AI Routines

Routines let you schedule AI-powered tasks to run automatically on a recurring basis. Set up a routine once, and JustAsk runs your prompt through the JustAsk Agent and delivers the result to the people you choose.

A routine can run on a fixed schedule, or only when a condition you define is met. Conditional routines check the condition on the schedule you set and run the prompt only when the condition is true.

Unlike a standard schedule that delivers the same static dashboard or file every time, a routine runs a prompt on each execution. The result is a written, plain-language response — a summary, an answer, or an interpretation of what changed — rather than just a refreshed asset.

Use cases

Routines work best for recurring questions where an AI-written response adds more than a static export would. Scheduled routines suit regular updates; conditional routines suit exceptions that are only worth a message when they happen. For example:

• Morning briefings for sales teams — “Summarize yesterday’s closed-won deals by rep and flag any account that slipped to next quarter,” delivered before the team logs on
• Operational summaries — “Describe how today’s order volume and fulfillment times compare to the same day last week, and call out anything unusual”
• Pipeline and revenue narratives — “Write a short update on how we’re tracking against this month’s revenue target and which segments are driving the change”
• Plain-language monitoring — “Check for any spikes in error rates or refunds over the last 24 hours and explain what you find”
• Exception alerts — “When daily active users drop below 1000, notify the product team with a summary of the drop” — a conditional routine that only delivers when the condition is met, instead of every day
• Inventory monitoring — “When inventory for any SKU falls under 50 units, email the operations team with the affected SKUs and current stock levels”

How routines work

A routine runs in one of two modes:

• Schedule mode — The routine runs your prompt every time the schedule you set occurs.
• Condition mode — The routine checks a plain-language condition against your data on the schedule you set, and runs your prompt only when the condition is met. A condition can check a threshold, whether data is present or missing, or whether results changed since the last check.

Each run executes independently and respects your organization’s permissions and data access controls. The result is delivered as text by email to the people you choose.

Each routine runs with the same permissions as the user who created it, so a routine can only query data its creator has access to.

Note

Routine results do not include hyperlinked dashboard links.

Creating routines

Note

Restricted Querier permissions or higher are required to create routines. Your admin must also give you the Use routines permission.

Routines can be created by asking the agent or in the JustAsk UI.

JustAsk Agent

Ask the JustAsk Agent for anything recurring and the agent will set up the routine for you:

“Every Monday at 9am, email me a summary of last week’s signups”

You can also add a condition to the routine, so that the routine will run only if the condition is met:

“Every day at 9AM, check if inventory for any SKU falls under 50 units and then email me”

The routine will be created and immediately active, use the model and topic the conversation is scoped to, and run with your permissions. Results are delivered to you unless you say otherwise — name other people or a user group in your prompt to deliver elsewhere.

In the JustAsk Agent, the new routine appears as a card in the conversation. Click Edit routine to open it in split view beside the chat, where you can review and adjust the prompt, schedule, destination, and recipients.

JustAsk UI

1. Define the routine’s settings

   To quickly create a new routine, click the New button in the sidebar, then select Routine. The New routine form will display.

   You can also create a routine from the Routines page:

   1. Click Routines in the sidebar.
   2. Click New routine.
   3. Fill in the fields:
      • Name — A descriptive name for the routine
      • Instructions — The instruction the JustAsk Agent runs on each execution. Write the instructions the same way you would in a chat with the JustAsk Agent.
      • Model — The data model the routine queries, with an optional Topic to focus query generation
2. Define the trigger

   In the Trigger section, choose how the routine runs:

   On a schedule

   Schedule mode allows you to run the routine on a fixed cadence. Use the Runs and On sections to specify when the routine should check if the condition is met.

   Visual schedule builder

   Use the UI options (Daily, Weekly, etc.) to select a time period. Clicking Custom will prompt you to create a cron schedule.

   By default, schedules are set to send in the local timezone of the creating user’s computer. Use the Times are in drop down to change the timezone.

   Custom cron schedule (Advanced)

   In the Runs section, click Custom to create a cron schedule.

   A cron expression is a string that describes the individual details of a schedule:

   Order	Unit	Allowed values	Allowed special characters
   1	minute	0-59	* , - /
   2	hour	0-23	* , - /
   3	day of month	1-31	* , - / L W ?
   4	month	1-12 or JAN-DEC	* , - /
   5	day of week	1-7 or SUN-SAT	* , - / L W ?
   6	year	any	* , - /

   Using cron, you can create schedules like the following:

   At 9:00 AM every day

   0 9 ? * * *

   At 6:30AM on the last day of the month

   30 6 L * ? *

   At 8:45 AM every day, Monday through Friday

   45 8 ? * MON-FRI *

   JustAsk uses Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) syntax for cron expressions. Refer to the AWS documentation for more information. By default, the most frequent you can configure a schedule is hourly.

   Tip

   Click the icon in the Cron string field to generate a cron schedule from a prompt like “every weekday at 9AM” or “first Monday of each month at noon”.

