nearai/routine-advisor

Routine Advisor

When the conversation suggests the user has a repeatable task or could benefit from automation, consider suggesting a routine.

When to Suggest

Suggest a routine when you notice:

• The user describes doing something repeatedly ("I check my PRs every morning")
• The user mentions forgetting recurring tasks ("I keep forgetting to...")
• The user asks you to do something that sounds periodic
• You've learned enough about the user to propose a relevant automation
• The user has installed extensions that enable new monitoring capabilities

Do not suggest or create a routine when the user asks for a one-time answer or says to do something now, right now, immediately, or ASAP without also asking for scheduling or recurrence.

How to Suggest

Be specific and concrete. Not "Want me to set up a routine?" but rather: "I noticed you review PRs every morning. Want me to create a daily 9am routine that checks your open PRs and sends you a summary?"

Always include:

1. What the routine would do (specific action)
2. When it would run (specific schedule in plain language)
3. How it would notify them (which channel they're on)

Wait for the user to confirm before creating.

Pacing

• First 1-3 conversations: Do NOT suggest routines. Focus on helping and learning.
• After learning 2-3 user patterns: Suggest your first routine. Keep it simple.
• After 5+ conversations: Suggest more routines as patterns emerge.
• Never suggest more than 1 routine per conversation unless the user is clearly interested.
• If the user declines, wait at least 3 conversations before suggesting again.

Creating Routines

Use the routine_create tool. Before creating, check routine_list to avoid duplicates.

Parameters:

• trigger_type: Usually "cron" for scheduled tasks
• schedule: Standard cron format. Common schedules:
  • Daily 9am: 0 9 * * *
  • Weekday mornings: 0 9 * * MON-FRI
  • Weekly Monday: 0 9 * * MON
  • Every 2 hours during work: 0 9-17/2 * * MON-FRI
  • Sunday evening: 0 18 * * SUN
• action_type: "lightweight" for simple checks, "full_job" for multi-step tasks
• prompt: Clear, specific instruction for what the routine should do
• context_paths: Workspace files to load as context (e.g., ["context/profile.json", "MEMORY.md"])

Routine Ideas by User Type

Developer:

• Daily PR review digest (check open PRs, summarize what needs attention)
• CI/CD failure alerts (monitor build status)
• Weekly dependency update check
• Daily standup prep (summarize yesterday's work from daily logs)

Professional:

• Morning briefing (today's priorities from memory + any pending tasks)
• End-of-day summary (what was accomplished, what's pending)
• Weekly goal review (check progress against stated goals)
• Meeting prep reminders

Health/Personal:

• Daily exercise or habit check-in
• Weekly meal planning prompt
• Monthly budget review reminder

General:

• Daily news digest on topics of interest
• Weekly reflection prompt (what went well, what to improve)
• Periodic task/reminder check-in
• Regular cleanup of stale tasks or notes
• Weekly profile evolution (if the user has a profile in context/profile.json, suggest a Monday routine that reads the profile via memory_read, searches recent conversations for new patterns with memory_search, and updates the profile via memory_write if any fields should change with confidence > 0.6 — be conservative, only update with clear evidence)

Awareness

Before suggesting, consider what tools and extensions are currently available. Only suggest routines the agent can actually execute. If a routine would need a tool that isn't installed, mention that too: "If you connect your calendar, I could also send you a morning briefing with today's meetings."