Choose Strict for repeatable work
Pick a job with the same trigger, inputs and output every time, then answer New worker's one question with Strict.
✦ Tutorial · Intermediate
Build your first strict worker
Teach a worker the steps for one repeatable job, read the steps it will follow, test with Dry run, approve the steps that ask you first and set when it runs.
Start tutorialYOUR OUTCOME
You will have a strict worker that follows taught steps for one recurring job, tested with Dry run and set to run on its own.
Choose Strict for work done the same way every time Test with Dry run before the first real run Let steps that send or post ask you first
3 min
Teach it the steps
Describe the job in the setup card, answer Lato's questions in the Chat tab, then turn what you taught into steps.
Read the steps it will follow
Check the Steps tab before any run: what each step does, which ones ask you first and which need a connection.
Test with Dry run, then approve
Run a Dry run first, read the result in Runs, then run it for real and approve the steps that ask you first.
Set when it runs
In the Settings tab, choose one repeating time or an event, then check the next three runs.
What each lesson covers
The tutorial, lesson by lesson.
Choose Strict for repeatable work
Pick a job with the same trigger, inputs and output every time, then answer New worker's one question with Strict.
A strict worker follows the steps you teach it, in the same order, on every run. That suits work with a stable trigger, inputs that live in the same place, one clear output and one person who checks it. New worker asks one question first: Should it do this the same way every time? Yes, follow my steps makes a strict worker. No, use its judgement makes a flexible worker instead, for work that changes from run to run. You can switch later from the Strict tag next to its name, and undo the switch straight after.
Practice. In the sidebar, click New worker. Read the question, then choose Yes, follow my steps for a job you already do the same way each week.
Before you click New worker, test the job in a chat: Here are five things my team does weekly: reconcile card receipts, chase overdue invoices, post the Monday roster, answer one-off pricing questions, compile the Friday KPI email. Which one follows the same steps every time, with a stable trigger, inputs in one place, a clear output and one owner?
Teach it the steps
Describe the job in the setup card, answer Lato's questions in the Chat tab, then turn what you taught into steps.
A new strict worker opens on its Chat tab with a setup card that asks for its name and the job it should do. Start teaching hands the job to Lato, which asks about anything it needs to repeat the job reliably: where the inputs live, what to check, when to stop and what to hand back. When it has enough, it offers Compile now, which turns the conversation into the worker's steps. You can also start from a chat: after a task you want again, Keep doing this, under the reply or in the chat's title menu, offers Save as strict worker.
Practice. Give the worker a name and a one-paragraph job, choose Start teaching, and answer each question in a line or two. Choose Compile now when Lato offers it.
Name: Weekly KPI email. What job should it do? Every Friday, read kpi-tracker.xlsx, compare the six KPIs with last week, write three sentences on each and email the summary to the leadership team. If a KPI is missing or moved more than 30%, stop and tell me instead of guessing.
Read the steps it will follow
Check the Steps tab before any run: what each step does, which ones ask you first and which need a connection.
The Steps tab lists exactly what the worker will do on every run, under the note Runs exactly these steps. Change them in Chat. A step that sends, posts or changes something other people can see is marked Asks you first. A step marked Needs a connection is waiting for an account: connect it in the Settings tab, where Connectors has Add connector. To change a step, explain the change in the Chat tab and press Recompile.
Practice. Open Steps and read every step as if you were handing it to a new colleague. If one is wrong or missing, say so in Chat, press Recompile and read Steps again.
In the Chat tab: Only include KPIs that moved more than 5% from last week, and ask me before the email goes out.
Test with Dry run, then approve
Run a Dry run first, read the result in Runs, then run it for real and approve the steps that ask you first.
Dry run works through every step and writes the content, but it does not send, post, save files or change connected accounts; those steps show what they would have done instead, and steps that ask you first do not stop. Read the result in the Runs tab. When it looks right, Run now does it for real. A real run pauses before a step marked Asks you first that sends, posts or uses a connected account, with a card in the Chat tab: Approve and continue lets it carry on, Reject cancels the run, and View in Runs shows the details. While it waits, the worker shows under Needs you in the sidebar.
Practice. Press Dry run and open the result in Runs. Fix anything wrong by teaching in Chat and pressing Recompile. Then press Run now and decide on the first step that asks you.
Press Dry run, open the run in the Runs tab and check the summary against kpi-tracker.xlsx. Then press Run now.
Set when it runs
In the Settings tab, choose one repeating time or an event, then check the next three runs.
A strict worker has one repeating time. In the Settings tab, When it runs offers presets such as Weekdays 9:00, Mondays 9:00 and Fridays 16:00, plus Custom and Advanced, a Time zone and the Next three runs. On demand means it runs only when you press Run now. Under When something happens, a webhook, an email, a Slack channel or a watched folder can start it instead; File watch works with the local desktop agent only.
Practice. Open Settings, choose Add a time, pick the preset closest to when you do the job today, check the time zone and read the next three runs before you save.
Settings, When it runs, Add a time: Fridays 16:00, Time zone Australia/Sydney, then Save.
Keep going
Make the learning stick
Start with one real piece of work.
Open Oppermind beside the lesson, apply each step, and leave with something you can use.