Automation group (sidebar)

What it is

The Automation group is a collapsible row near the top of the Omniscio projects sidebar that nests the "runs on a schedule or on a trigger" features into one place, so the sidebar stays tidy. It ships collapsed by default — click its chevron to expand.

What's inside

• Automation Helper — an in-app assistant that interviews you, then builds, schedules, and registers a real automation for you. On by default.
• Cron Jobs — scheduled automation jobs.
• Recipes — reusable multi-step agent recipes.
• Automations — auto-response and trigger rules.
• Quick Replies — saved snippet templates for replies.
• Scheduled Messages — compose-to-self messages that fire into your inbox. On by default (a fired note lands in your inbox), but its sidebar row is hidden by default — reveal it at Settings → Features → "Show Scheduled Messages in sidebar".

Everything inside keeps running whether the group is expanded or collapsed — collapsing only hides the rows, it never disables the underlying features.

Where to find it

How to use it

• Click the chevron on the left of the row to expand/collapse. The choice persists across launches.
• Click the group row itself (not the chevron) to open a small roll-up panel that lists the members; each one is a shortcut to open it directly.
• To move a member out of the group for solo sidebar use, drag it to a new position or right-click and choose Remove from Category. Right-click the solo item and choose Return to [group name] to put it back.

How it behaves

Collapsing the group only hides the rows — it never disables the underlying features, and everything inside keeps running either way. The expanded/collapsed choice persists across launches, and moving a member out (by drag, or by Remove from Category) only changes where its sidebar row sits: the feature itself is untouched, and the item can be returned to the group at any time. The group is render-only — nesting a member under it never re-parents anything in the database.

For agents

automation-group entry in src/shared/integration-registry.ts; members carry parentGroupId: 'automation-group'. Render nesting is driven by SIDEBAR_PARENT_GROUPS + consolidateChildrenUnderParent in src/renderer/src/features/dashboard/ProjectsSidebar.tsx — render-only, no DB re-parent. Collapse state: automationGroupCollapsed (default true). See projects-sidebar.md and the agent-tools contract.

Related

The sidebar row this group lives in is described in Projects sidebar, which covers the rest of the sidebar layout, categories and the roll-up panels. Of the features inside the group, Automation Rules covers the auto-response engine, Quick Replies the saved snippet library the group's row opens, and Scheduled Messages the compose-to-self messages whose row is hidden by default.