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Automations

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Automations run an AI prompt for you on a schedule. Write the prompt once, choose when it runs and where the answer lands, and Raycast AI does the rest. Wake up to a plan for the week every Monday, or get a summary of your unread messages each evening. Each run is a normal AI Chat message, so it can use your AI Extensions, MCP servers, and Skills just like you would.

Get Started

  1. Open Settings → AI → Automations.
  2. Click Create Automation and choose Create Manually.
  3. Give it a name and icon, pick the AI model, and choose whether to run in a New Chat or pick an existing chat to continue.
  4. Write the prompt. Type @ to mention an AI Extension, MCP server, or Skill, just like in AI Chat.
  5. Pick a schedule: Once, Hourly, or Daily.
  6. Click Save Automation.

You can also search Create Automation in Root Search to open the same form, or Manage Automations to jump to the list.

Prefer to describe it in plain language? Choose Create with AI instead, or type @automations in any chat and ask. Raycast AI drafts the schedule, destination, and prompt, then asks you to confirm before it's saved.

Examples

Not sure where to start? The Browse Examples library on the Automations settings page give you ready-made starting points, such as keeping your meeting memory up to date or reviewing your projects. Pick one and Raycast opens AI Chat with the setup ready for you to adjust.

Schedules

Automations run on your local device time. Pick whichever pattern fits:

  • Once: Set a date and time. The automation runs at that moment and is removed from your list afterwards.
  • Hourly: Runs Every 1 to 24 hours. Use the Days chips to limit it to certain days of the week.
  • Daily: Runs At a time you choose, on the Days you tick. Pick just Monday for a weekly automation, or Monday to Friday for weekdays.

If an automation was created with a schedule that doesn't fit these patterns, for example one Raycast AI set up from a more complex request, the form shows a Custom option with the underlying cron expression instead.

Where Results Go

Every run is delivered as a message in AI Chat, marked Automated by the automation's name so you can tell it apart from your own messages.

  • New Chat creates a fresh chat for each run, titled after the automation. Good for reports you want to keep separate.
  • An existing chat adds each run to the same conversation, so the model has the history of previous runs as context. Good for anything cumulative, like tracking a project over time.

If the target chat is later deleted, the next run starts a new chat and the automation switches to it. If the target chat is archived, runs are skipped until you unarchive it.

How Runs Work

Raycast checks for due automations every minute while it's running, so your Mac or PC needs to be awake with Raycast open for a run to happen on time. Runs use the target chat's model unless the automation sets its own, and follow the chat's normal permission settings for tools. If a tool needs your approval or the model asks a question, the run pauses and waits for you, the same as any other chat.

Turn on Prevent Sleep During AI Runs in Settings → AI → Chat to keep your computer awake while a run is in progress, so long automations finish.

A few things Raycast handles for you:

  • Missed runs: If Raycast wasn't running at the scheduled time, the automation runs once at the next launch, however long ago it was due. Several missed occurrences fold into that single run, and the automation then carries on from its next scheduled time.
  • Busy chats: If the target chat is already generating a response, the automation waits until the chat is idle and then runs. Occurrences that come due while it waits fold into that one run, so you never get a backlog.
  • No chained automations: An automation can't create or change other automations while it runs.

Automations live on the device where you created them and don't sync through Cloud Sync. They run on that device only, and each device holds up to 20 automations.

Notifications

Turn on Background Notifications in Settings → AI to get a system notification when an automation finishes, needs your approval to run a tool, or is waiting on an answer from you. Notifications aren't shown if you're already looking at that chat.

Manage Automations

Settings → AI → Automations lists every automation with its schedule. Hover the next to an automation's name to see its next run, or how long it has been overdue. Click on an automation to:

  • Edit Automation: Change the name, prompt, schedule, destination, or model.
  • Run Automation Now: Trigger it immediately and open the chat it runs in. This is the quickest way to test a new prompt. If the chat is busy, the request is kept, even across a restart, and runs as soon as the chat is idle.
  • Disable Automation / Enable Automation: Pause it without losing the setup. Disabled automations appear dimmed with no next run.
  • Delete Automation: Remove it for good. Raycast asks you to confirm.

You can do the same from a chat by asking the @automations AI Extension to list, update, or delete your automations.

Credits

Each run uses the model it's set to, and is billed like any other message. Raycast AI models use your AI credits, while models from Bring Your Own Subscription, Bring Your Own Key, Custom Providers, or Local Models follow that provider's usage instead. Any tools the prompt uses count too, so a long-running automation with several tool calls uses more than a short one.

FAQ

Troubleshooting

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