| title | Scheduling prompts in {% data variables.copilot.copilot_cli %} | ||
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| shortTitle | Schedule prompts | ||
| allowTitleToDifferFromFilename | true | ||
| intro | Use the `/every` and `/after` slash commands to submit a prompt to {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} on a recurring schedule, or after a specified delay. | ||
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| contentType | how-tos | ||
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Note
The /every and /after commands are currently experimental features and are only available if you have used the /experimental on slash command, or the --experimental command line option.
In an interactive {% data variables.copilot.copilot_cli_short %} session you can schedule a prompt to be submitted automatically. This is useful when you want {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} to repeat a task at a regular cadence or to perform a one-off task after a delay, without you having to remember to submit the prompt manually.
There are two slash commands for this:
/every— schedule a prompt to be sent repeatedly at a fixed interval./after— schedule a prompt to be sent once, after a specified period of time.
Both commands are only available inside an interactive {% data variables.copilot.copilot_cli_short %} session: the schedules fire only while the session in which they were created is running. For ways to run {% data variables.copilot.copilot_cli_short %} on a schedule when no session is open, see Running a prompt from an external scheduler at the end of this article.
In an interactive {% data variables.copilot.copilot_cli_short %} session, type /every followed by an interval of time and the prompt you want to be submitted.
/every INTERVAL PROMPT
The prompt will be submitted after the interval you specified has elapsed and then again on the same cadence until you delete the schedule entry or you end the interactive CLI session.
/every 1h run the test suite and summarize any new failures
/every 30m check for new comments on my open pull requests
Type /after followed by a delay and the prompt you want to submit:
/after DELAY PROMPT
The prompt fires once, after the delay has elapsed, and is then removed from the schedule list.
/after 30m Give me details of changes to README.md made in the last 30 minutes
/after 10m Check that the address finder is visible on example.com/register
You can use /every and /after to schedule a skill. To do this, you can reference the skill explicitly by using its slash command, or you can use natural language to tell {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} to run the skill.
Note
Only user-invocable skills can be scheduled this way. You cannot include built-in slash commands (such as /clear) in a scheduled prompt.
/after 2h Use the docx skill to create a new file summarizing recent changes to this repo
/every 1d /refactor-plan Adjust the architecture of this project to improve the responsiveness of the client UI
| Suffix | Unit | Example |
|---|---|---|
s |
seconds | 30s |
m |
minutes | 5m |
h |
hours | 2h |
d |
days | 1d |
A bare number with no suffix is interpreted as minutes—for example, /every 30 remind me to check for Slack messages schedules the prompt every 30 minutes.
The minimum interval is 10 seconds and the maximum is 1 day (24 hours).
When a scheduled prompt is triggered, {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} precedes the prompt with text such as [Scheduled prompt #4] to distinguish it from a prompt you typed yourself.
You can use the ID to cancel the schedule. For example, by entering stop prompt 4.
To list the active schedules for the current session, type /every or /after with no arguments.
To delete a schedule, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move through the list and select the schedule you want to delete, then press d.
Press Esc to exit the schedule list.
Scheduled prompts are scoped to the session they were created in, and they are only triggered while that session is running.
When you reopen the session (using the --continue or --resume command line options) the schedules are restarted, with interval before a schedule is triggered measured from the moment you reopen the session.
If an /after schedule had not been triggered before you closed the session, it remains in the schedule list and will be triggered after the specified delay in the reopened session.
The /every and /after commands only run while an interactive {% data variables.copilot.copilot_cli_short %} session is open. If you want a prompt to run on a schedule even when no session is active, you can run {% data variables.copilot.copilot_cli_short %} from an external scheduler such as cron on macOS or Linux, or Task Scheduler on Windows.
To run {% data variables.copilot.copilot_cli_short %} programmatically, use the syntax copilot -p "YOUR PROMPT". The CLI processes your prompt without displaying the interactive interface and then exits.
This is useful for tasks such as:
- Nightly maintenance — for example, running your test suite against the latest changes on a branch every night and posting a summary to a tracking issue.
- Periodic dependency checks — for example, opening a weekly pull request that updates dependencies and runs the test suite against the result.
- Scheduled reports — for example, generating a daily summary of new issues or pull requests assigned to you and emailing or posting it to a chat channel.
For more information, see AUTOTITLE.