Schedule
Automatically start workflows on a schedule
Node Type
Trigger
Category
Workflow Control
Icon
Clock
Overview
The Schedule node is a trigger node that automatically initiates workflow execution at specified intervals or times. This powerful automation tool enables recurring tasks, periodic reminders, and scheduled data processing without manual intervention. Perfect for maintenance tasks, regular reports, and time-based business processes.
Key Features
- • Flexible Scheduling: Support for minute, hour, day, week, and month intervals
- • Frequency Control: Customizable execution frequency for each timeframe
- • Automatic Execution: Workflows start automatically without manual triggers
- • Time Tracking: Provides execution timestamps for monitoring and logging
- • Precise Timing: Uses millisecond precision for accurate scheduling
- • Recurring Automation: Enables continuous, hands-off workflow execution
Prerequisites
Scheduling Requirements
Understanding of time-based workflow execution needs
Automation Planning
Strategic planning for recurring automation
Technical Requirements
System capabilities needed
Node Configuration
Required Fields
timeframe
The time unit for scheduling. Determines how often the workflow will execute. Options: minute (every X minutes), hour (every X hours), day (every X days), week (every X weeks), month (every X months).
frequency
How often to trigger within the chosen timeframe. For example, frequency=5 with timeframe=minute means every 5 minutes. Must be a positive integer.
Examples & Use Cases
Daily Report Generation
Generate and send reports every day
{
"timeframe": "day",
"frequency": 1
}Triggers once per day to generate daily reports, summaries, or analytics.
Hourly Data Sync
Synchronize data every 2 hours
{
"timeframe": "hour",
"frequency": 2
}Runs every 2 hours to sync data between systems, databases, or services.
Weekly Maintenance
Perform weekly cleanup or maintenance tasks
{
"timeframe": "week",
"frequency": 1
}Executes once per week for maintenance, cleanup, or weekly summaries.
Real-time Monitoring
Check system status every minute
{
"timeframe": "minute",
"frequency": 1
}Monitors systems, APIs, or services every minute for real-time alerting.
Best Practices
Do's
- • Choose appropriate frequencies to avoid overwhelming systems
- • Use executionTime for logging and tracking
- • Test schedules before deploying to production
- • Consider time zones and daylight saving time
- • Add error handling for scheduled workflows
- • Monitor scheduled workflow execution rates
Don'ts
- • Don't set extremely frequent schedules (every minute) unless necessary
- • Avoid overlapping executions if workflow takes longer than frequency
- • Don't forget to disable schedules during maintenance
- • Avoid scheduling during peak system load times
- • Don't ignore failed scheduled executions
- • Avoid hardcoding time-sensitive logic
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
Schedule Not Triggering
Symptoms: Workflow doesn't execute at expected times
Solution: Verify the schedule node is properly configured and enabled. Check that the workflow is published/active. Ensure the scheduler service is running.
Overlapping Executions
Symptoms: Multiple instances of the workflow run simultaneously
Solution: If your workflow takes longer than the schedule frequency, consider increasing the frequency or adding execution locks to prevent overlap.
Missed Executions
Symptoms: Schedule skips expected execution times
Solution: System may have been offline or overloaded. Implement logging to track missed executions and add retry logic if needed.