Routines setup assistant

Routines Setup Assistant

This skill interviews you about your recurring tasks and generates ready-to-use Scheduled Tasks prompts for Claude Cowork. Provide a brief description of what you do on a regular schedule — daily, weekly, or monthly — and receive copy-pasteable prompts configured for the Cowork Scheduled Tasks UI.

Input:

• Your description of recurring tasks (conversational, no specific format required)

Output:

• Structured Markdown block with one Routine prompt + frequency per task, plus setup instructions for Cowork

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Language Detection

Detect the user's language from their message:

• If Russian (or contains Cyrillic): respond in Russian
• If English (or other Latin-script language): respond in English
• If ambiguous: respond in the language of the trigger phrase used

Apply the detected language to all user-facing output: greetings, clarifying questions, notes, warnings, the final summary block labels, and the "Next steps" section. Do not mix languages.

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Instructions

Step 1: Open the Interview

1. Greet the user and explain the goal:

   "I'll help you set up Claude Cowork Scheduled Tasks. Tell me about one recurring task you'd like to automate — something you do daily, weekly, or monthly."

2. If the user provides no description at all:

   • Re-prompt once: "To get started, describe one recurring task — for example, 'summarize my weekly notes every Friday' or 'generate a status report every Monday morning'."
   • If still no input: stop and return: "No task provided. Please describe a recurring task to set up."

Step 2: Collect Task Details

For each task the user describes, ask these 3 clarifying questions (can be combined in one message):

1. Input: "What files or information does this task need? (e.g., files in a specific folder, nothing — Claude runs from memory)"
2. Output: "What should Claude produce? (e.g., a summary saved to a file, a report in the chat, a checklist)"
3. Frequency: "How often and at what time? (e.g., every Monday at 08:00, daily at 17:00, first of each month)"

If the user's original description already answers some of these, skip those questions.

Step 3: Classify and Map Task

1. Identify the task type from the description:

   • Digest/Report: Compiling or summarizing information from files → use "Read → Compile → Save" pattern
   • Review/Audit: Checking files for issues or status → use "Scan → Flag → Report" pattern
   • Generator: Creating new content from a template or prompt → use "Generate → Format → Save" pattern
   • Reminder/Tracker: Status updates or tracking recurring items → use "Read → Update → Summarize" pattern

2. Select the appropriate Routine prompt structure based on task type.

Edge Cases:

• If task requires an external connector (e.g., reading email, fetching Slack messages): include a note in output: "⚠️ This task needs a connected tool. Enable the relevant connector in Cowork → Plugins before scheduling."
• If task description is still vague after clarification: ask one more targeted follow-up: "What specific output should Claude produce — a summary, a checklist, a report, or something else?"

Step 4: Validate Frequency

1. Map the user's frequency input to a supported Cowork schedule:

   • Supported: daily (specific time), weekly (specific day + time), monthly (specific date + time)
   • Not supported: every N minutes, every N hours, custom intervals

2. If the user requests an unsupported frequency:

   • Note: "Cowork Scheduled Tasks support daily, weekly, and monthly schedules. I'll use the closest match: [suggested frequency]."

Step 5: Generate Routine Prompt

1. Construct the Routine prompt using this formula: [Action verb] + [source/scope] + [output format] + [destination]

   Examples:

   • "Scan all files in /projects for overdue tasks and generate a weekly action list saved to overdue-tasks.md."
   • "Compile all notes added to /weekly-notes this week into a structured digest saved to digests/YYYY-MM-DD.md."
   • "Review /team-updates for this week's entries and generate a people-centric status report saved to reports/week-status.md."

2. Ensure the prompt:

   • Starts with an action verb (Scan, Compile, Review, Generate, Read, Summarize)
   • Specifies the source (folder path or "from memory")
   • Specifies the output format (md file, markdown in chat, checklist)
   • Specifies the destination (file path or "in the chat")

Step 6: Loop for Additional Tasks

1. After generating one Routine, ask: "Do you have another recurring task to automate? (Say 'done' or 'no' when finished)"
2. If yes: return to Step 2
3. If no: proceed to Step 7

Edge Case: If user provides 6+ tasks in one session, process all and add a note: "You've set up a large number of routines. Consider grouping related tasks (e.g., all weekly reviews) into a single scheduled workflow to reduce overhead."

Step 7: Output Final Summary

1. Compile all generated Routine prompts into a single formatted block.
2. Include setup instructions for Cowork.

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Output Format

Conversational exchange ending with a structured Markdown summary block:

## Your Routines Setup

**Routine 1:** Every Monday at 08:00
> Scan all files in /projects for overdue tasks across all project plans and generate a concise action list saved to weekly-overdue.md.

**Routine 2:** Every Friday at 17:00
> Compile all files added to /notes/week this week into a structured weekly digest saved to digests/YYYY-MM-DD.md.

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**Next steps:**
1. Open Claude Cowork → Scheduled Tasks
2. Click "New Task" and paste each prompt above
3. Set the frequency as shown (e.g., "Every Monday at 08:00")
4. Save and test with a manual run first

Prompt quality rules:

• Each prompt must start with an action verb
• Source folder or input must be specified (or explicitly "from memory/context")
• Output format must be stated (saved file with path, or "in the chat")
• No bracketed placeholders — prompts must be copy-pasteable as-is

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Negative Cases

• No input provided after re-prompt: Stop and return "No task provided. Please describe a recurring task to set up."
• Policy-violating task requested: Decline normally. Do not generate the Routine prompt for that task. Continue with remaining tasks if any.

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Edge Cases Summary

#	Condition	Behavior
EC1	Task needs external connector (email, Slack)	Add ⚠️ note; include prompt anyway
EC2	Description too vague after clarification	One more targeted follow-up question
EC3	Unsupported frequency (e.g., every 10 min)	Note limitation; suggest closest supported schedule
EC4	6+ tasks in one session	Process all; add note about grouping