Scheduled Agents
Definition
A scheduled agent is a Macha agent attached to a scheduled (cron-style) trigger, so it runs itself on a recurring cron schedule — daily digests, periodic audits, routine checks — with no event or human needed to start it.
How it works
You add a scheduled trigger to an agent and set its schedule as a cron expression, such as 0 9 * * * for 9:00 every day, with at least 1 hour between runs. Macha's scheduler checks every 60 seconds for triggers that are due and fires the agent autonomously. Because there's no human in the loop, write actions execute immediately — so the agent's instructions need to be thorough enough to handle the run on its own.
Guardrails keep runaway schedules in check: a 24-runs-per-trigger daily cap, a max of 3 simultaneous scheduled runs per org, auto-disable after 5 consecutive errors (with an email), and a credit check before each run.
What it's good for
Scheduled agents turn Macha from reactive to proactive. Common uses: a morning summary of overnight tickets posted to Slack, a weekly audit of a queue, or a recurring data pull. Each run consumes credits like any agent response.
Frequently asked
How often can a scheduled agent run?
At most once per hour. The minimum interval is 1 hour and each trigger is capped at 24 runs per day to prevent runaway schedules.
Which plans include scheduled triggers?
Every plan. Scheduled triggers are included on every plan, with guardrails: a 1-hour minimum interval, 24 runs per trigger per day, 3 concurrent runs per organization, and auto-disable after 5 consecutive failures.
Related terms
Triggers (Macha)
In Macha, a trigger is the event that wakes an agent up without anyone typing — a new ticket, a Slack mention, an inbound webhook, or a schedule.
Autonomous Agent
An autonomous agent is an AI system that pursues a goal on its own — deciding what steps to take, calling tools, and acting on the results — with little or no step-by-step human direction..
AI Action Credits
Credits are the unit Macha's dashboard uses to meter usage behind your monthly ticket allowance.
AI Ticket Automation
AI ticket automation is the use of AI to handle support tickets automatically — classifying, tagging, routing, drafting replies, or fully resolving them — reducing the manual work agents do on each ticket..
Put these ideas to work
Macha is an AI agent layer that sits on top of the help desk you already run, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Front, Intercom, or Gorgias.
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