
  • Priority execution
  • Best for: Large organizations

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Advanced Scheduling

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Conditional Execution

Use Condition step at start of flow to check if execution should proceed: 
// Only run on weekdays
const day = new Date().getDay();
if (day === 0 || day === 6) {
  return 'skip'; // Weekend, skip execution
}

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Dynamic Scheduling

Schedules are static, but you can build logic to handle dynamic needs:
  • Use Condition steps to route based on time of day
  • Use Agent to determine what actions to take
  • Use Map to process different data based on context

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Execution History

View past executions in flow logs. See execution time, duration, status (success/error), and full execution details. Filter by date range, status, or search by execution ID. Export logs for analysis or compliance.

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Next Steps

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