A scheduled task is a saved prompt + cadence + target chat mode. LADLE's cron process (Vercel-scheduled at 09:00 UTC daily) claims due tasks, executes each through a one-shot Anthropic call, and persists the user + assistant messages into the target chat. Failures are back-off retried once; second failures mark the task errored and surface the error in the task list.
Cadence options
Three modes are supported at creation; the next_run_at is computed from your chosen cadence + hour + timezone.
Target chat modes
Where the run's messages land depends on the target-mode chosen at task creation. Two options; pick the one that matches your reading habit.
The execution model
The Vercel cron config in vercel.json fires GET /api/cron/scheduled at 09:00 UTC daily. The handler claims up to 20 due tasks (enabled=true, next_run_at≤now, status≠running), flips each to status=running to prevent concurrent double-runs, executes the prompt through anthropic.messages.create with claude-haiku-4-5 (light tier, max 1024 tokens), persists the user + assistant messages, then updates status=idle + last_run_at + next_run_at.
Retry and error handling
If a run throws, next_run_at is set to now + 1h (back-off) and status stays idle for the retry. If the retry also fails, status becomes errored and error_message is set to the exception message. Errored tasks stop running until the user manually re-enables them (which resets status to idle + advances next_run_at to the normal cadence).
What you see in the task list
GET /api/app/scheduled returns every task with its current state.
Per-plan limits
Scheduled tasks are counted per user, per plan. Errored + disabled tasks do not count against the cap; only active enabled tasks do.
When scheduled tasks are worth it
Daily standup: 'What's on my calendar today, and what should I focus on given last week's priorities?' — weekdays, 08:00. Monday planning: 'Draft this week's plan from these three anchor projects.' — weekly, Mon 07:30. Weekly writing prompt: 'Give me one non-obvious writing prompt on my current beat.' — weekly, Sun 20:00. Not appropriate for: things that need current-moment context you haven't captured in the prompt; things that need to write outside LADLE (email, calendar events). LADLE does not run tools during scheduled execution — the task is a plain one-shot call.
Docs: Memory and instructions