Routines help you stay on top of recurring analysis without starting the same conversation each time. Ask Insights to prepare a daily pickup briefing, or to review selling prices that fall outside their configured minimum or maximum. The result arrives by email as a fresh written analysis.
A Routine works best when the analysis is defined clearly enough to run without you. Once it is set up, Insights follows your instructions and emails the result on the schedule you choose, or when the condition you describe is met.
This article covers:
Choosing between a scheduled and a conditional Routine
Planning the analysis and writing complete instructions
Understanding conditional behavior
Creating a Routine manually or with Chat
Running a Skill from a Routine
Asking for complete results and choosing an email format
Routine or Alert
Managing a Routine
Choose the right type of Routine
Insights offers two ways to start a Routine:
A scheduled Routine runs on a schedule. For example, every morning it could review the previous complete day's pickup for one property and the next 90 stay dates, then explain which stay dates and segments contributed most.
A conditional Routine checks a condition on a schedule and sends the analysis only when the condition is met. For example, it could check for future prices above their maximum or below their minimum, then review the qualifying prices.
Choose a scheduled Routine when timing should start the analysis, and a conditional Routine when a result should decide whether the analysis runs. Either way, the Routine needs complete instructions, because nobody is present to answer a follow-up question while it runs.
For ready-to-use wording, see Routine Examples and Templates in Insights.
Plan the Routine
A Routine runs without someone present, so decide what it needs to do on every run. Define:
Scope: the property, property group, or portfolio to include.
Date logic: the stay dates, update dates, or comparison periods to use.
Measures: the exact figures required, such as Units, ADR, Accommodation Revenue, Occupancy, or RevPAR.
Comparisons: the reference points to use, such as Budget, Forecast, or the same time last year.
Breakdowns: how the figures should be divided, such as by stay date, Segment, Channel, or inventory.
Output: the headline, bullets, table columns, sort order, and maximum number of rows.
No-data behavior: what the email should say when there is nothing meaningful to report.
Before you depend on a Routine, run the instructions in Chat with representative data. Check that the analysis uses the intended property, dates, measures, comparisons, and level of detail, and refine it until the result is useful.
For example, a scheduled Routine could use these Instructions:
Every morning, prepare a pickup briefing for Flagship Austin by Flyr covering the next 90 stay dates. Use the previous complete day's booking activity. Summarize total Units, ADR, and Accommodation Revenue pickup, then identify no more than five stay dates with the largest positive or negative Accommodation Revenue pickup. Explain the contributing segments and finish with a compact table containing Stay Date, Pickup Units, Pickup ADR, Pickup Revenue, and the leading Segment. If there is no meaningful pickup to report, say so clearly. Do not invent a cause.
A conditional Routine has two parts. In Watch for, describe the condition:
At Flagship Austin by Flyr, any inventory for stay dates in the next 30 days where the latest price is above its maximum price or below its minimum price.
In Instructions, describe the analysis to run afterward:
Review every price exception returned. Begin with the number of prices below their minimum and above their maximum. Identify the five largest exceptions by percentage distance from the applicable limit, then note any stay dates or inventory types that appear repeatedly. Finish with a compact table showing Stay Date, Inventory, Latest Price, Minimum Price, Maximum Price, and percentage distance. If the detailed result is incomplete, say what was not fully reviewed.
Watch for decides whether the Routine runs. Instructions decide what it writes.
Understand conditional behavior
A Watch for statement is turned into a query and one of four ways of checking its result:
Result present: the check returns at least one row.
Result missing: the check returns no rows.
Result changed: the result is different from the previous check.
Result unchanged: the result matches the previous check.
You do not enter these in a separate field. Make the behavior clear in your wording, such as "when matching results are present" or "when the result changes from the previous check", and confirm what Insights generated when you test the condition.
"Changed" means the whole result is different, not that a new row appeared. A row can be added, removed, or updated. The first check sets the starting point and sends nothing.
A condition that stays true, such as a list of unmapped values, sends an email at each check until the data changes. That is useful when you want a standing reminder.
To hear about dates at or above 97% occupancy, describe the condition as the dates currently at or above 97% and choose when it should send. The email reviews the complete current result. To investigate a single date, use Chat, and to repeat a method on demand, save it as a Skill. See Skills in Insights.
Create a Routine manually
Manual setup shows every decision a Routine needs and lets you review the complete configuration before saving.
Create a scheduled Routine
Open Routines in Insights and choose to create a new Routine.
Give it a clear name, such as Daily Pickup Briefing — Flagship Austin by Flyr.
Enter the tested Instructions. Choose a Topic when you know where the analysis should begin, or leave Auto-select a topic selected.
Under Trigger, select On a schedule.
Choose how often the Routine runs, then set the day, time, and timezone. The timezone starts as your computer's local timezone, so check it. Custom schedules cannot run more often than hourly.
Add the email recipients.
