Claude Desktop course
Course 2 · Lesson 6 of 7

Lesson 6 · about 25 minutes

Run a job with nobody watching

By the end, a job on your own computer writes the list of invoices due this week into a file every weekday morning, with nobody there to answer its questions. You'll have seen the list change when the data changes, and seen the job say so when the file is missing.

From lesson 5
Why put the count in a script instead of the Skill's instructions?

Claude reads written instructions afresh each time and judges each row, so a borderline row can go either way. A script applies the same rule to every row, every time. Today's job adds up invoices without a program, because at 8:00 nobody is there to approve one, so its prompt spells out exactly which rows count.

ThinkDelegation

What list do you want waiting every morning?

A scheduled job runs a saved prompt while you're somewhere else. It can't ask you what you meant, so the prompt has to say everything.

Think of invoices due, orders to ship, tickets with no reply, or stock below a minimum. It should come from a file on your computer. Using the practice job? Write "invoices due this week".

Which file, what counts, how the list should look, and what to do if the file isn't there. Every one of these goes into the prompt.

PredictDiligenceDiscernment

What happens when nobody is there?

Guess first. The reveals come from Anthropic's page on scheduled tasks.

The job runs at 8:00 in Manual mode and has to save a file. You're in a meeting. What happens?
Show the answer

The run waits. In Manual mode Claude asks before it changes a file, and the question sits in the run until someone opens it and answers. So you settle it when you create the task: the Accept edits mode lets the job save files in its own folder, and anything else still waits for a yes.

Lesson 3's task ran with your laptop shut. Today's job runs on your own computer at 8:00 on weekdays. On Friday the laptop sleeps until 14:00. What happens?
Show the answer

The 8:00 run is skipped. A job on your computer runs only while Claude Desktop is open and the computer is awake. When the computer wakes or the app opens, Desktop starts one catch-up run for the latest time it missed in the past seven days, so Friday's list arrives at 14:00.

Lesson 3's task ran in the cloud, which is why it didn't need your laptop. A cloud task can't read a folder on your computer, though.

Do

Test the job, then put it on a timer

Four steps, about 15 minutes. Tick each one when it's done.

ONCE, WHILE YOU WATCH The saved prompt which file, and only that file what counts: unpaid, due this week how the list looks, where it goes what to do if the file is missing The task's mode: Accept edits it may save files in its folder without asking anyone anything else still waits for someone to say yes EVERY WEEKDAY AT 8:00, NOBODY THERE Your computer app open, awake runs invoices.csv 10 invoices writes due-this-week.txt 5 invoices, €2,700.50 A question at 8:00 has nobody to answer it, so the run would wait until someone opens it.
What you're buildingYou settle the prompt and the permission once, while you watch. After that the job runs without you.

  1. Put the file in a folder of its own.

    Make a folder called invoices and save the file in it. The job reads this folder and nothing else.

    Or use the practice file

    A made-up accountant's list of 10 invoices, with a due date and paid or not for each. The job pretends today is Monday 2 November 2026.

  2. Test the job once while you watch.

    Open the invoices folder in the Code tab with the mode set to Manual, as you did in lesson 4. Paste the job and press Enter.

    Treat today as Monday 2026-11-02. Read invoices.csv in this folder. Use only that file and don't look for others. List the invoices that are not paid and are due this week, from today to Sunday, both days included. Leave out overdue ones. Sort them by due date, earliest first, one line each: invoice number, client, due date and amount in euros. End with one line: how many invoices and their total in euros. Save the list as due-this-week.txt in this folder, replacing any older copy. If invoices.csv is missing or has no invoices in it, write only "No list today: invoices.csv is missing or empty." to due-this-week.txt. Never make up numbers. Nobody is watching this run. Don't ask me anything and don't run any programs: read the file, do the sums yourself and write that one file.

    "Read invoices.csv" and "Use only that file" say where the data is, so Claude won't pick up a file with a similar name.

    "Not paid and are due this week" and "both days included" say what counts. Without them, Claude has to guess whether an invoice due today belongs on the list.

    "Sort them", "End with" and "Save the list as" say what the answer looks like and where you'll find it.

    "If invoices.csv is missing" and "Nobody is watching" cover the two things nobody will be there to tell it: what to do when the file is wrong, and not to stop for a question or for anything that needs your yes.

    Claude reads the file and asks one thing: may it create due-this-week.txt? Approve it, then open the file in your folder. At 8:00 nobody will be there to answer that question, so step 3 answers it in advance.

    Using your own file? Delete the first line so Claude uses the real date. If Claude asks you anything else, your prompt has a gap. Add the answer to the prompt and paste it again.

