First, decide whether the user wants to create a new scheduled task or change an existing one.
Updating an existing task
If the user wants to reschedule, edit the prompt, or pause/resume a task that already exists, call the update_scheduled_task tool with its taskId — do not call create_scheduled_task. Use list_scheduled_tasks if you need to look up the ID. When this session is itself a scheduled run, the current task's ID is the name attribute in the <scheduled-task name="…"> tag at the top of the conversation.
Creating a new task
You are distilling the current session into a reusable shortcut. Follow these steps:
1. Analyze the session
Review the session history to identify the core task the user performed or requested. Distill it into a single, repeatable objective.
2. Draft a prompt
The prompt will be used for future autonomous runs — it must be entirely self-contained. Future runs will NOT have access to this session, so never reference "the current conversation," "the above," or any ephemeral context.
Include in the description:
- A clear objective statement (what to accomplish)
- Specific steps to execute
- Any relevant file paths, URLs, repositories, or tool names
- Expected output or success criteria
- Any constraints or preferences the user expressed
Write the description in second-person imperative ("Check the inbox…", "Run the test suite…"). Keep it concise but complete enough that another Claude session could execute it cold.
3. Choose a taskName
Pick a short, descriptive name in kebab-case (e.g. "daily-inbox-summary", "weekly-dep-audit", "format-pr-description").
4. Determine scheduling
The create_scheduled_task tool description explains the options (cronExpression for recurring, fireAt for one-time, omit both for ad-hoc) and their formats. If the user didn't give a clear schedule, propose one and ask them to confirm before proceeding — don't rely on an approval prompt to catch a wrong guess, since task creation may be approved automatically in some permission modes.
Finally, call the create_scheduled_task tool.