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Automation & Scheduling

Automate routine tasks in your SureStage workspace with scheduled jobs. Configure simulations to reset, data to refresh, health checks to run, and reports to generate on a recurring schedule.

Automation Dashboard​

Access the automation dashboard at Settings > Automation to view and manage all scheduled tasks.

The dashboard shows:

  • Active tasks - Currently scheduled and running
  • Paused tasks - Configured but temporarily disabled
  • Task history - Recent executions with success/failure status
  • Next run times - Upcoming task schedule

Quick Actions​

  • Create Task - Schedule a new automation
  • Run Now - Manually trigger a task outside its schedule
  • Pause/Resume - Temporarily disable or re-enable a task
  • View Logs - See execution history and debug failures

Task Types​

Scheduled Simulation Reset​

Reset a simulation to a clean state on a regular schedule.

Use cases:

  • Daily reset of demo environments before prospect meetings
  • Nightly cleanup of test data between test runs
  • Weekly refresh of sandbox state for QA teams

Configuration:

  1. Click Create Task > Simulation Reset
  2. Select the simulation to reset
  3. Choose reset behavior:
    • Clear state only - Wipe state data, keep configuration
    • Full reset - Clear state and request logs
    • Reset to snapshot - Restore to a saved snapshot
  4. Set schedule (see Scheduling section below)
  5. Click Create Task

Data Refresh​

Refresh mock data from an external source or regenerate with AI.

Use cases:

  • Sync mock data with staging database overnight
  • Regenerate realistic data weekly for testing
  • Update API responses when dependent services change

Configuration:

  1. Click Create Task > Data Refresh
  2. Select the simulation and routes to refresh
  3. Choose data source:
    • External API - Fetch fresh data from a real endpoint
    • Database query - Pull data from a connected database
    • AI generation - Use StageAssist to regenerate realistic data
  4. Set schedule
  5. Click Create Task

Health Checks​

Verify your simulations are responding correctly.

Use cases:

  • Monitor critical demo environments before customer meetings
  • Continuous smoke testing of mock APIs
  • Alert when a simulation becomes unreachable

Configuration:

  1. Click Create Task > Health Check
  2. Select the simulation to monitor
  3. Define health criteria:
    • Response time threshold - Maximum acceptable latency (ms)
    • Expected status codes - Which responses indicate health
    • Required routes - Endpoints that must be accessible
  4. Set notification preferences (see Notifications section)
  5. Set schedule
  6. Click Create Task

Report Generation​

Generate and email reports on simulation usage, performance, or activity.

Use cases:

  • Weekly summary of demo environment usage
  • Monthly analytics on API mock performance
  • Daily activity report for compliance tracking

Configuration:

  1. Click Create Task > Report Generation
  2. Select report type:
    • Usage report - Request volume, active users, popular endpoints
    • Performance report - Response times, error rates, latency
    • Activity report - Changes, deployments, team actions
  3. Choose scope (specific simulations or all)
  4. Set delivery:
    • Email recipients - Who receives the report
    • Format - PDF, CSV, or JSON
  5. Set schedule
  6. Click Create Task

Scheduling​

All tasks use cron-based scheduling for precise control.

Quick Schedule Options​

Common patterns are available as presets:

  • Every hour - 0 * * * *
  • Daily at midnight - 0 0 * * *
  • Weekdays at 9 AM - 0 9 * * 1-5
  • Weekly on Monday - 0 0 * * 1
  • First day of month - 0 0 1 * *

Custom Cron Expression​

For advanced scheduling, enter a cron expression directly.

Format: minute hour day month weekday

Examples:

  • 0 */6 * * * - Every 6 hours
  • 30 8 * * 1,3,5 - 8:30 AM on Mon, Wed, Fri
  • 0 0 1,15 * * - Midnight on 1st and 15th of each month

Timezone: Tasks run in your organization's configured timezone (see Localization Settings).

Manual Triggers​

Run any task immediately without waiting for the schedule:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Automation
  2. Find the task in the list
  3. Click Run Now

The manual run does not affect the regular schedule.

Task History​

View execution logs for any task:

  1. Click the task name in the automation dashboard
  2. Navigate to the History tab

Each execution shows:

  • Start and end timestamp
  • Duration
  • Status (Success, Failed, Timeout, Cancelled)
  • Output logs
  • Error messages (if failed)

Filtering History​

  • Date range - Show executions within a specific period
  • Status filter - Show only successes or failures
  • Search - Find logs containing specific text

Notifications​

Get notified when tasks complete or fail.

Notification Channels​

Configure where notifications are sent:

  • In-app - Notification bell in SureStage header (see Notifications)
  • Email - Sent to task owner or specific addresses
  • Webhook - POST to an external URL (Slack, PagerDuty, etc.)

Notification Settings​

  1. Open a task's settings
  2. Navigate to the Notifications tab
  3. Choose notification triggers:
    • On failure only - Alert when a task fails
    • On success and failure - Always notify
    • On first failure - Alert once when a task starts failing
    • Never - No notifications
  4. Select notification channels
  5. Click Save

Notification Payload​

Webhook notifications include:

{
  "task_id": "task_abc123",
  "task_name": "Daily Demo Reset",
  "task_type": "simulation_reset",
  "status": "failed",
  "started_at": "2026-03-21T08:00:00Z",
  "completed_at": "2026-03-21T08:00:15Z",
  "duration_ms": 15000,
  "error": "Simulation not found: sim_xyz789"
}

Managing Tasks​

Editing a Task​

  1. Navigate to Settings > Automation
  2. Click the task name
  3. Modify configuration or schedule
  4. Click Save Changes

Tasks continue running on the old schedule until saved.

Pausing a Task​

Temporarily disable a task without deleting it:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Automation
  2. Click the pause icon next to the task
  3. Confirm

The task remains configured but stops executing. Resume by clicking the play icon.

Deleting a Task​

  1. Navigate to Settings > Automation
  2. Click the task name
  3. Click Delete Task
  4. Confirm deletion

Task history is preserved for audit purposes but the task no longer executes.

Best Practices​

Test before scheduling - Use Run Now to verify task behavior before setting a recurring schedule.

Monitor first runs - Check task history after the first scheduled execution to catch configuration issues early.

Use health checks liberally - Automated health checks catch simulation problems before users do.

Set realistic timeouts - Give tasks enough time to complete. Default timeout is 5 minutes.

Consolidate reports - One weekly summary report is more actionable than daily noise.

Common Issues​

Task not running - Check that the task is not paused. Verify the cron expression is valid and the next run time is in the future.

Task timing out - Increase the timeout in task settings or optimize the task (e.g., reset fewer simulations at once).

Notifications not received - Verify notification settings in the task configuration. Check spam folder for email notifications.

Data refresh failing - Ensure external API credentials are current. Check that the data source is accessible from SureStage.

Next Steps​