Schedule your RPA app with a Time Trigger

Time Trigger lets you schedule your RPA apps to run automatically at specific times—no manual launch needed. Whether it’s a one-time run, a repeating task, or a custom cron schedule, your app will execute exactly when you want it to. This feature is ideal for workflows that need to run consistently, like sending daily reports, syncing data every hour, or scraping websites every Monday morning.

When the set time arrives, Octoparse AI checks if the assigned bot or device is available. If it is, the app starts automatically. If not, and queueing is enabled, the task will wait its turn. Otherwise, the run will be skipped.

With Time Triggers, you can keep your automations running on time—even when you're not around. It’s a simple way to make your workflows more reliable, efficient, and hands-free.

How to Set Up a Time Trigger

1. Go to the Trigger tab on the left from the homepage. Click + New Trigger and choose Time Trigger.

2. Fill in the Basic Settings and expand Advanced Settings (if needed).

3. Check Enable Trigger, and click Confirm to activate the trigger.

If you're interested in starting automations based on external events rather than schedule, you might want to look into Webhook triggers instead. You can learn more about those in this guide.

Basic Settings

The basic settings cover everything you need to get a time trigger up and running. Here's what each field does:

Parameter	Description
Trigger name	Give your trigger a name that's easy to recognize and understand.
Select a bot	Choose how to run the app: Main client: Use the client you’re currently working on Bot ID: Assign the task to a specific bot Random: Let the system pick any available bot
Select an app	Choose the app to run. You can also select which version to use: Latest release: Runs the most recently published version Draft version: Uses the most recently saved changes, even if they haven't been published yet We recommend using the draft version if you want your automation to stay up-to-date with ongoing edits.
Schedule	Decide when and how often your app should run: Once: A single execution at a set time Repeat: Choose from interval-based, daily, weekly, or monthly execution Cron expression: For more advanced scheduling using cron syntax Examples `15 10 ? * MON-FRI` → Runs at 10:15 AM every weekday `/30 9-17 * ?` → Runs every 30 minutes between 9 AM and 5 PM Queue execution: If this option is enabled, the app will be placed in a queue if the selected bot or device is currently busy. If not enabled, the task will be skipped if no bot is available at the scheduled time.

Advanced Settings

Parameter	Description
Maximum runtime	This defines the longest amount of time a task is allowed to run. If the task goes over this limit, it will be stopped automatically. Leave it blank if you don’t want to set a time limit.
Exception alert	If this is turned on, you’ll receive an email notification whenever a scheduled run fails to execute. You can configure who receives these alerts under Settings > Exception Alert.

Notes

Queue execution is highly recommended for high-frequency tasks or tasks with long or unpredictable runtimes. It ensures your task still runs when a bot becomes available.
If Queue execution is disabled, and no bot is available at the scheduled time, the task will be skipped without retry.
Queueing too many tasks without limits may result in a backlog. Consider pairing with maximum runtime or limiting trigger frequency to avoid system overload.
Your device must remain online, and the client must be running, for the trigger to execute properly.
Time-based triggers follow the local system time unless specified otherwise.