Scheduling Claude Code Subagents (Windows)¶

Set up your Claude Code subagents to run automatically on a schedule—like a research assistant that gathers information while you sleep.

Key concept: You already have a subagent defined. Now you're telling Claude Code to run it on a schedule. Claude Code creates the script and sets up Task Scheduler for you.

Official docs: Claude Code CLI Reference

Prerequisites¶

Claude Code installed and authenticated (see Claude Code Setup Guide)
A subagent already created with its configuration in a markdown file
PowerShell access

Important: Update Your CLAUDE.md First¶

Before scheduling any subagent, you must add scheduling instructions to your project's CLAUDE.md file. This tells Claude Code how to properly set up scheduled tasks (logging, permissions, etc.).

Add this section to your CLAUDE.md:

## Scheduling Subagents

When setting up scheduled tasks for subagents:
- Use `claude -p "prompt" --dangerously-skip-permissions` to allow headless tool use (required for agents that write files)
- Use the full path to claude binary (e.g., `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\claude-code\claude.exe`) since Task Scheduler runs with minimal PATH
- Always include logging to capture stdout/stderr for troubleshooting
- Store logs in the project's `logs/scheduled/` folder so they're easy to find
- Include timestamps in log filenames for easy debugging

Why is this necessary? Without these instructions, Claude Code won't know to use the special flags needed for scheduled (headless) operation, and your subagent will fail silently.

Your project's CLAUDE.md should include these instructions.

Example: Scheduling the "claude-research-daily" Subagent¶

This repo includes a working example subagent called claude-research-daily that researches the latest Claude and Anthropic news. You can find it at:

.claude/agents/claude-research-daily.md

Let's schedule it to run automatically every weekday morning.

Step 1: Ask Claude Code to Schedule Your Subagent¶

Open Claude Code in this repo folder, then use a prompt like this:

Schedule my claude-research-daily subagent to run every weekday at 7:30 AM on Windows.

Claude Code will automatically set up logging based on the instructions in your CLAUDE.md file.

Step 2: Claude Code Sets Everything Up¶

Claude Code will create everything for you: 1. scripts/ folder - Contains the PowerShell script for your subagent 2. PowerShell script - Customized with your project's paths 3. Scheduled task - Registered in Task Scheduler 4. Logs folder - For troubleshooting

You don't need to create or edit any files yourself—Claude Code handles all of it and uses the correct paths for your machine.

Step 3: Test It¶

Ask Claude Code to run the subagent now to make sure everything works:

Run my claude-research-daily subagent now so I can test it.

Then check that your research file was created:

Show me the output from claude-research-daily.

You should see a file in the outputs/ folder like claude-research-daily-2026-01-27.md.

Common Scheduling Patterns¶

Here are typical schedules for different types of subagents:

Subagent Type	Suggested Schedule	Example Prompt
Daily news/research	Weekdays at 7-8 AM	"Run every weekday at 7:30 AM"
Competitor monitoring	Weekly on Monday	"Run every Monday at 8:00 AM"
Weekly summaries	Friday afternoon	"Run every Friday at 4:00 PM"
Frequent updates	Every few hours	"Run every 4 hours during business hours"

Example: Scheduling a Weekly Subagent¶

Schedule my competitor-watch subagent to run every Monday at 8:00 AM on Windows.

Managing Your Subagents¶

Ask Claude Code to manage your subagents—no need to navigate Task Scheduler.

What you want	Ask Claude Code
See your subagents	"What scheduled subagents do I have running?"
Pause a subagent	"Pause my claude-research-daily subagent"
Resume a subagent	"Resume my claude-research-daily subagent"
Change the schedule	"Change claude-research-daily to run at 6:00 AM instead"
Update the goal	"Update claude-research-daily to also include robotics news"
Remove a subagent	"Remove my claude-research-daily subagent schedule completely"
Check status	"Is my claude-research-daily subagent running properly?"
View logs	"Show me the logs from claude-research-daily's last run"

Example: Updating Your Subagent's Schedule¶

Change my claude-research-daily subagent to run at 6:00 AM instead of 7:30 AM.

Claude Code will update the script and Task Scheduler configuration for you.

Quick Troubleshooting¶

Subagent not running?

Ask Claude Code: "Check if my claude-research-daily subagent is working and tell me what's wrong."

No output file created?

Ask Claude Code: "My claude-research-daily ran but I don't see an output file. What happened?"

Want to see what happened?

Ask Claude Code: "Show me the logs from claude-research-daily's last run."

For more detailed troubleshooting, see Scheduled Subagent Troubleshooting.

How It Works (Behind the Scenes)¶

When Claude Code schedules a subagent on Windows, it uses Task Scheduler—the built-in Windows scheduling system. Claude Code creates:

PowerShell script - Runs your subagent with proper logging
Scheduled task - Tells Windows when to run the script

The PowerShell script uses special flags for headless operation: - --dangerously-skip-permissions - Allows the agent to use tools (like writing files) without prompting for confirmation - Full path to claude binary - Since Task Scheduler runs with minimal PATH

You can see your scheduled subagents in Task Scheduler if you're curious (press Win + R, type taskschd.msc), but you don't need to—Claude Code can manage everything for you.

Next Steps¶

Try scheduling the claude-research-daily subagent using the example above
Test it manually before relying on the schedule
Check the outputs/ folder the next morning for your research digest
Create your own subagents and schedule them the same way