Scheduled Tasks & Loops

Scheduled tasks and loops let MBAgent work automatically on schedule, without you triggering manually each time. This article details how to configure.

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1. What Is a Scheduled Task?

Scheduled Task = an MBAgent task auto-triggered at a specific time or interval.

Trigger Method	Use Scenario
Cron expression	9 AM daily, Monday weekly, 1st of every month, etc.
Fixed interval	Every 30 minutes, every 2 hours, every 5 seconds
Workspace watcher	Triggered by file changes
Manual trigger	Not scheduled, but pre-defined

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2. Create a Scheduled Task

Step 1: Open Scheduled Task Management

In MBAgent main UI, click "Task" → "Scheduled Task" tab, or input slash command:

/schedule list

Displays all current scheduled tasks.

Step 2: New Task

Click the "+" button; the new window pops up:

New Scheduled Task

Task name:________________

Task description:____________________________

Trigger method:○ Cron○ Fixed interval○ Watcher

Cron expression:________________

[Tip: 0 9 * * * means every day at 9 AM]

Mbbrowser environment: Auto / Specify / Tag

Concurrency: 5

Timeout: 300 seconds

Failure handling:○ Retry 3 times○ Skip○ Abort

Step 3: Fill in Task Description

The task description is the prompt that AI receives each time the scheduled task executes. For example:

Aggregate today's order count for all stores, sort by amount descending,
write to reports/orders-{YYYYMMDD}.xlsx.
If there are anomalies (order amount > 10000 or < 1),
send email to alerts@company.com.

Step 4: Choose Trigger Method

1. Cron Expression

The most common way. Cron expression syntax:

*  *  *  *  *
│  │  │  │  │
│  │  │  │  └── Day of week (0-7, 0=Sunday)
│  │  │  └───── Month (1-12)
│  │  └─────── Day (1-31)
│  └────────── Hour (0-23)
└───────────── Minute (0-59)

Common examples:

Cron	Meaning
0 9 * * *	Every day 9:00
0 9 * * 1-5	Weekdays 9:00
0 0 1 * *	1st of every month 0:00
*/30 * * * *	Every 30 minutes
0 */2 * * *	Every 2 hours
0 18 * * 5	Every Friday 18:00
0 0 1 1 *	Every January 1st 0:00

2. Fixed Interval

Set how often to execute:

Field	Description
Interval value	Number
Interval unit	Second / Minute / Hour / Day

E.g.: execute once every 30 minutes.

3. Workspace Watcher (watchWorkspace)

Trigger when specified folder content changes:

Field	Description
Watch path	Which folder to watch
Event type	New file / Modified file / Deleted file
File filter	Filename pattern (e.g. *.xlsx)

Use scenarios:

• Auto-process when new order files arrive
• Auto re-analyze when data files update

Step 5: Configure Runtime Environment

• Mbbrowser environment: Whether Mbbrowser browser needs to be opened
• Concurrency: Parallelism across multiple environments
• Timeout: Max duration per execution
• Failure handling: How to handle failure

Step 6: Save

Click "Save"; the scheduled task appears in the task list with status "Not enabled".

Step 7: Enable

Select the task and click the "Enable" button. MBAgent will execute automatically per plan.

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3. Manage Scheduled Tasks

View All Scheduled Tasks

/schedule list

Enable / Pause

• Enable: Select task → click "Enable" button
• Pause: Select task → click "Pause" button (config preserved but not executed)

Delete Task

1. Select task
2. Click "Delete" button
3. Confirm deletion

View Execution History

1. Select task
2. Click "History" tab
3. Displays per execution: trigger time / status / duration / result

Immediate Execution (Manual Trigger)

1. Select task
2. Click "Run Immediately" button

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4. MBAgent Daemon

Daemon = a background resident process that lets scheduled tasks execute per plan even if you haven't actively started MBAgent. mbAgent's daemon supports two background hosts:

• macOS: launchd (write to ~/Library/LaunchAgents/sh.mbagent.scheduler.plist)
• Linux: systemd --user (write to ~/.config/systemd/user/mbagent-scheduler.service)

Platform Support Status

Platform	Status	Description
macOS	✅ Supported	Auto launchctl bootstrap gui/$UID on install
Linux	✅ Supported	Generate unit file; user needs to run systemctl --user enable --now themselves
Windows	⏳ Not yet supported	Code explicitly marks "Windows daemon support is deferred"; PID detection in the schedules module returns false directly on Windows, with no launchd / SCM / Windows Service registration branch

Install Method (macOS / Linux)

1. Go to "Settings → Scheduled Tasks"
2. Click "Install Daemon" button
3. macOS auto launchctl bootstrap; Linux writes the unit file to ~/.config/systemd/user/ and prompts the systemctl --user enable --now command

Daemon Status

MBAgent Scheduler daemon
  Status: Running
  PID: 12345
  pidfile: ~/.local/share/mbagent/scheduler.pid
  Loaded tasks: 12

Uninstall Daemon

1. Go to "Settings → Scheduled Tasks"
2. Click "Uninstall Daemon" button
3. macOS runs launchctl bootprint gui/$UID sh.mbagent.scheduler; Linux gives the systemctl --user disable --now command

WARNING

Pause all scheduled tasks before uninstall, otherwise tasks will fail after uninstall.

NOTE

Windows users: Currently, if you need "unattended" execution of scheduled tasks, you still need to keep the MBAgent main process running. For long-term unattended execution, you can use Windows Task Scheduler to package mbagent schedule tick into a startup auto-run scheduled task (this is a workaround, not mbAgent Daemon).

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5. Loop Monitoring (More Advanced)

Loop Task = a simplified version of scheduled task that repeatedly executes at fixed intervals.

Difference from Scheduled Task

Dimension	Scheduled Task	Loop Task
Trigger time	Exact time point	Fixed interval
Config complexity	High (cron expression)	Low (interval value)
Suited scenario	Daily 9 AM run report	Every 30 min check inventory
Failure handling	Detailed	Simple

Create a Loop Task

1. Open task panel
2. Select "Loop Task" when creating new task
3. Set:
   • Interval (every X seconds/minutes/hours)
   • End condition (stop after N runs / never stop)
4. Save and enable

Typical Loop Tasks

• Every 30 minutes check store inventory, notify when below threshold
• Every hour check if Mbbrowser account Token has expired
• Every 5 minutes check email for new orders
• Continuously monitor a webpage for changes

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6. Long-Term Goal

Long-term Goal = let MBAgent iterate autonomously around a long-term goal, until the goal is complete or you manually terminate.

Create a Long-term Goal

1. Input slash command in MBAgent main UI:

   /goal start Continuously optimize the conversion rate of these 20 stores, output weekly analysis report

2. MBAgent accepts the goal and starts self-planning:
   • Week 1: Collect baseline data
   • Week 2: Identify low-conversion stores
   • Week 3: Formulate optimization plan
   • Continuous iteration...

View Long-term Goal Status

/goal status

Displays:

Goal #1 - Continuously optimize 20-store conversion rate
  Status: In progress
  Running for: 14 days
  Current phase: Week 3 (Optimization plan formulation)
  Completion: 45%
  Next evaluation: 2026-10-01

Stop Long-term Goal

/goal stop

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7. Research Task

Research Task = MBAgent deeply researches a topic and outputs a structured report.

