# Missions and triggers

> Give a bot recurring routines, one-off actions and event triggers, and follow what it does from its reports and monitoring.

A bot can work without you: on a schedule, when something happens, or on a task you queue. Set it up from the **Actions** menu at the top of the bot's chat.

## The Actions menu

| Section | What you find there |
| --- | --- |
| **Autonomy** | Capabilities, actions, event triggers, decisions and activity. |
| **Edit profile** | Name, role, instructions, color and notifications. |
| **Memory** | Durable memory and the working brief. |
| **Routines** | Scheduled work and reports. |
| **Monitoring** | Runs, failures, tokens and cost. |
| **Integrations** | Account, plugins and MCP, Vato Vault, browser and Computer Use. |
| **Advanced settings** | Model, background activity, export, archive and deletion. |

> [!TIP]
> You can also just ask the bot, for example *"Check my open issues every weekday at 9:00."* It can create, edit and pause its own routines and triggers.

## Routines

A routine runs a mission on a schedule.

1. Open **Actions → Routines** and click **New routine**.
2. Give it a **Name** and describe its **Mission**.
3. Choose a **Schedule type**:
   - **Interval**: every few minutes.
   - **Cron**: at fixed times. For example, `0 9 * * 1-5` runs Monday to Friday at 9:00.
   - **One time**: once, at a date you choose.
   - **Heartbeat**: a regular check that stays quiet when there is nothing to report.
4. Click **Create automation**.

Each routine has **Run** to start it now, **Pause routine** and **Resume routine**. A bot can have up to 50 routines.

In the routine form, **After being offline** decides what happens to runs missed while Vato was closed. **Advanced settings** adds retries, **Quiet hours** and **Notifications**.

## Actions

An action is a one-off task the bot works on by itself.

1. Open **Actions → Autonomy**, then the **Actions** tab.
2. Click **New action**.
3. Fill in a **Title** and the **Expected outcome**. Steps, checks, a due date and dependencies are optional.
4. Under **Automation model**, choose the model and account the action runs with.
5. Click **Save**, then **Queue mission**.

By default the bot closes the action when it's done. For a sensitive result, check **Wait for my approval before completing this action**: the action then waits in **Needs review** until you click **Accept results**. Check the evidence the bot lists before you accept.

## Event triggers

An event trigger creates an action when something new happens. Open **Actions → Autonomy → Routines and events** and click **New trigger**. A trigger can watch:

- a **Project file**;
- a read-only tool of an app you connected through **Composio**.

The first check only records what already exists. After that, each new item creates one action, without duplicates. Fixed times and intervals are routines, not triggers.

## Reports

Results of routines and actions arrive in the bot's chat as report cards, with a notification. In **Actions → Routines**, under **Reports**, choose **After each run**, or **Daily digest at** a time of your choice to group successful runs into one message a day.

Failures are always reported right away. In a routine's **Advanced settings**, **Only report what changed** keeps the bot silent when there is nothing new.

When a run fails or gets blocked, the bot comes back to you in its chat with a question, for example to reconnect an account.

## Memory

**Actions → Memory** holds two things:

- **Durable memory**: decisions, preferences and facts loaded into every turn. You can edit it directly.
- **Bot working brief**: what the bot learned about its mission during your conversations. Correct it by telling the bot in the chat.

> [!WARNING]
> Don't store passwords, tokens or API keys in a bot's memory. Use the Vato Vault instead.

## Monitoring

**Actions → Monitoring** shows runs, failures, tokens and cost over a period you choose, with a chart of **Runs per day** and the **Recent failures**.

## Next step

[Choose where your bot runs](environments.md)

Source: https://vatoide.com/docs/bots/missions-and-triggers