Bigger Tasks & Schedules

Normal conversations are great for quick tasks - "read this file", "run that command." But sometimes you have a bigger goal that takes multiple steps and real planning. That's what initiatives are for.

When to Use Initiatives

Use an initiative when you want Hefty to tackle something larger than a single message. Some examples:

  • "Set up CI/CD for this project" - Hefty plans the steps (create config files, set up test runner, configure deployment), then works through them one by one
  • "Refactor the authentication module to use JWT" - Hefty breaks it into steps (audit current code, update dependencies, rewrite auth logic, update tests) and tracks progress
  • "Check the server health every morning at 9am" - a recurring initiative that runs automatically on schedule
  • "Generate a weekly summary of git activity every Friday" - a periodic task Hefty handles without you having to ask each time

One-Off Initiatives

Tell Hefty what you want to accomplish, and it creates a plan:

  1. You set the goal - describe what you want done, optionally set a priority and add tags for organization
  2. Hefty plans the steps - breaks the goal into a sequence of concrete steps
  3. Hefty works through the plan - each step produces one or more activities (just like normal conversations), advancing automatically when a step completes
  4. You see progress in real-time - watch steps complete, see results flow in, and track the overall percentage

When the initiative finishes, you get a summary of what was accomplished, any issues encountered, and the files or outputs that were produced.

You stay in control throughout - you can pause an initiative to review progress, or cancel it if you change your mind. Nothing runs without your ability to stop it.

Periodic Initiatives

Some tasks need to happen regularly. Instead of remembering to ask Hefty every time, you can set up a periodic initiative that runs on a schedule:

  • Hourly - for monitoring and quick checks
  • Daily - for backups, health checks, or morning reports
  • Weekly - for summaries, cleanups, or recurring maintenance
  • Monthly - for larger recurring tasks
  • Custom interval - any frequency you need

All schedules support timezone configuration, so "every morning at 9am" means 9am in your timezone.

Hefty tracks the history of each periodic initiative - how many times it's run, how often it succeeds, and when the next run is scheduled. You can pause or disable a periodic initiative at any time.

Watching Progress

Initiative progress streams to the UI in real-time. You can see which step Hefty is on, what actions it's taking, and how far along the overall goal is - just like watching a normal conversation, but with the added structure of a step-by-step plan.