Schedule triggers

Scheduled triggers allow users to automate and standardize business processes by enabling agents to perform actions in the background. Each user of an agent can specify when they want that agent to run, such as daily or weekly.

By systematically defining and using these triggers within the Agent builder, you can ensure your agents operate effectively, automating essential processes and improving overall productivity.

Users

Schedule trigger components

Schedule triggers involve three parts:

• Agent builder: build an agent that can run in the background.
• Agent library: activate, review, and manage your scheduled agents from the Active agents table.
• Admin console: control who can schedule agents and which tools can run without user confirmation.

Configure agents to run on a schedule

To run an agent on a schedule, first make sure the agent is designed to work in the background.

A scheduled agent should produce a clear output, such as sending a Slack message, creating or updating a record, drafting an email, or writing results to another destination. Agents that only return a conversational response are less suitable for background execution.

Auto mode vs. Workflow mode

The scheduling experience differs depending on which mode your agent uses:

	Auto mode	Workflow mode
How it works	You describe the goal and tools; Glean decides how to accomplish it	You design the full execution flow step by step in a visual builder
Where you configure the schedule	Configure directly in the Agent builder during setup	Enable in the trigger step, then activate after publishing
Post-publish activation	No extra step. The schedule is set before publishing	Go to the agent in the Agent library and click Set schedule
Best for	Flexible tasks, faster setup, or goal-driven execution that may vary case by case	Deterministic logic, complex branching, or strict control over execution

tip

Start with auto mode unless you already know the exact sequence of tools and it should not vary across use cases. Use workflow mode when you need a prescribed, repeatable sequence with fine-grained control.

Set up a schedule trigger for Auto mode agents

1. Create an agent in the Agent builder using Auto mode.
2. Select Triggers.
3. Select On a schedule for the field When should the agent run?.
4. Add the scheduling details.

note

You can set a schedule for yourself. Others can customize the schedule when the agent is available to them.

5. Make sure the agent has a clear outcome for background runs.

6. Click Save and publish the agent.

   

The agent is ready to run on the schedule you configured. No additional activation step is required.

Set up a schedule trigger for Workflow mode agents

1. Create or open an agent in Workflow mode.
2. In the trigger step, select Input form trigger.
3. Select the Allow agent to run on a schedule checkbox under Set schedule.
   
4. Build the workflow you want the agent to run on a recurring basis.
5. Save and publish the agent.
6. After the agent is published, schedule and activate the agent.

Schedule and activate a workflow mode agent

After you publish a workflow mode agent with schedule support, Glean opens the agent in the agent library so you can finish setup.

After a workflow mode agent with schedule support is published, you must set the schedule details and activate the agent before it begins running.

1. Go to a schedulable agent in the Agent library.
2. Under When does it run?, review the default schedule. To change it, click Edit.
   
3. In Edit when this agent runs, set the start date, time, time zone, and how often the agent repeats, then click Save.
   
4. Click Activate agent to start the scheduled runs.

Changes that deactivate subscriptions

Routine edits do not interrupt existing subscriptions. For example, updating an input field description or changing a default value does not require subscribers to set the schedule again.

Some configuration changes pause all existing subscriptions. In these cases, each subscriber must manually re-activate the agent to resume scheduled runs.

These changes include:

• Adding a new required input field.
• Renaming an existing required input field.
• Changing the trigger type away from Input form.
• Removing a user's access to the agent.
• Turning off the schedule-enabled setting.
• Deactivating the agent.

tip

If a background run reaches a tool that still requires user confirmation, Glean emails the subscriber instead of silently skipping that step.

Managing and monitoring agents

All agents you have activated are visible and manageable in the Active tab in the left navigation. For each agent, you can see its name, trigger, and author, and use the Active toggle to turn scheduled runs on or off.

To manage an agent, open the more options (⋮) menu next to it. From here you can:

• Run now: run the agent immediately.

• Remove trigger: stop the agent from running automatically.

• Delete: delete the agent.

  

To review past runs, go to Chat in the left navigation. You can quickly scan results, open full run details in one click, and use filters to see only Glean chats or runs from a specific agent.

note

The exact time of execution may vary depending on how many other agents are scheduled to run at the same time. If you notice a significant delay, contact Glean support.

