> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.heylua.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Schedule a workflow and set goals > Put a deployed workflow on a cadence, give it a goal a judge checks after each run, and know what the agent may do with workflows from chat After this guide, a [workflow](/concepts/workflows) runs on a cron cadence with a fixed input, a goal runs it repeatedly until a judge says the objective is met, and you know what the agent may do with workflows from chat. A schedule is the workflow's own cadence job and every fire is a recorded run; for a background function with no run record, use a [job](/concepts/jobs). *Verified against lua-cli 3.33.0.* **Before you begin** * A workflow pushed and deployed (`lua workflows deploy -v latest`), with `concurrencyPolicy: 'forbid'` if two fires must never overlap. * A user session (`lua auth configure`). `schedules create` attaches a cadence to the workflow, or replaces the one it has. Each fire starts a run with the `--input` you give. ```bash theme={null} lua workflows schedules create lead-outreach --cadence '0 9 * * 1-5' --timezone Europe/London \ --input '{"leadId":"lead_abc123"}' --tag nightly --budget-credits 10 --ci ``` The reply is `✅ schedule on "lead-outreach" · cron 0 9 * * 1-5 (Europe/London) · next A schedule in the definition deploys with the workflow and is activated with `lua workflows activate `. ```ts src/workflows/weekly-digest.ts theme={null} import { z } from 'zod'; import { createStep, createWorkflow, Data } from 'lua-cli'; const countOpen = createStep({ id: 'countOpen', inputSchema: z.object({ team: z.string() }), outputSchema: z.object({ open: z.number() }), async execute({ inputData }) { const page = await Data.get('tickets', { team: inputData.team, status: 'open' }, 1, 1); return { open: page.pagination.totalCount }; }, }); export const weeklyDigest = createWorkflow({ name: 'weekly-digest', description: 'Count the team\'s open tickets every Monday morning.', inputSchema: z.object({ team: z.string() }), outputSchema: z.object({ open: z.number() }), schedule: { type: 'cron', expression: '0 9 * * 1', timezone: 'Europe/London' }, scheduleInput: { team: 'support' }, concurrencyPolicy: 'forbid', backfillOnEnable: { maxOccurrences: 1 }, }) .then(countOpen) .commit(); ``` `schedule` takes the same shape as a [`LuaJob`](/reference/sdk/luajob) schedule; `scheduleInput` must satisfy `inputSchema`, or `lua compile` warns `schedule-input-required` or `schedule-input-invalid`. `deactivate` pauses the schedule without touching the live version. A goal runs the workflow on a cadence until a judge says the objective is met, `--max-runs` is used up, or you close it. ```bash theme={null} lua workflows goals create lead-outreach --objective "Every lead created this month has received an intro email" \ --judge-predicate 'output.sent truthy' --cadence '0 9 * * 1-5' --timezone Europe/London \ --max-runs 10 --input '{"leadId":"lead_abc123"}' --ci ``` The reply is `✅ goal created on "lead-outreach" · active · runs 0/10 · cron 0 9 * * 1-5 (Europe/London) · schedule `. A predicate judge is deterministic: `' [value]'`, with `path` under `output.`, `state.`, or `steps..`, or one of `iteration` and `runStatus`, and `op` one of `eq`, `neq`, `gt`, `gte`, `lt`, `lte`, `exists`, `truthy`. An agent judge is `--judge-agent ` with `--schema @schema.json`, a JSON Schema whose root declares a boolean `done`; a `'$self'` judge also needs `--judge-role @role.json` (`{ name, instructions, tools }`). `--max-runs` is 1 to 100, `--max-total-credits` caps credits across every run of the goal, and without `--cadence` the judge runs right after each run. From code, `Workflows.setGoal` takes the same fields; the [`Workflows`](/reference/sdk/workflows) reference says what the deployed runtime accepts. Read and change a goal by id; never delete its schedule. ```bash theme={null} lua workflows goals get lua workflows goals pause lua workflows goals raise --max-runs 20 lua workflows goals close --note "Objective met by hand" ``` A goal is `active`, `paused`, `done`, or `closed`; a paused goal carries a `pauseReason` of `user`, `budget`, `max_runs`, or `strikes` (three consecutive failed iterations). `pause` skips fires, `resume` does not replay missed ones, `raise` lifts `--max-runs` or `--max-credits` and re-arms a goal parked at its cap, and `close` is final. A goal's cadence is a schedule tagged with the goal id; `schedules pause`, `resume`, `patch`, and `delete` refuse it with `goal_schedule`, because the schedule follows the goal. `view` lists a workflow's schedules and goals beside its versions. ```bash theme={null} lua workflows view lead-outreach ``` ```text Output theme={null} 🧭 lead-outreach — Draft outreach emails for a batch of leads, get human approval on the batch, then send the approved drafts. Id: a95a5d5d-2529-460c-aadb-ec5fb6926000 Status: active Active: 1.0.3 Outputs: run readers (no ACL) Schedules: none Goals: none … ``` `schedules list -i lead-outreach` and `goals list lead-outreach` print the full tables, and every fire appears in `lua workflows runs --workflow lead-outreach` with `Trigger` `schedule`. ## Options you may need ### What the agent can do from chat An agent that has workflows turned on gets tools for them in conversation: it starts, inspects, resumes, signals, repairs, and cancels runs (`startWorkflowRun`, `getWorkflowRun`, and their siblings; `cancelWorkflowRun` unless the organization turns it off), edits a workflow's one schedule in place (`scheduleWorkflow`, `unscheduleWorkflow`), runs goals (`setWorkflowGoal` and the goal lifecycle verbs), and, unless composition is turned off, composes new workflows with `composeWorkflow`. A request that needs steps to run unattended, wait for a person, or recur becomes a composed workflow the agent starts only after presenting the plan and estimate, always with an idempotency key. ### Consent and caps A composed workflow over the organization's thresholds (by default 15 steps, 20 credits, or 3,600 seconds) asks the end user for consent first, or is refused with `consent_refused` where the organization forbids asking. A goal created from chat defaults to 3 runs. A workflow the agent composed is `dynamic`: `lua workflows list --all` shows it, `deploy` refuses it with `WORKFLOW_DYNAMIC`, and `export ` brings it into source. | Cap | Value | | ------------------------------------ | -------- | | Cadence entries per schedule or goal | 5 | | `maxRuns` per goal | 1 to 100 | | Active goals per organization | 20 | | Tags per run | 10 | ## If it isn't working The job you tried to change is a goal's cadence. Use `lua workflows goals pause ` or `goals close `; a done or closed goal's leftover schedule can then be deleted. Only an active goal pauses and only a paused one resumes; a done or closed goal stays closed. A goal paused at its cap re-arms with `goals raise`. A schedule takes at most 5 cadence entries. Pass fewer `--cadence` flags or combine them into one cron expression. ## Next steps Every `schedules` and `goals` flag and refusal. Follow, answer, and cancel the runs a schedule or goal starts. `setGoal` and `goals.*` from code, and what the deployed runtime accepts.