claude scheduled tasks: which kind are you using?

cowork tasks now run remotely

as of 12 november 2026, anthropic says scheduled tasks are available in cowork and the new claude experience on pro, max, ultra, team and enterprise, but not free. they run saved prompts on a recurring basis or on demand. manual setup offers hourly, daily, weekly, weekdays and manual frequencies.¹

each run is its own cowork session and can use connectors, skills and plugins. current tasks run remotely even when the computer sleeps or claude desktop is closed. there is a historical exception: tasks created before 6 october that run on your computer keep running there. an old task and a new one may therefore behave differently.¹

one stated limit is easy to miss: scheduled tasks cannot use linked accounts in personal finance. do not build a routine around that access. use the provider's current task documentation to check suitability, rather than assuming every chat capability carries into a scheduled run.¹

claude code has separate scheduling tools

claude code cloud scheduled tasks, formerly routines, run a prompt with repositories and connectors; the claude code routines guide covers their setup and limits.² claude code desktop local tasks fire only while the app is open and the computer is awake.³ /loop repeats a prompt within an open claude code session, with a minimum interval of one minute, and still needs the machine on.⁴

cowork schedules on web and mobile

as of 12 november 2026, cowork is available on web and mobile on pro, max, ultra and team, with team access in beta. claude desktop supports macos, windows and linux (beta) on all paid plans.⁶

scheduled tasks are available on pro, max, ultra, team and enterprise in cowork and the new claude experience. you can use a saved prompt on a recurring schedule or run it on demand. each run is its own session and can use connectors, skills and plugins.¹

for web or mobile access, check both your plan and the task's sources before leaving it to repeat. new pro, max and ultra cowork tasks run in the cloud; the Only on your computer option was removed from 6 october 2026.⁶

ten prompts to make smaller

adapt these to your own notes and files.

1. 'every monday, turn this product brief into three open questions.'
2. 'each morning, suggest one experiment for the hypothesis below.'
3. 'on friday, check these milestones for conflicting dates.'
4. 'each weekday, explain one clause from this policy in plain words.'
5. 'every sunday, challenge one assumption in this business plan.'
6. 'on tuesday, give me a practice customer interview question.'
7. 'each month, ask whether these project constraints still apply.'
8. 'every thursday, rewrite one paragraph of this pitch more simply.'
9. 'each evening, test me on the vocabulary listed here.'
10. 'on wednesday, propose a checklist for reviewing this kind of document.'

keep a task focused on one result. include the text it needs, the output length and what to do when context is missing. a good quiet condition is better than a daily page of guesses.

diagnose the task before moving it

first identify cowork, code cloud, desktop local or loop. then check its schedule, time zone and the account whose usage it draws from. for a local task, check the machine and app. for a cloud task, do not start by changing laptop sleep settings.

if you want a named dusk bot with its own ai and memory, make a routine by messaging that bot. dusk's schedule card shows upcoming runs; Automations lists history. local dusk routines still need an awake host. moving from one scheduler to another changes the setup, not your provider's terms or usage allowance.⁵

the scheduler comparison helps when you want to compare vendors rather than troubleshoot claude. check your provider's current terms before arranging unattended access.