MCP connections give Claude live data access. But you still need to ask for it. The task scheduler removes that last manual step — it runs Claude agents on a defined schedule, without you triggering them.

This is the mechanism that moves you from Level 2 (you initiate everything) to Level 3 (Claude runs on its own).

What the Claude Task Scheduler Does

The Claude Task Scheduler is a system that lets you define automated Claude tasks — each one consisting of:

• A prompt — what Claude should do (e.g., “analyze this week’s PPC performance”)
• A schedule — when to run it (e.g., every Sunday at 6pm)
• An output destination — where to send the results (e.g., a file, a Slack channel, an email)

Once defined, the task runs automatically on that schedule. You do not need to open VS Code. You do not need to type anything. The task runs, produces output, and delivers it to wherever you specified.

Real Examples for Amazon Sellers

Weekly PPC Digest — Every Sunday at 6pm

Prompt: "Query my Amazon advertising data for the past 7 days.
Calculate ACoS, spend, and sales by campaign.
Flag any campaign with ACoS over 35%.
Write a plain-English summary of performance and the top 3 actions I should take this week.
Post the summary to Slack."

Schedule: Every Sunday at 6pm
Output: Slack message in #amazon-business
        

Inventory Alert — Every Tuesday and Friday at 8am

Prompt: "Check my current FBA inventory levels.
For each active ASIN, calculate days of cover at current 30-day velocity.
If any ASIN has less than 45 days of cover, flag it and calculate the reorder quantity needed for 90 days.
If any reorder is needed, send me an alert with the details."

Schedule: Every Tuesday and Friday at 8am
Output: Slack message (only if reorder needed)
        

Monthly Business Summary — 1st of Every Month at 9am

Prompt: "Pull last month's orders, ad spend, and inventory costs.
Calculate total revenue, total ad spend, total fees.
Compare to the prior month.
Write a one-page business summary with highlights and concerns.
Save to /analysis/monthly-summary-[month].md."

Schedule: 1st of every month at 9am
Output: File saved to /analysis
        

How to Set Up a Scheduled Task

The Claude Task Scheduler is built into Claude Code. Here is how to create a scheduled task:

1. Open Claude Code in VS Code
2. Use the /schedule command to create a new scheduled task
3. Define the prompt, schedule (cron format or natural language), and output destination
4. Confirm the task — it will appear in your scheduled tasks list
5. To view or manage tasks, use /schedule list in Claude Code

You can also specify tasks in natural language: “Run this every Sunday at 6pm” rather than writing a cron expression. Claude Code converts it.

Cron Schedules: A Quick Reference

If you want more control over your schedule, you can use cron expressions. Here are the ones Amazon sellers use most:

Schedule	Cron Expression
Every Sunday at 6pm	0 18 * * 0
Every Monday at 8am	0 8 * * 1
Every Tuesday and Friday at 9am	0 9 * * 2,5
1st of every month at 9am	0 9 1 * *
Every weekday at 7am	0 7 * * 1-5

You do not need to memorize cron syntax — Claude Code accepts natural language schedules as well.

Output Destinations

Scheduled tasks can deliver output to:

• A file — saved to your /analysis folder (or wherever you specify)
• Slack — posted to a channel as a message
• Email — if your email MCP is configured
• A combination — save the detailed file AND post a summary to Slack

Slack is the most useful output for time-sensitive alerts. File output is better for detailed reports you will reference later. Many workflows use both.

What You Need Before Setting Up Scheduled Tasks

Before scheduling a task that uses Amazon data, you need the Seller Labs Amazon MCP configured (covered in Module 4). Without the MCP, scheduled tasks that query live Amazon data will not work.

If you do not have the MCP yet, you can still set up file-based scheduled tasks (ones that read from your /reports folder) as a starting point.