Create an automation

An automation runs an agent without anyone in the chat. Before you add a trigger, give the agent the instructions, tools, and permissions it needs to finish on its own. For the underlying concept, see Automations.

Prepare the agent

An unattended run cannot ask you anything. Three parts of the agent have to carry what you would have carried in the chat.

1. Put the answers in the instructions

Open Sidebar > Agents > <agent name> and find Instructions in the Configuration column. Click the AGENTS.md row and write down the choices the agent would otherwise ask you about: which source to read, which format to produce, what to do when the data is missing, and where the result goes. Click Save.

Write your agent's instructions covers the writing itself.

2. Give the agent somewhere to put the result

Tell the agent where to leave its result.

Open Tools, click Add tool, and choose Third-party integration. In the Add app tools dialog pick the app you want to deliver into, choose the action under CHOOSE AN ACTION, and click Done. Then name that destination in the instructions.

If later runs need the result, tell the agent to save it in its folder.

3. Settle the permissions

Open Advanced, then the Permissions section, and set Policy:

Option	What it does
Allow reads	Reads run, writes ask. This is the default
Allow all	Every tool runs without asking
Ask	A human approves every tool call
Deny all	Every tool call is refused

warning

Under Ask, the run waits at the first tool call. Under Allow reads, it waits when the agent needs to write. Set permissions that let the automation finish before you attach a trigger.

There is no separate auto-approve list. When you select Always allow on a tool's approval card during a chat, Agenta writes that tool's own Permission, or adds a harness built-in to the harness allow list. Either way the grant reaches a trigger only after you commit it.

For the wider set of controls, see Control what an agent can do.

Commit a version

A trigger runs one pinned variant and revision, so it runs what you committed, not your current draft.

Click Commit in the Configuration header, keep New version, write a commit message, and click Commit.

Attach the trigger

Triggers live in Sidebar > Settings > Triggers, not in the agent's configuration.

• Scheduled runs runs the agent on a clock. Click Schedule. See Schedule an automation.
• Event triggers runs the agent when an event fires in a connected app. Click Subscribe. See Trigger an automation from an app.

Both forms carry a Version field that pins the variant and revision you choose, and a Run in playground button that runs the agent with the message you configured. The schedule form saves with Create schedule, the trigger form with Create.

Where automations are listed

Sidebar > Settings > Triggers lists every event trigger and scheduled run in the project, alongside the app connections they depend on.