Create a Research Task

/research start Research the impact of 2026 Amazon new policies on small sellers

Research Flow

[1] Break down research topic
    - Sub-topic 1: Full text interpretation of new policy
    - Sub-topic 2: Impact on small sellers
    - Sub-topic 3: Coping strategies
    - Sub-topic 4: Industry cases
    ↓
[2] Collect materials in parallel
    - Call Mbbrowser RAG knowledge base
    - Call WebSearch
    - Call WebFetch
    ↓
[3] Analyze and synthesize
    - Extract key information
    - Verify facts
    - Summarize viewpoints
    ↓
[4] Output report
    - Structured Markdown
    - Cite sources
    - Include charts

View Research Report

1. Go to "Research" sidebar
2. Select completed research task
3. View report

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8. Best Practices

Time Selection

✅ Recommended:

• Business off-peak hours (early morning, late night)
• Before Mbbrowser account quota refresh (end of month)
• Mbbrowser browser idle

❌ Avoid:

• Peak hours (daytime working hours)
• Multiple task overlap (CPU / memory too high)
• Cross-timezone sensitive times (e.g. Double 11)

Task Decomposition

✅ Good practice:

• Split large tasks into multiple small scheduled tasks
• Each task focuses on one goal
• Tasks don't depend on each other

❌ Bad practice:

• One big task does too much
• Strong task dependencies (A's failure leads to B's failure)

Error Handling

• ✅ Configure alert notifications (send email / WeChat on failure)
• ✅ Set reasonable timeout (don't wait too long)
• ✅ Keep logs on failure (easier troubleshooting)

Resource Management

• ✅ Limit concurrency (don't let multiple tasks max out CPU)
• ✅ Monitor resource usage (resource monitor in task panel)
• ✅ Important tasks use independent Daemon / independent process (avoid being affected by other tasks; Windows currently has no Daemon, can use independent MBAgent instance to host important tasks)

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9. Typical Scenarios

Scenario 1: Daily Sales Report

Task name: Daily sales report
Trigger: Cron 0 9 * * * (every day 9 AM)
Description: Aggregate yesterday's order data from all stores, generate daily report, write to reports/daily-{YYYYMMDD}.xlsx,
             and send the daily report content to wechat-bot.

Scenario 2: Inventory Monitoring

Task name: Inventory monitoring
Trigger: Fixed interval 30 minutes
Description: Check inventory of all stores, record those below 10 pieces to alerts/low-stock-{YYYYMMDD}.csv,
             and email the operations team.
End condition: Run forever

Scenario 3: Account Health Patrol

Task name: Account health patrol
Trigger: Cron 0 */6 * * * (every 6 hours)
Description: Check login status, cookie integrity, IP anomalies for all Mbbrowser accounts,
             output report to health-check/{YYYYMMDD-HH}.json.
Failure handling: Retry 3 times then skip

Scenario 4: Auto Data Backup

Task name: Data backup
Trigger: Cron 0 3 * * * (every day 3 AM)
Description: Backup AI memory bank, KMS, all sessions to backup/{YYYYMMDD}/.
End condition: Run forever

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10. FAQ

Q1: Scheduled task didn't trigger as expected

Troubleshoot:

1. Check if cron expression is correct
2. Check if MBAgent is running (Windows currently doesn't support Daemon, must keep main process running; macOS/Linux with Daemon installed can trigger unattended)
3. Check error info in task history
4. Confirm system time is correct

Q2: Tasks don't execute when computer sleeps

Solutions:

1. macOS / Linux: Install Daemon (let launchd / systemd-user wake tasks)
2. Windows: Currently Daemon not supported; use Windows Task Scheduler + mbagent schedule tick workaround (see NOTE at end of section 4 MBAgent Daemon)
3. Set computer not to sleep (Control Panel → Power)
4. Set wake timers

Q3: Tasks keep failing

Troubleshoot:

1. Run alone once to see error info
2. Check if Mbbrowser browser is online
3. Check network connection
4. Simplify task description, troubleshoot step by step

Q4: Scheduled tasks consume too many Tokens

Solutions:

1. Use cheaper model (gpt-5-mini)
2. Close "show thinking process"
3. Shorten task description
4. Reduce execution frequency

Q5: Can scheduled tasks be synced across multiple computers?

Cloud sync not yet supported. Recommend:

1. Configure separately on each computer
2. Or use a unified task management file + Git sync

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Next: Tips & Best Practices → Veteran user experience summary.