  3. Save it as a scheduled task on this computer.

    In the Code tab, click Scheduled in the sidebar (it may sit under More), then New task. If a small menu opens, choose Set up manually.

    Name it Invoices due this week, and paste the same job into the box under the name. Open Advanced settings, turn on Only on this computer, and choose your invoices folder as the Local folder. In the Trigger card, choose Weekdays and 8:00. In the toolbar of the box that holds the job, set the permission mode to Accept edits. Click Create. If Desktop asks whether you trust the folder, say yes.

    Accept edits is your answer to step 2's question, given ahead of time. The task may save files in its own folder without asking, and anything else still waits for a yes. Clicking "always allow" during a run doesn't do the same job: for a file change, it covers only that one run.

    Some versions call this Routines, or ask Local or Cloud first. Choose Local and fill in the same things. Some forms also want a one-line description.

  4. Run it now and watch it finish.

    The task's page opens after you click Create. Click Run now, then open the run from History. It should read the file, save due-this-week.txt and stop, without asking you anything. If it stops on a question, answer it there. Then click Edit and add the answer to the job, so tomorrow's run doesn't wait.

    Last, turn on Keep computer awake in Settings › Desktop app (in some versions, Settings › This computer › System). It keeps an idle computer from going to sleep. Closing a laptop's lid still puts it to sleep.

If you see this instead

There's no Scheduled item in the sidebar
Open More in the sidebar, or look for Routines. If neither is there, update Claude Desktop: tasks on your own computer need a recent version.
Create stays grey
Choose the folder. The task won't save until it knows which folder to work in. Hover over Create to see what else the form wants.
The run is waiting for an answer
The task is still in Manual mode, or the job needed something you didn't settle. Answer it in the run, then click Edit: set Accept edits, and add what the run asked about to the job.
History shows a skipped run
Hover over it to see why. Usually the computer was asleep, and Desktop starts one catch-up run when it wakes. Turn on Keep computer awake and leave Claude Desktop open.
CheckDiligence

Does the list follow the file, and stay honest when the file is gone?

A job nobody watches has to be right without you. Test a normal run, a changed file and a missing file while you're there to see them.

1 · RUN NOW due-this-week.txt A108 · A102 · A103 A105 · A106 5 invoices €2,700.50 The normal run, checked by you 2 · CHANGE A102 marked paid Run now again A102 drops out 4 invoices €1,500.50 New data, new list 3 · TAKE IT AWAY invoices.csv renamed Run now again "No list today: invoices.csv is missing or empty." No file, no made-up numbers
The orderA normal run, a changed file, then a missing file. Each one shows in the file you open.

With the practice file

You pass when, after Run now, due-this-week.txt lists 5 invoices, earliest due first: A108 Orchard Vets, A102 Nova Tools, A103 Brightside Cafe, A105 Kite Studio and A106 Kite Studio, with a total of €2,700.50.

A101 is overdue, A104 and A110 are paid, and A107 and A109 are due next week. None of them belong on the list.

Then go back to your Code tab session on the folder and send this. Approve the change Claude asks for.

In invoices.csv, mark invoice A102 as paid. Change nothing else.

Click Run now on the task's page and open the file again. You pass when it lists 4 invoices, without A102, and the total is €1,500.50.

Last, rename invoices.csv to invoices-old.csv in your folder and click Run now. You pass when due-this-week.txt says "No list today: invoices.csv is missing or empty." and shows no invoices or amounts. The renamed file is still in the folder, and the job leaves it alone. Rename it back afterwards.

With your own file, check one total by hand, change one row and run it again.

Two questions from memory

Why does the invoice job use Accept edits and not Manual?

It has to save due-this-week.txt, and nobody is there at 8:00 to say yes. In Manual the run would wait. Accept edits lets file changes in its folder through and still asks about anything else.

Your laptop slept through Friday's 8:00 run. What happens?

That run is skipped. When the laptop wakes or Claude Desktop opens, Desktop starts one catch-up run for the latest time it missed in the past seven days. For a job that must run with the computer off, use a cloud task as in lesson 3.

Lesson 7 opens by asking the first one again.

What developers call this

Developers call a run like this headless: Claude works with no chat open and nobody at the keyboard, and they often start it from the command line. A scheduled task gives you the same thing inside the app. In both, the prompt has to say everything, and the permissions are settled before it starts.

Course 2 so far

What you've built

Lesson 1: Tip calculator
Lesson 2: Browser comparison
Lesson 3: Scheduled summary
Lesson 4: Clean invoice list
Lesson 5: Skill with an exact check
Lesson 6: Job that runs unattended
Lesson 7 builds an agent that runs on its own.