Runners
Runners are the automation layer on top of skills. While a skill defines what the AI does (instructions, data, tools), a runner defines when, where, and how autonomously it executes.
What is a Runner?
A runner wraps a skill with:
- Trigger — When it runs (scheduled, event-driven, or manual)
- Output targets — Where results go (AI insights, work items, etc.)
- Autonomy level — How much human review is required
- Guardrails — Token budget, iteration limit, timeout
Runners execute headlessly — no chat UI, no streaming. They use the same AI tools and context as workspace chat, but write results directly to the platform.
Creating a Runner
Navigate to Tools > Runners and click New Runner.
Required Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|
| Name | Slug identifier (e.g., weekly-seo-audit) |
| Display Title | Human-readable name |
| Role | Agent role category (Monitor, Analyst, Planner, etc.) |
| Skill | Which published skill to execute |
| Trigger Type | When the runner fires |
Trigger Types
| Type | Description |
|---|
| Scheduled (Cron) | Runs on a cron schedule (e.g., 0 9 * * 1 = Mondays at 9am UTC) |
| Event | Runs when a system event occurs (e.g., another runner completes, a work item is created) |
| Manual | Only runs when you click “Run Now” or trigger via API |
Event-Triggered Runners
Event-triggered runners listen for system events and execute automatically. Configure:
- Event Type — Which event to listen for (e.g.,
runner.completed, work_item.created)
- Event Filter (optional) — Only trigger for specific sources (e.g., only when a specific runner completes)
Common event types:
runner.completed — After another runner finishes (use filter to target specific runners)work_item.created — When a new work item is created by any sourcecontent_opportunity.created — When a content idea is discovered
Output Targets
Choose where the runner’s output goes. A runner can write to multiple targets.
| Target | Description | Status |
|---|
| AI Insight | Creates an insight for review in the experiments panel | Available |
| Work Item | Creates a task in the revenue inbox | Available |
| Content Opportunity | Creates an entry in the content planner | Available |
| Slack Message | Sends a notification to Slack (requires webhook URL in output config) | Available |
| Content Asset | Creates a draft blog/page in the content library | Available |
| Fibery Task | Creates a task in Fibery (requires API integration) | Planned |
Autonomy Levels
| Level | Behavior |
|---|
| Automatic | Outputs applied without human review |
| Semi-Auto (default) | Outputs staged for review before being acted on |
| Manual | Human must explicitly initiate and review |
Guardrails
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|
| Max Tokens | 128,000 | Cumulative token budget across all iterations |
| Max Iterations | 10 | Maximum tool-calling loop iterations |
| Timeout | 300 seconds | Hard cutoff for execution time |
Model Selection
Each role has a default model, but you can override it per runner:
| Roles | Default Model | Notes |
|---|
| All roles | Claude Sonnet | High-quality output with reliable tool usage and evidence fill |
Chain Config
Runners can automatically trigger other runners when they complete:
- On Complete — Runner names to trigger after a successful run
- On Error — Runner names to trigger after a failed run
Chained runners receive context from their parent, including output summaries and any work items or opportunities created. Chain depth is limited to 10 levels.
Managing Runners
The runners table shows all your runners with:
- Status — Active or Disabled (toggle with the play/pause button)
- Last Run — When the runner last executed
- Result — Success, failure, or timeout
Run History
Click any runner to open the detail panel. The Recent Runs section shows:
- Status and duration of each run
- Token usage and estimated cost
- Full output text (expandable)
- Errors for failed runs
- Tools used and output targets written
- Quality rating (thumbs up/down)
Events Browser
Switch to the Events tab on the runners page to see the event queue. You can:
- Filter by status (pending, processing, done, failed)
- Filter by event type
- Expand events to see their payload and which runners they triggered
- Retry failed events
Running Manually
Click the Run Now button on any runner to queue an immediate execution. The run will be picked up within 5 minutes by the runner executor.
External Triggers
Runners can be triggered externally via the API:
curl -X POST https://your-app.com/api/v1/runners/trigger \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"runner_id": "uuid-here"}'
curl https://your-app.com/api/v1/runners/runs/RUN_ID \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
Deterministic Runners
Not every runner uses AI. Some runners execute entirely without an AI model — they perform data sync, deduplication, pattern detection, and other algorithmic tasks using built-in platform logic.
Deterministic runners have zero AI cost and complete nearly instantly. They appear in run history alongside AI-powered runners, but always show $0.00 under cost.
- No skill required — The logic is built into the platform, not authored as a skill
- Same triggers — Schedule them on a cron, fire them on an event, or run them manually
- Same output targets — They can create work items, insights, or content opportunities just like AI runners
- Reliable and cheap — Because there’s no model involved, they never time out due to token limits and cost nothing to run
Examples of tasks handled by deterministic runners: syncing external data sources, deduplicating discovered content, computing scoring rollups, and detecting recurring charge patterns in invoice data.
Tips
- Start with manual triggers to verify a runner works before scheduling it
- Use semi-auto autonomy until you trust the runner’s outputs
- Keep timeouts under 240s — the platform enforces a 300-second hard limit
- Monitor token costs in the run history to right-size your token budget
