Anthropic introduced Routines for Claude Code, allowing developers to package multi-step software tasks into cloud-executed, reusable commands. Available across Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans with web features enabled, the system handles background dev tasks on Anthropic's managed cloud infrastructure. Developers can now offload recurring tasks like backlog maintenance, alert triage, and library porting without keeping their local laptops open.
How Cloud Routines Execute Autonomously
Routines combine a pre-configured prompt, designated code repositories, custom connectors, and runtime permissions into a persistent cloud task. When a trigger fires, Claude Code launches a full cloud session that operates autonomously without prompting for human approvals mid-run.
Routines execute autonomously on Anthropic-managed cloud infrastructure without requiring interactive approval prompts during a run. The session clones the specified repositories starting from the default branch, runs custom setup scripts, and pushes changes to claude/-prefixed branches by default.
Three Trigger Options for Automation
Developers can configure routines using three primary trigger types, or combine multiple triggers on a single routine:
- Scheduled Triggers: Run tasks on preset intervals (hourly, daily, weekly) or via custom cron syntax set in the CLI. The minimum scheduled interval is one hour. One-off future runs can also be set.
- GitHub Event Triggers: Execute automatically in response to repository actions, such as
pull_request.openedor release events across linked repositories. - API Triggers: Fire on demand by sending an HTTP POST request with a bearer token to a unique per-routine URL endpoint.
For example, developers can set up routines via the CLI interface using natural language commands:
# Schedule a recurring daily routine
/schedule daily PR review at 9am
# Schedule a one-off cleanup task
/schedule in 2 weeks, open a cleanup PR that removes the feature flag
Configuration and Security Control
Because routines execute as background sessions on cloud infrastructure, Anthropic includes administrative and permission controls. Routines belong to individual user accounts, meaning all GitHub commits, pull requests, and connector actions carry the creator's identity.
Environment options allow developers to restrict network access to trusted domain lists, provide specific environment variables, or run dependency setup scripts. To protect team workflows, Team and Enterprise owners maintain a global toggle at claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-code to disable routine creation and execution across the entire organization.