How to Configure Scheduled Tasks with Claude (Step-by-Step)

You’re managing 8 clients. Every Monday you manually run ranking checks. Every month you write reports. Every week you scan for new reviews that need responses. It works, but it’s time you spend on process instead of strategy.

This guide walks through configuring scheduled tasks so the monitoring, reporting, and content drafting runs automatically — and you spend your time on the findings, not the scans.

What You’ll Need

Before configuring tasks, confirm your setup:

  • LocalSEOSkills installed via Claude Code
  • LocalSEOData MCP connection active
  • At least one client brief already set up (tasks write to briefs)

Step 1: Start With Monitoring

The highest-value tasks to automate first are monitoring — they watch for changes and surface alerts.

"Set up weekly ranking monitoring for Peak Roofing Charlotte
targeting 'roof repair Charlotte'."

Claude configures m1-rankings-monitor for this client:

Task configured: m1-rankings-monitor
Client: Peak Roofing — Charlotte
Keyword: roof repair Charlotte
Schedule: Weekly — Monday 7 AM
Tier: Autonomous
Alert thresholds: ARP degrades 2+ positions, SoLV drops 10+ points

Output: briefs/peak-roofing/charlotte/scans/{date}-geogrid.md
Alert path: briefs/peak-roofing/charlotte/alerts/{date}-ranking-drop.md

First scan will run next Monday at 7 AM.

Step 2: Add Review Monitoring

Reviews need faster response times than weekly:

"Also set up daily review monitoring for Peak Roofing Charlotte.
Alert me on anything 3 stars or below."

Claude configures m2-review-velocity:

Task configured: m2-review-velocity
Schedule: Daily — 8 AM
Tier: Autonomous (with alerts)
Alert threshold: Reviews ≤ 3 stars, 1-star always alerts
Notification: Slack #peak-roofing-alerts

When a 1-star review drops, you’ll get a Slack alert within hours rather than discovering it next time you manually check.

Step 3: Configure Content Drafting

GBP posts and review responses are the most time-consuming recurring tasks:

"Set up monthly GBP post drafting for Peak Roofing Charlotte.
Queue posts for my approval before publishing."

Claude configures e1-gbp-post-drafts:

Task configured: e1-gbp-post-drafts
Schedule: Monthly — 1st of month, 8 AM
Tier: Queue (held for approval)
Output: briefs/peak-roofing/charlotte/drafts/{date}-gbp-posts.md
Approval via: Slack #peak-roofing-alerts

4 posts drafted each month:
  - Service spotlight
  - Seasonal offer
  - Educational content
  - Social proof / testimonial

Posts held until you reply APPROVE in Slack.

Step 4: Set Up Automated Reporting

Monthly client reports that write themselves:

"Configure monthly reporting for Peak Roofing Charlotte.
Queue the report for my review before sending to the client."

Claude configures r2-monthly-client-report:

Task configured: r2-monthly-client-report
Schedule: Monthly — 1st, 10 AM
Tier: Queue (held for approval)
Output: briefs/peak-roofing/charlotte/reports/{date}-monthly.md
Approval via: Slack #peak-roofing-alerts

Report includes:
  - Executive summary (3-4 sentences)
  - Key metrics with directional changes
  - Top findings and wins
  - Recommended next steps

Report held until you approve. After approval, sent to client
via configured email channel.

Step 5: Review Your Task Configuration

See all active tasks for a client:

"Show me all scheduled tasks for Peak Roofing."

Claude returns the complete task schedule:

Peak Roofing Charlotte — Active Tasks:
  m1-rankings-monitor    Weekly Mon 7AM    Autonomous
  m2-review-velocity     Daily 8AM         Autonomous
  e1-gbp-post-drafts     Monthly 1st 8AM   Queue
  r2-monthly-client-report Monthly 1st 10AM Queue

No tasks configured for: GBP change monitor, LSA rankings,
AI visibility, citation audit, competitor monitor, QBR

Step 6: Add Tasks Across Clients

Repeat the process for each client. Common starter configurations:

Maintenance clients (stable rankings, established presence):

"Set up standard monitoring for [Client Name]:
weekly rankings, daily reviews, monthly reports."

Active campaign clients (first 90 days, aggressive optimization):

"Set up high-touch monitoring for [Client Name]:
weekly rankings, daily reviews, daily GBP change monitoring,
monthly AI visibility, monthly competitor watch, weekly reports."

Retainer clients (minimal active work):

"Set up minimal monitoring for [Client Name]:
monthly rankings, daily reviews (1-star only), quarterly reports."

Checking Task Outputs

After tasks have run, review their outputs:

"Show me this week's monitoring results for Peak Roofing Charlotte."

Claude reads the latest output files from the brief directory and summarizes findings across all tasks that ran.

Adjusting Schedules and Thresholds

Change a task’s configuration anytime:

"Change Peak Roofing's ranking monitor to biweekly instead of weekly."
"Lower the review alert threshold to 4 stars for Peak Roofing —
they're sensitive about anything below 5."
"Switch Peak Roofing's monthly report from queue to autonomous —
they trust our reports and don't need to preview them."

Troubleshooting

Tasks not running: Verify the client brief exists. Tasks need a brief to write outputs to. Also verify MCP connections are active — monitoring tasks need LocalSEOData to pull data.

Alerts not firing: Check alert thresholds in the brand brief. If thresholds are too loose (e.g., ARP degradation set to 5+ positions), normal fluctuations won’t trigger alerts.

Drafts not appearing for approval: Verify the approval channel is configured in the brand brief. Check that the Slack MCP connection is active.

Output files not found: Check the brief directory structure. Task outputs follow the pattern briefs/{brand}/{location}/{category}/{date}-{type}.md.