Schedules

Create recurring tasks that run on a cron schedule inside a box. You can schedule shell commands or agent prompts. Available on both box.schedule and ephemeralBox.schedule.

---

API

Schedule a shell command

Run a shell command on a cron schedule.

const schedule = await box.schedule.exec({
  cron: "* * * * *",
  command: ["bash", "-c", "date >> /workspace/home/cron.log && echo scheduled-ok"],
  webhookUrl: "https://example.com/hook",          // optional
  webhookHeaders: { Authorization: "Bearer ..." }, // optional
  folder: "/workspace/home",                       // optional, defaults to box.cwd
})

console.log(schedule.id)

Parameter	Required	Description
cron	Yes	5-field cron expression (UTC)
command	Yes	string[] — the command to run
webhookUrl	No	URL to notify when the scheduled run completes
webhookHeaders	No	Headers to include in the webhook request
folder	No	Working directory. Defaults to box.cwd; relative paths resolved against it

---

Schedule an agent prompt

Run an agent prompt on a cron schedule. Requires an agent to be configured on the box.

const schedule = await box.schedule.agent({
  cron: "0 9 * * *",
  prompt: "Run the test suite and fix any failures",
  model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",          // optional, overrides box's model
  timeout: 300_000,                     // optional, kill the run after 5 minutes
  options: { maxBudgetUsd: 1.0 },      // optional, provider-specific agent options
})

console.log(schedule.id)

Parameter	Required	Description
cron	Yes	5-field cron expression (UTC)
prompt	Yes	The prompt to send to the agent
folder	No	Working directory. Defaults to box.cwd; relative paths resolved against it
model	No	Override the box’s default model for this schedule
options	No	Provider-specific agent options (e.g. maxBudgetUsd, effort, systemPrompt, maxTurns)
timeout	No	Timeout in milliseconds — kills the run if exceeded
webhookUrl	No	URL to notify when the scheduled run completes
webhookHeaders	No	Headers to include in the webhook request

---

List schedules

Retrieve all non-deleted schedules for the current box.

const schedules = await box.schedule.list()

for (const s of schedules) {
  console.log(s.id, s.type, s.cron, s.status)
}

---

Get a schedule

Retrieve a single schedule by ID.

const schedule = await box.schedule.get("schedule_abc123")

console.log(schedule.type)   // "exec" | "prompt"
console.log(schedule.status) // "active" | "paused" | "deleted"
console.log(schedule.cron)

---

Pause a schedule

Pause an active schedule so it stops running.

await box.schedule.pause("schedule_abc123")

---

Resume a schedule

Resume a paused schedule.

await box.schedule.resume("schedule_abc123")

---

Delete a schedule

Remove a schedule so it no longer runs.

await box.schedule.delete("schedule_abc123")

---

Schedule response

Most schedule methods return a Schedule object:

interface Schedule {
  id: string
  box_id: string
  type: "exec" | "prompt"
  cron: string
  command?: string[]         // present when type is "exec"
  prompt?: string            // present when type is "prompt"
  folder?: string
  model?: string
  agent_options?: Record<string, unknown>
  timeout?: number
  status: "active" | "paused" | "deleted"
  webhook_url?: string
  webhook_headers?: Record<string, string>
  last_run_at?: number
  last_run_status?: "completed" | "failed" | "skipped"
  last_run_id?: string
  total_runs: number
  total_failures: number
  created_at: number
  updated_at: number
}

---

Cron syntax

Schedules use standard 5-field cron expressions (UTC):

┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6, Sun=0)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Expression	Description
* * * * *	Every minute
0 * * * *	Every hour
0 9 * * *	Daily at 9:00 AM
0 9 * * 1-5	Weekdays at 9:00 AM
*/5 * * * *	Every 5 minutes

---

Examples

Periodic health check

Schedule a command that checks whether your service is healthy.

import { Agent, Box } from "@upstash/box"

const box = await Box.create({ runtime: "node" })

await box.schedule.exec({
  cron: "*/5 * * * *",
  command: ["bash", "-c", "curl -sf http://localhost:3000/health || echo UNHEALTHY >> /workspace/home/health.log"],
})

Daily code review agent

Schedule an agent to review recent changes every morning.

import { Agent, Box } from "@upstash/box"

const box = await Box.create({
  runtime: "node",
  agent: {
    harness: Agent.ClaudeCode,
    model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
    apiKey: process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY,
  },
  git: { token: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN },
})

await box.git.clone({ repo: "github.com/your-org/your-repo" })

await box.schedule.agent({
  cron: "0 9 * * 1-5",
  prompt: "Pull latest changes, review the last 24h of commits, and open issues for any bugs or style violations",
  timeout: 600_000,
  options: { maxBudgetUsd: 2.0, effort: "high" },
})

Manage schedules

List active schedules, pause, resume, and clean up ones you no longer need.

const schedules = await box.schedule.list()

for (const s of schedules) {
  console.log(`${s.id} — ${s.type} — ${s.cron} — ${s.status}`)
}

// Pause a schedule
await box.schedule.pause(schedules[0].id)

// Resume it later
await box.schedule.resume(schedules[0].id)

// Remove a specific schedule
await box.schedule.delete(schedules[0].id)