4 min lesson
Configuring tasks & routines
Write task instructions, pick integrations, and know what system tools, custom tools, and CRM data access do. Schedule a pipeline review or a closed-won lead hunt.
A Max task is a job Max runs without you sending a chat. A pipeline review every Monday. A hunt for lookalike leads after you close a deal. Routines are how an assistant works when you are not in the room.
They are separate from the to-dos on a Person or a Deal, and from the checklist Max builds inside one chat. Those are human work, or a plan for one message. A Max task is Max’s own automation, on your agent.
You can create a task in the Tasks UI, from a template, or in the CLI. You can also ask Max. “Create a Monday 8am task that reviews my open deals and flags anything stuck.” He will draft the name, the schedule, the instructions, and the access. Read it before you enable it.
What are instructions?
Instructions are the job. Write them as if you are briefing someone who will work alone and then hand you the result.
Say what to look at, what to do, and what “done” looks like.
“Review my open Deals. Group by stage. Flag anything with no activity in fourteen days. Leave records as they are. Give me a standup brief.”
When the run finishes, the text Max writes is what you receive if you turned on email, WhatsApp, or Slack notify. The notify setting delivers that result. You can leave “send me this” out of the instructions. End the job when the brief is ready.
System tools, custom tools, data access, and integrations
A task can use four kinds of access.
System tools are Frontline-built. Web search, LinkedIn search, research, file search, directory. Use them when the job needs the open web or your files. A closed-won lead hunt that looks for similar companies online needs research or LinkedIn.
Custom tools are API tools your account created. A pricing calculator, an internal credit check, a portal lookup. Turn one on when the instructions call that API.
Data and table access is Frontline itself. People, Companies, Deals, Tickets, custom objects, and tables. You can allow read, create, update, delete, and logging activity. A pipeline review needs Deals, Companies, and People, usually read-only. A task that writes a note on a Company needs create activity on that object. Tables are reference lists, like a fee schedule.
Integrations are connected apps. Google Drive, OneDrive, Calendar, Slack. Pick the ones the job uses. If the task should read a Drive folder, add Drive. If it should prep from a calendar event, add Calendar. The CRM is already in reach.
Give the task the access the job needs.
Scheduled tasks
Scheduled tasks run on a clock. A task is scheduled or event-based.
Pipeline review, Monday at 8am. Instructions: Review my open Deals. Group by stage. Call out anything with no activity in fourteen days, anything sitting too long in the same stage, and the largest values at risk. Use the Company, the People on the deal, last interaction, and open Tickets. Give me a short brief I can run in standup. Access: Deals, Companies, People, Tickets, read. Notify Slack or WhatsApp.
Find more leads from closed-won, Friday at 4pm. Instructions: Look at Deals we won in the last 30 days. For each won Company, suggest lookalike Companies and People already in Frontline who are still Leads, in the same industry or a similar size, with no open Deal. List who to contact and why. Access: Deals, Companies, People. Add research or LinkedIn if you want him to look outside Frontline.
Event-based tasks
Event-based tasks run when a connector fires.
Example: a file is created or updated in a client folder in Google Drive or OneDrive. Instructions: Match the folder or file name to a Company. Add a note on that Company with the file name and one line on what it is. Access: Companies, create activity. Integration: Drive or OneDrive.
Scheduled tasks you can run now to test. Event tasks wait for the trigger. Disable a task when you want it paused.
Playbooks, next, steer how Max behaves when you chat or when he drafts. A task is a job on a timer or a trigger. You can ask Max to create both.