Routines

A routine is a standing instruction: something you'd otherwise have to remember to ask zv1 every Monday morning. You write it once, say when it should run and where the result should land, and zv1 does it on that schedule.

Open Routines at chat.zerowidth.ai and choose New routine.

Writing one

A routine is three answers.

What zv1 runsname + instruction

A name you'll recognize in a list, and the instruction itself — written the way you'd ask it in chat. "Scan for new competitors and propose a Compass page for each one you find." The instruction is the whole brief, so say what you want done with what it finds, not just what to look at.

Whenschedule

Daily or weekly, at a time you pick, in a time zone you pick — and on a chosen day for weekly ones. The dialog shows you the next run before you save.

Where it landsdelivery + audience

Notification or Notification + email. And who it's for: Whole workspace, or Just me for something only you want to see.

Or Post in a room, and each run's result goes into that room for everyone in it to read and answer. A routine just for you can post only in a private room you're in.

Routines for a room

To set one up from inside a room, choose + next to Routines on the right side of the room. The room is already picked. You can also ask zv1 in the room: "@zv1 every Monday at nine, summarize last week's claims backlog here."

Each run's result shows in the room with the routine's name on it, and replies to it go to zv1 like any other message in the room. If the room is deleted or archived, or you leave a private room it posts in, the routine pauses and tells you why.

Running and pausing

Each routine has its own page, with everything it's done and three controls:

Run now — don't wait for the schedule. Useful right after writing one, to see what it actually produces.
Pause / Resume — a paused routine keeps its instruction and schedule, and picks up the next slot when you resume it. Pausing is the way to stop a routine; there's no archive.
Edit — change any of the three answers. The next run uses the new version.

What zv1 is allowed to do on a schedule

A routine runs as an assistant with the same reach you give zv1 in a conversation, and the same approval step. If a routine wants to make a change and you haven't turned approvals off, it stops and waits: the action lands in Inbox with the count on the tab, and nothing happens until you approve it.

That's the difference between a routine and an automation that runs off on its own. It can do the looking every morning without doing anything irreversible while you're asleep.

Already on a schedule

Below your own routines, the same list shows what's already running on your behalf, in the same shape:

Expectation deadline nudges — notifies whoever recorded an expectation in Ledger when its deadline is close or has passed. You choose how many days of warning, or zero to hear only once it's lapsed.
Stalled review reminders — reminds a Caliper review's creator when it's been sitting with no ratings. You choose how many quiet days count as stalled.
Scheduled flows — any Workbench schedule your workspace has set up, shown here so one page answers "what runs without me?"

Those rows are read-only apart from their one setting, and they can be switched off.

4 min read