Routines

Automate recurring operator work#

Routines are the heartbeat of Sidekick's autonomous capabilities. A routine is a named, repeatable set of instructions that Sidekick executes on a schedule or in response to verified inbound signals.

Open Settings → Routines to create, edit, and monitor recurring schedules. The autonomy controls (which steps Sidekick may run on its own) live next door at Settings → Rules. You can also ask Sidekick to "show me my routines" or "schedule X for tomorrow" — Sidekick edits the same routine state from the conversation.

For composing a routine step-by-step without writing code, the routine studio (under Sidekick → Studio) gives non-engineers a guided canvas that materializes into the same governed routine store. It surfaces only the connector verbs your workspace can actually use, and attaches the same Rules, approvals, and budget gates as routines created from the conversation.

Restore a prior version#

Every version of a Studio routine is kept. To bring one back, call POST /api/v1/sidekick/studio/routines/{routineId}/versions/{version}/restore with the version number you want. This never rewrites history — it reads that version's saved content and appends it as a new version on top, so the version you restored from keeps existing exactly as it was.

Restoring requires the same permission as publishing a new version, and the restored content is re-validated against your workspace's current connectors and policy before it's saved. If a connector it relied on is gone, or policy would now block it, the restore is refused rather than resurrecting something you could no longer publish today. A successful restore records a receipt naming the version it was restored from.

Creating a routine#

1. Give the routine a descriptive name (e.g. "Weekly support digest")
2. Write the steps in plain language — Sidekick converts them into a briefing plan that runs through the pipeline
3. Optionally link to an objective so the routine's output feeds into a standing goal

Schedule-only vs. reactive#

Every routine starts in schedule-only mode. It runs on its configured cron cadence and nothing else.

Turn on reactive routing to let the routine also fire when a verified inbound message arrives from a connected channel. This is useful for routines that should both run on a schedule and respond to external triggers.

Autonomy policy#

The autonomy controls (formerly the Autonomy Policy Editor on the routines page) are now the Rules surface at Settings → Rules. They control how much freedom Sidekick has when executing routine steps:

• Fail-closed — if any step encounters a governance violation, the entire run stops immediately
• Approval-required tools — specific tools that always require human approval before execution
• Blocked tools — tools the routine may never invoke

Linking routines to a Job#

When a routine is linked to a Job, every run automatically updates that Job's progress. This creates a closed loop: the Job defines the goal, the routine does the work, and Sidekick surfaces the outcome inline as Plan/Steps and Proof widgets, with workspace-level progress visible in Jobs.

The briefing pipeline#

Under the hood, each routine run executes through the briefing pipeline:

1. Sidekick generates a plan from your step instructions
2. Each step runs against available tools and connections
3. Governance rules and autonomy policy are enforced per step
4. Results are aggregated into a digest
5. The digest is surfaced in Sidekick (as Proof and Outputs widgets) and in Jobs, and can trigger an email briefing

Next step#

Get scheduled email digests of routine runs in Briefings.