Admin

Managing access to scheduled triggers

By default, scheduled triggers are turned off. In Admin console → Platform → Agents → Scheduled triggers, admins can turn the feature on for everyone or limit access to selected users and IdP groups.

If you select On for some users, you can grant access to:

• Individual users

• Supported IdP groups from Google Groups and Azure AD / Entra ID

Members of selected groups inherit access to agent scheduling. If group membership changes in your identity provider, Glean updates access through the existing sync behavior. This setting controls who can access agent scheduling. It does not change whether the user can create, share or publish agents, which are set under Users and permissions.

Add users or groups

To add users or groups:

1. In Glean, go to Admin console → Platform → Agents → Scheduled triggers.

2. Select On for some users.

3. Add the users (Add users) or supported IdP groups (Add groups) that you want to allow to schedule agents. Your changes are saved automatically.

   
   

Review or remove access

To review access, open the Scheduled triggers permissions list and check the users and groups that currently have access to agent scheduling. To remove access, delete the user or group from the list. After you remove a group, its members no longer inherit access through that group.

Users who don't have access won't see the option to schedule agents.

Enabling tools to run without user confirmation

• An admin-level Run without user confirmation setting makes a write tool eligible for scheduled or background use. The Agent builder must also configure the relevant step to run without confirmation. Changing an admin default does not update existing Agents.
• To change the configuration, go to Tools → Tools → Configuration → Enable tools → Edit settings → Agents → Run without user confirmation and select Yes.
• By default, read-only tools run without user confirmation. Some tools using LLM to predict inputs always ask for confirmation to ensure accuracy.

The connector-level setting can apply to all tools in that connector. Custom actions and MCP tools use individual action or tool policies, so admins can opt individual tools in or out without disabling the entire integration.

Write-tool defaults for scheduled Agents

Tool source	New actions or tools	Existing actions or tools
Custom execute actions	Default to Yes, making them eligible for no-confirmation execution.	Unset action-level values inherit Yes. Explicit or otherwise persisted values remain unchanged. Some older actions with the previous derived No already persisted remain No until an admin changes them.
MCP write tools	Individual tools from newly configured servers default to Allowed.	Stored per-tool Allowed or Not allowed policies remain unchanged. An unset policy derives Allowed from the new default.

These admin settings are only one part of the configuration. The action or tool must also be included in the Agent with the appropriate no-confirmation behavior enabled. Newly added action packs and MCP servers start with no-confirmation selections unchecked in Agent Builder, while saved selections are preserved. Actions that still require confirmation cannot complete in a scheduled or background run without an available approval flow.

These defaults don't change Assistant or general-chat confirmation behavior, native first-party write-tool defaults, redirect actions, or existing Agent step settings.

Security and limitations

Scheduled runs also have a maximum end-to-end execution time. Design scheduled agents to finish within that window. For the current limit and strategies to stay within it, see Scheduled run limits.

Any agent creator can configure an agent to run on a schedule, but only users with scheduled trigger access can activate scheduled runs.

Rate limits apply to prevent overload:

• A maximum of 10 active background agents can be scheduled per user.
• If you exceed this limit, remove an agent from the Active agents table before setting a schedule for another one.

note

If you need to run more than 10 active background agents, reach out to the Glean team.

For privacy and security, background agents can use only the tools or app capabilities that your admins have allowed to run without user confirmation.

Troubleshooting

Schedule visibility

If a user can't see the scheduling option in Agent builder, check the following. All requirements must be met for the option to appear.

Requirement	Where to check
The agent uses Workflow mode with an Input form trigger, or Auto mode	Open the agent in Agent builder and review the trigger configuration.
Scheduled triggers is turned on for the user (or for everyone) in the Admin console	Admin console → Platform → Agents → Scheduled triggers
If the admin selected On for some teammates, the user's email or IDP group is in the allowlist	Admin console → Platform → Agents → Scheduled triggers permissions list

note

The scheduling option is for each user. Two people editing the same agent can see different options depending on their individual access. If one user can see Allow agent to run on a schedule but another cannot, verify that both users appear in the Scheduled triggers permissions list.

In Workflow mode, the Allow agent to run on a schedule checkbox only appears inside the Input form trigger configuration. If the agent uses a different trigger type (such as Chat message), the checkbox is not shown. Switch the trigger to Input form to enable scheduling.