Automations

Save the work you keep setting up again. A hob automation can run a deterministic check, hand the next step to an agent, and bring back a report you can review. The steps, conversations, and results stay together in the project, so you can see what happened and run the same workflow again.

Creating an automation

Start with a command you already use: hover its terminal block and choose Save as automation. For a workflow with several steps, open Automations from the tool rail and select New automation (+). The builder lets you describe the workflow to an agent or edit its definition in the File and Configuration tabs. Save the draft when it is ready to run.

Check and review the guestbook

Use the example project for this first workflow. The app itself needs no installation or build step; this optional syntax check requires Node.js on the machine running hob, plus a configured agent backend for the review.

The complete guestbook automation definition contains the three steps below. Download it, then run this command from a terminal in your hob example project, substituting the downloaded file's path:

hob automation init --stdin --scope private < /path/to/automation.yaml

hob creates a managed bundle and prints its generated ID and exact paths. The example deliberately omits an ID because init assigns one. Creating it does not start a run. Choose shared instead of private if you want the bundle in the project repository for others to use.

- id: check
  name: Check JavaScript
  exec: node
  args: [--check, app.js]

- id: review
  name: Review the guestbook
  agent:
    prompt: |
      The JavaScript syntax check passed. Read app.js and index.html.
      Review note entry, character limits, and browser storage. Do not edit
      the project files. Write a concise Markdown report to
      ${{ run.dir }}/review.md with findings and checks still needing a browser.
      Distinguish code inspection from tests you actually ran.
    permission-mode: ask
  timeout: 10m

- id: report
  name: Show the review
  present:
    file: ${{ run.dir }}/review.md

These snippets are entries in the complete definition's steps list. Use the download above to create the workflow without assembling fragments yourself.

Run it and read the result

Open the saved automation and select Run. Each step shows its own status and duration. Expand a command to inspect its output, an agent step to read that step's conversation, or a presentation to read its captured artifact.

Succeeded describes execution, not the absence of findings. Read the report before deciding the work is ready. If a step fails, inspect its output; later steps normally remain Not run. Correct the problem and start another run. Each run is a new execution, not a resumed process.

Two ways in

Use the Automations panel for quick access to saved workflows and their Run controls. Its rows show recent status alongside the automation name.

The full Automations view contains configuration, the builder, secrets, and run history. Open it from the panel's Overview control, or use hob open view automations.

Run history

Open an automation's Run history to compare earlier runs and revisit their step output, agent exchanges, and captured reports. Runs also appear in project History, unless you muted the automation there. See Stats → Hours to understand which automation agent steps ran outside your working day. An earlier report remains evidence of that earlier run; rerun the workflow for a fresh result against current files.

Where automations live

Private bundles belong to this project on your machine. Shared bundles live in the project's .hob/automations/ registry. Global bundles are available across your projects. Use hob automation show <id-or-name> for the exact bundle and manifest paths.

Shared bundles require human approval; Secrets, schedules, and trust explains initial review, changes, and automatic-run permission.

Declared secrets are encrypted at rest, scrubbed from automation output and history, and never expanded into agent prompts. Those protections apply to hob's automation data paths; they do not make arbitrary files or external tools inaccessible to an agent. See Secrets and trust for the allowed uses.

More automation topics

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