> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://guides.runner.now/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Runners

> A Runner is one AI employee with a recurring job, schedule, sources, rules, and tool permissions.

A Runner is one AI employee assigned one recurring job.

A Runner is a saved prompt with a schedule. Tell it what to check, which sources and rules to use, and what the result should contain. Then choose when it runs and close your laptop.

Every weekday at 8am. Friday at 4pm. The first day of each month.

Start with a job that costs you something when it gets missed: a proposal waiting on a reply, an invoice exception, a customer commitment, or a report you rebuild every Friday.

## Give every Runner a clear brief

| Part           | The question to answer                                                          |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Job**        | What should this Runner do every time?                                          |
| **Value**      | Does it protect revenue, remove cost, save time, or protect a customer promise? |
| **Tools**      | Which connected apps, files, or sites does the job need?                        |
| **Handoff**    | What can happen directly, and what should come back to you?                     |
| **Human work** | Which judgment, relationship, creative choice, or final decision stays yours?   |

<Info>
  Each Runner works independently. Runners don't automatically hand work to one another or receive another Runner's output. You decide how their jobs fit together.
</Info>

## What carries into a run

A Runner keeps its saved prompt, schedule, timezone, Project, intelligence setting, and any Runner-specific tool permission overrides. Tools without an override use your current **Connected Apps** settings.

Each run itself starts in a separate session. It can use:

* **Project context** as background, when the Runner belongs to a Project
* **Personal Memory**, for durable facts and preferences saved there
* **Unresolved Action Cards**, when carry is turned on and the cards haven't expired

It does **not** automatically receive the previous run's output. If a result needs to matter next time, put a durable personal fact in Personal Memory or a standing job instruction in the saved prompt. Project context can hold shared background.

## When an action waits for review

The tool setting decides:

* **On** lets Runner read with the tool.
* **Ask** stages an **Action Card** for review.
* **Allow** performs the action without asking.
* **Off** blocks the tool, unless the user-created Runner has its own override.

A pending **Action Card** expires 24 hours after it's staged. Turning on **Carry unresolved Action Cards into new runs** can show that card in the next run, but it doesn't extend the 24-hour limit.

User-created Runners have a **Tool permissions** section for overrides. **Heartbeat** and **Daily Brief** don't. The built-ins use the settings under **Connected Apps**.

[How tool permissions work →](/connections/tool-permissions)

## What you set for each Runner

Each Runner has:

* **Prompt.** The job, sources, rules, and output you want.
* **Schedule.** Daily, weekdays, weekly, monthly, or custom.
* **Timezone.** The clock the schedule follows.
* **Project.** Optional organization and background for the work.
* **Intelligence.** **Normal** or **Ultra**. Scheduled Runners don't use **Auto**.
* **Action Card carry.** Whether unresolved cards can appear in a later run before they expire.
* **Avatar.** A quick way to spot it in the sidebar.

## Check recent runs

Open a Runner to see recent runs. Each row shows whether the run was scheduled or manual, when it started, and its status.

Click the run's timestamp to open that run's session. That's where you'll find its result, tool activity, **Action Cards**, or failure message.

Need a test before the next scheduled time? Click **Run now**. A paused Runner can run once without turning its schedule on.

## Ask for an email when it's done

Put the request in the Runner's prompt: *"Email me when this report is ready."*

Email delivery also depends on **Settings**, then **Notifications**, including your daily limit.

***

## Built-in Runners

Runner ships with two paused Runners:

* **Heartbeat** checks communication channels twice on weekdays and surfaces what needs attention.
* **Daily Brief** runs every day at 8am and gives you one update across your connected apps.

[Set up Heartbeat and Daily Brief →](/runners/heartbeat-and-daily-brief)

***

## What's next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a Runner" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/runners/create-your-own">
    Add one recurring job with its schedule, rules, and tool permissions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tool permissions" icon="shield-check" href="/connections/tool-permissions">
    Decide what waits for review and what can run without asking.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>