> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.chrt.com/prod/shippers/order-schedules/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.chrt.com/_mcp/server.

# Order Schedules

> Set up, activate, and manage recurring orders in chrt — schedule editor, lifecycle actions, and where generated orders show up.

An **order schedule** is a saved draft (the "manifest") paired with a
recurrence rule. chrt generates a new draft order automatically each time the
schedule fires — daily, weekly, on specific weekdays, or any cadence you can
express as a cron-style rule. Use schedules for recurring routes (a 6 AM lab
run, a weekly distribution lane) so you don't rebuild the same draft over and
over.

## Before you start

* You need a draft order that represents one "instance" of the recurring
  shipment. The schedule reuses this as a manifest each time it generates a
  new order.
* Once a schedule is **active**, its name, description, and manifest are
  locked. To change them, archive the schedule and create a new one — or pause
  it first if it's only temporarily wrong.

## 1. Open Order schedules

Open [chrt.com/orders/schedules](https://chrt.com/orders/schedules). The page
lists all schedules in your org with their status, next-run timestamp, and
quick actions.

Use the **Calendar** view for a visual layout of upcoming runs across
schedules.

## 2. Create a new schedule

1. Click **New scheduled order** to open the schedule editor sheet.
2. Enter a **name** and an optional **description**.
3. Pick the **template draft** that will be used as the manifest. If you
   opened the editor from an existing draft, the template is pre-selected and
   locked.
4. Configure the **recurrence rule** — frequency (daily, weekly, monthly),
   interval, weekday selection, and timezone. chrt auto-defaults the timezone
   to the first task location's timezone when a manifest is present; you can
   override it.
5. Assign task groups to the schedule (if your manifest has multiple).

Click **Validate manifest** to confirm the draft has everything it needs to
generate real orders. The validator returns a checklist of requirements — for
example, "no coordinator assigned" or "tasks missing coordinates." Fix any
failures in the underlying draft before activating.

## 3. Activate the schedule

A new schedule starts in **Draft** status — no orders are generated until
you activate it.

1. Open the schedule's actions menu and click **Activate**.
2. chrt re-runs validation, registers the schedule with the orchestrator, and
   moves the status to **Active**.

Once active, chrt generates a new draft order each time the recurrence fires.
Generated orders carry provenance fields so you can trace them back to the
schedule from the order page.

## 4. Manage active schedules

The actions menu shows the relevant options based on the schedule's current
state:

| Action             | Available when        | What it does                                                   |
| ------------------ | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Unpause**        | Paused                | Resume generating orders on the recurrence.                    |
| **Pause**          | Active                | Stop generating orders without archiving. Reversible.          |
| **Activate**       | Draft                 | Validate the manifest and start generating orders.             |
| **Edit**           | Draft only            | Open the editor sheet to change the schedule.                  |
| **Take ownership** | Owned by someone else | Transfer the schedule to your user.                            |
| **Trigger now**    | Active                | Generate one order immediately, without affecting future runs. |
| **Archive**        | Any                   | Permanently stop the schedule. Cannot be undone.               |

> **Warning**
>
> Archiving is irreversible. If you're not sure whether you want to stop the
> schedule permanently, **Pause** it first — you can always unpause later.

## 5. Find orders generated by a schedule

Generated orders appear in [Orders](https://chrt.com/orders) like any other
order. The order detail page links back to the originating schedule. From the
schedule's detail page, you can see the count of generated orders and the
live orchestrator status.

## How to know it worked

* The schedule's status is **Active**.
* The **Next run** column shows a future timestamp.
* A draft order appears in [Orders](https://chrt.com/orders) at each scheduled
  run, with a link back to the schedule.

## If something looks different

* **Activate fails with validation errors** — open the source draft, fix the
  missing fields, and try again. Common gaps: no addresses on stops, no cargo
  selected at a stop, no assigned coordinator org.
* **Schedule is active but no orders appear** — confirm the next-run timestamp
  has actually passed. If your recurrence runs on a specific weekday or hour,
  the next run may be days away.
* **You can't edit a schedule that's clearly wrong** — only Draft schedules
  can be edited. Pause the schedule, archive it, and create a fresh one if
  the manifest needs to change.
* **A schedule belongs to a teammate who's left** — use **Take ownership** to
  transfer it to yourself.
* Contact [hi@chrt.com](mailto:hi@chrt.com) if you have issues.

## Related guides

* [Creating shipments](/shippers/creating-shipments) — build the template
  draft that becomes the schedule's manifest.
* [Tracking shipments](/shippers/tracking) — follow each generated order
  individually.
* [Notifications](/shippers/notifications) — get alerted when schedule-generated
  orders are staged or completed.

> Save a draft as a recurring template and have chrt generate orders automatically.