Review the setup and select Save routine.
Create a conditional Routine
Open Routines in Insights and choose to create a new Routine.
Enter a clear Name.
In Instructions, enter the analysis that should run after the condition is met.
Under Trigger, select When something happens.
In Watch for, describe the qualifying data and when it should start the analysis.
Select Test condition, then Preview query to inspect it. The condition must pass before you can save. Confirm that the query returns what you intend and uses the result behavior you meant. If not, rewrite Watch for and test again. You cannot edit the generated query directly.
Use Checks, On, At, and Times are in to set when Insights checks the condition. A check can happen within 15 minutes of the time you choose.
Add the email recipients, review the setup, and select Save routine.
Keep the condition narrow. Watch for must refer to data in Insights, so it cannot act as a calendar reminder.
Create a Routine with Chat
Chat can set up the same Routine for you. A staged conversation lets you verify the analysis before it runs unattended.
In Chat, describe the analysis, including its property, dates, measures, comparisons, and output.
Ask Insights to run it now. Review the queries and the written result, and correct anything unclear.
Ask Insights to create a Routine from it, and give the remaining details: scheduled or conditional, the schedule or Watch for statement, the timezone, and the recipients.
Review the Routine card and select Edit routine to open the form beside Chat. Confirm the name, Instructions, trigger, schedule, timezone, and recipients.
For a conditional Routine, test the condition and preview its query before you rely on it.
A Routine created through Chat becomes active immediately, and the result goes to you if you do not name recipients. Insights may shorten the tested conversation into concise Instructions, so check that the scope, method, and output are still clear.
Run a Skill from a Routine
If you already have a Skill that does the job, a Routine can run it by its identifier. A Skill that someone has shared with you works too. See Run a Skill Automatically with a Routine for the steps.
Ask for complete results
Test the Routine at the largest property and date scope you plan to use. An email can contain an accurate total while explaining only part of a large result.
Add this kind of wording to your Instructions:
Always include these sections: [list your sections]. If a section has no data, keep its heading and write that no data was returned. If any detailed result is sampled, truncated, or only partly inspected, say what is incomplete and do not present it as a complete ranking.
For a scheduled Routine, use Run now from the Routine's menu, run it more than once, and compare the emails. The figures should agree. If sections or wording differ, tighten the Instructions and test again. When every detailed row is required, use a saved query, dashboard, or scheduled export. If a Routine does not behave as you expect, see Troubleshooting Your Routines.
Choose a useful email format
Routine emails are written responses rather than dashboard images or file exports. You can ask for a short heading, bullet points, bold emphasis, a compact table, and a direct URL when you want recipients to continue to another piece of Insights content.
A simple structure is easiest to scan: a one-sentence headline, three to five findings, one compact table, and a next step or a "nothing to report" statement. The structure you describe is a guide, and wording and emphasis can vary between runs.
To point recipients to a dashboard, include its complete Insights URL in the Instructions and tell the Routine where to place it. Keep the full URL visible rather than asking for linked text. The Routine still analyzes only what its Instructions describe.
Routine or Alert?
Routines and Alerts can both send an email when a condition is met, and both compare with the previous check. An Alert emails content you already built, such as a dashboard or tile. A Routine writes a new analysis. You can keep an existing Alert and add a Routine when you want the explanation alongside it.
For how Alerts work, see Content Sharing Externally from Insights: Schedules & Alerts. To choose between all of the ways of working with AI in Insights, see How AI in Insights Helps You Work Smarter and Faster.
Manage and improve an existing Routine
Open Routines to review and manage a saved Routine.
Find a Routine from Chat: ask a question such as "What routines do I have configured?" or ask Chat to open a Routine by name.
Edit a Routine: open the Routine's menu, select Edit routine, make your changes, review the setup, and save. To request a change through Chat, first open the Routine in the editor beside Chat.
Run a Routine now: open the Routine's menu and select Run now for an off-schedule result. For a conditional Routine, Run now checks the condition first and sends an email only if it is met.
Delete a Routine: open the Routine's menu, select Delete routine, and confirm. Deleting a Routine cannot be undone and stops future runs.
After editing the Instructions, test again with representative data. After changing Watch for, test the condition again and inspect the new query. When the output needs improvement, change one part of the instructions at a time.
Good to know
Routines are delivered by email.
A Routine sends a written analysis, not a chart, image, PDF, spreadsheet, or CSV.
Output wording and formatting can vary between runs, so test before you rely on a Routine.
A triggered analysis may use every row the condition returns, so do not assume it knows which row caused "Result changed".
A broad detailed analysis may be sampled or truncated. Use a saved query or export when every row is required.
Every run uses the data permissions of the person who created the Routine. All recipients receive the same result, so review the recipient list before you send results beyond your usual working group.
Have product questions or see a result you did not expect? Select ? Help in the lower-left corner of the side navigation panel to contact our support team.