   When something happens

   Condition mode allows you to specify when the routine should check if a condition is met, and run if it has.

   1. Write the condition

   In the Watch for field, write a plain-language description of the condition that must be met for the routine to run, such as:

   • “When daily active users drop below 1000”
   • “When inventory for any SKU falls under 50 units”
   • “When the list of overdue invoices changes from the last check”

   Tip

   Conditions must reference data from your models. Conditions that don’t read any model data - like constant expressions - are not supported.

   2. Test the condition

   Click Test condition. JustAsk will attempt to create a query based on the condition and run it against your data.

   Successful check

   If JustAsk understands the condition and can create an executable query, a success message confirms the condition and shows whether the routine would run now.

   To see the exact query JustAsk runs when it executes the routine, click Preview query to open the query in a workbook.

   Failed check

   If the check fails, JustAsk displays a message that explains why it couldn’t create the condition, for example because the topic doesn’t contain the data the condition needs.

   When this occurs, modify the condition prompt and click Test condition to run the check again. The condition must pass validation before you can save the routine.

   Note

   A test may reuse a cached result from a recent, identical test. The routine’s scheduled checks always query your data directly, so a live check can return a different result than a cached test.

   3. Define when to check the condition

   Use the Checks and On sections to specify when the routine should check if the condition is met.

   Visual schedule builder

   Use the UI options (Daily, Weekly, etc.) to select a time period. Clicking Custom will prompt you to create a cron schedule.

   By default, schedules are set to send in the local timezone of the creating user’s computer. Use the Times are in drop down to change the timezone.

   Custom cron schedule (Advanced)

   In the Checks section, click Custom to create a cron schedule.

   A cron expression is a string that describes the individual details of a schedule:

   Order	Unit	Allowed values	Allowed special characters
   1	minute	0-59	* , - /
   2	hour	0-23	* , - /
   3	day of month	1-31	* , - / L W ?
   4	month	1-12 or JAN-DEC	* , - /
   5	day of week	1-7 or SUN-SAT	* , - / L W ?
   6	year	any	* , - /

   Using cron, you can create schedules like the following:

   At 9:00 AM every day

   0 9 ? * * *

   At 6:30AM on the last day of the month

   30 6 L * ? *

   At 8:45 AM every day, Monday through Friday

   45 8 ? * MON-FRI *

   JustAsk uses Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) syntax for cron expressions. Refer to the AWS documentation for more information. By default, the most frequent you can configure a schedule is hourly.

   Tip

   Click the icon in the Cron string field to generate a cron schedule from a prompt like “every weekday at 9AM” or “first Monday of each month at noon”.

3. Configure a destination

   In the Deliver to section, select Email, then select the users or user groups to notify.

4. Save the routine

   When finished, click Save routine.

Updating routines

JustAsk Agent

To update a routine from chat, you must have the routine open in split view. Click Edit routine on a routine card to open the routine’s edit form beside the chat, then ask the agent to modify specific settings. For example:

“Update the Weekly Signups routine to run at 9AM instead of 8AM”

The agent can only update the routine currently open in the split view — asking about a different routine in a general chat conversation won’t work, even if you created that routine earlier in the session.

When you ask the agent to update a routine, it renders an “update routine” chip in the conversation summarizing what changed. The edit form updates live to match the agent’s changes, so you can see your modifications take effect immediately.

JustAsk UI

1. Click Routines in the sidebar.
2. In the list of routines, click the icon next to the routine you want to update.
3. Select Edit routine.
4. Make your changes.
5. Save the routine.

Finding routines from chat

Ask the agent to find or list your routines, for example:

“What do I have scheduled?”

“Open the Monday routine that emails the growth team”

The agent returns up to 10 matching routines. Click the routine to open it in split view beside the chat.

Manually triggering routines

1. Click Routines in the sidebar.
2. In the list of routines, click the icon next to the routine you want to run.
3. Select Run now.

Deleting routines

Caution

Deleting a routine can’t be undone and will immediately stop the routine if it is currently running.

JustAsk Agent

The agent can delete a routine that is currently open in split view. To have the agent delete a routine:

1. Open the routine in split view by clicking Edit routine on the routine card in the conversation.
2. Ask the agent to delete the routine.
3. The agent will prompt you to confirm the deletion.
4. Click Delete routine.

JustAsk UI

1. Click Routines in the sidebar.
2. On the Routines page, locate the routine you want to delete.
3. Click the icon next to the routine.
4. Select Delete routine.
5. When prompted, confirm the deletion.

Best practices

• Be specific in your prompts — Clear, detailed instructions produce more consistent results across automated runs
• Test before scheduling — Run your prompt in the JustAsk Agent first to verify it produces the result you expect before creating a routine
• Choose appropriate schedules — Match the routine’s frequency to how often the underlying data changes and when the result is useful
• Review results regularly — Check routine output periodically to make sure it still meets your needs as your data and questions evolve

Limitations

• Routines cannot edit dashboards. They can only inspect and report on a dashboard referenced in a prompt.
• Each routine delivers to a single destination.