Schedules

Scheduled tasks allow you to automate prompts to your agent on a recurring schedule or at a specific time in the future.

Your agent can also schedule tasks itself. Simply ask it in chat.

Where tasks run

When you schedule a task (letta cron add), Letta runs the prompt where you are working by default:

• From a connected computer (laptop, VM, remote server): The schedule is stored in Letta Cloud, but triggers the prompt on your machine so your agent has access to your local files and tools.
• From a Cloud sandbox: Runs in the managed cloud sandbox.
• From an unconnected computer: Creates a local schedule that runs only while your session is active.

Choosing an execution target

You can override where a task runs using CLI flags:

• --computer <deviceId>: Target a specific connected computer (find IDs with letta environments list). If the machine is offline when the schedule fires, it falls back to the Cloud sandbox.
• --runner cloud: Force execution in the managed Cloud sandbox.
• --runner local: Store the schedule strictly on your local machine. It only fires while a Letta session is running and never falls back to the cloud.

# Target a specific connected server
letta cron add \
  --agent agent-123 \
  --name "server-check" \
  --prompt "Check system health and report any disk warnings." \
  --every 1h \
  --computer <deviceId>

Choosing the conversation

By default, every scheduled run starts a new conversation. This prevents recurring tasks from bloating your agent’s context window or cluttering your primary chat history.

To send runs to an existing conversation instead:

• --conversation default: Send every run to the agent’s main conversation.
• --conversation <id>: Send runs to a specific conversation thread.
• --conversation self: Bind to the conversation you’re currently having with the agent.

# Remind you in your current conversation
letta cron add \
  --agent agent-123 \
  --name "deploy-reminder" \
  --prompt "Remind me to check staging metrics before deploying." \
  --at "in 45m" \
  --conversation self

Cloud vs. local schedules

	Cloud schedules (Default)	Local schedules (--runner local)
Where it’s stored	Letta Cloud	Local machine (~/.letta/cron.json)
When it fires	Always (server-side timer)	Only while a Letta app, CLI, or server process is open
Timezone	Recurring --cron runs in UTC	Evaluated in your local machine timezone
Offline behavior	Runs on targeted machine; falls back to sandbox if offline	Pauses until you restart Letta

Local-backend agents always use local schedules; passing --runner cloud or --computer returns an error. If creating a cloud schedule fails, Letta never silently falls back to local storage.

Common CLI commands

# Add a recurring task (weekdays at 9am UTC)
letta cron add --name "daily-brief" --cron "0 9 * * 1-5" --prompt "Prepare morning briefing."

# Add a one-time reminder
letta cron add --name "standup" --at "10:00am" --prompt "Summarize yesterday's commits."

# List scheduled tasks
letta cron list

# View run history for a task
letta cron runs --id <taskId>

# Delete a task
letta cron delete <taskId>

For the full command table and options, see the CLI reference.

Troubleshooting

• My task never ran

  • Run letta cron list --agent <id> and check the task’s runner field. A local task only fires while a Letta session is connected on the computer that owns it.
  • For a cloud task, check its run history with letta cron runs --id <id>.

• My one-time local task disappeared without running

  • If the listener was down for long enough, the task may have been marked as missed (tasks overdue by >5 minutes).

• My recurring cloud schedule fires at the wrong time

  • Recurring --cron expressions on cloud schedules are currently evaluated in UTC, not your local timezone.

• --computer says my machine is not connected

  • The computer must appear in letta environments list as a connected machine. Run letta server on it (or enable remote access in the Letta app) to connect it to your Letta account.