# Schedule reports to run automatically

Turn a report template into a recurring report: the Report Scheduler trigger's interval-and-offset schedule, the Generate Report action, where the output lands, and the delete-order dependency that trips template cleanup.

Product: content-central · Versions: 7.x · Audience: catalog-administrator · Time: 20 minutes · Last verified: 2026-09-05

Canonical: https://help.ademero.com/content-central/reports-and-exports/schedule-reports-to-run-automatically

**At the end of this guide your report regenerates itself on a schedule — every night, every Monday, the first of the month — and you'll know how to express the schedule in the trigger's interval-and-offset language, plus the dependency rules that matter when templates get cleaned up.**

Scheduling is the [same three-part assembly as any automation](/content-central/workflow/workflow-rules-triggers-and-actions) — trigger, action, rule — with one constraint worth knowing up front: **report scheduling is global-only.** All three pieces are built under **Administration** > **Workflow**, never under a document type.

## Step 1 — The trigger: when

1. Under **Administration** > **Workflow** > **Triggers**, add a trigger of **Type:** **Reports** (its subtype is **Report Scheduler**).

2. Express the schedule as an interval plus offsets — there's no clock picker, and the grammar takes one example to click:
   
   | You want | Process Interval | on Day | on Hour | on Minute |
   |---|---|---|---|---|
   | Nightly at 2:00 AM | **Every Day** | — | 2 | 0 |
   | Mondays at 6:30 AM | **Every Week** | 1 | 6 | 30 |
   | First of the month, 5 AM | **Every Month** | 1 | 5 | 0 |
   | Hourly on the half hour | **Every Hour** | — | — | 30 |
   
   **Process Start** decides the first run: **On First Interval** (wait for the schedule) or **On Workflow-Service Start** (also run when the service starts — handy after maintenance windows).

*[Screenshot: A schedule expressed in the trigger's grammar: the Process Interval plus its day/hour/minute offsets.]*

## Step 2 — The action: what

Under **Workflow** > **Actions**, add a **Generate Report** action. It has exactly one setting — **Report Template:** — pick yours. ("There are no available report templates" means [that half](/content-central/reports-and-exports/create-a-report) hasn't happened yet.)

*[Screenshot: One decision: which template runs. Everything about the output lives on the template itself.]*

## Step 3 — The rule: wire them

Under **Workflow** > **Rules**, create a rule: your Report Scheduler trigger, your Generate Report action, **Enabled**. Done — the report now regenerates on schedule.

## Where the output goes — and doesn't

Each run writes the file to the server's Reports area, into a folder named for the template, honoring the template's **Write mode** (**Append**, **Replace**, or **Keep All**). Two consequences:

- **Nothing is emailed.** The generated file stays on the server; the **Download Report** icon on the template's row (**Administration** > **Report Templates**) fetches the latest. If people expect delivery, point them at that page — or have the server folder picked up by whatever moves files in your shop.
- **Append mode accumulates deliberately** — a nightly Append report is a growing log, not a fresh snapshot. Pick the write mode to match the question the report answers.

## The dependency web (read before deleting anything)

Scheduled reporting links objects that then protect each other from deletion, each with its own refusal:

| You try to delete | You're told |
| --- | --- |
| A field the template outputs or filters by | "This field is used in report template(s) and cannot be deleted." |
| An approval process a template reports on | "Approval process is used by report templates" |
| The template itself, while a Generate Report action uses it | "Report template is used by workflow actions" |

So teardown runs in reverse: rule → action → template → then the field is free. These refusals are the feature working — a schedule silently generating a broken report would be worse.

**Success check:** set the trigger a few minutes ahead, let it fire once, and confirm the file's timestamp on the Report Templates page (**Download Report**) — then set the real schedule.

## What's next

- [Create a report](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/reports-and-exports/create-a-report)
- [Build workflow rules: triggers and actions](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/workflow-rules-triggers-and-actions)