Automations
Automations that run themselves.
An automation is a small job your app does on its own — on a schedule, or the moment something happens — and it can use your own AI to read, summarise, and draft. You don't write any code: you ask your assistant in plain words, and it builds the automation on your private server. Your server, your AI, your data.
7-day free trial•From $24/month•Uses your own Claude or OpenAI when it needs to think
How automations work
Software that does the job before you ask.
An automation is a job your app does on its own — nobody has to open it, click it, or remember it. Give it a time to run or an event to watch, let it lean on your own AI when it needs to, and the repetitive work quietly takes care of itself. And you set it all up by asking your assistant, not by writing code.
It runs on time, on its own
Tell it when — every morning, every hour, every Monday — and the job just happens. Nothing to remember, nothing to start by hand, and it keeps running even after an update or a reboot.
It reacts the moment things happen
A form comes in, a payment lands, another tool pings it — and your automation springs into action right then. No waiting, no checking, no one refreshing a page to see if there's work to do.
It can read, write, and decide
Plug in your own Claude or OpenAI account and your automation handles the messy, wordy work — reading, summarising, drafting — not just shuffling data around. Your subscription, never a resold one.
At a set time, or when something happens, your automation does the work — using your own AI when it needs to think — then emails you, alerts you, or updates an app.
Examples
Small helpers that do one job well.
Morning briefing
Each morning it gathers what you care about — today's bookings, new form responses, your calendar — has your AI boil it down, and sends you a one-page brief before you're at your desk.
Lead sorter
When someone fills in your form, the automation scores the lead with your AI and drafts a first reply, then flags the ones worth calling first.
Inbox triage
A new message arrives; the automation sorts it, drafts a reply in your voice, and leaves it on a private page for you to approve.
Weekly report
Every Friday it pulls the week's numbers from your other apps, writes the summary, and emails it to whoever needs it.
Watchdog
It checks a price, a stock level, or a web page on a timer and pings you the moment something crosses a line you set.
Content drafter
Feed it your notes through the week; every Monday it drafts posts or a newsletter for you to edit and send.
Example prompts
Describe the automation. Your assistant builds it.
Paste one of these into an assistant connected to your croft, and tweak the timing and the details to fit. Your assistant writes the app, wires up the schedule, and deploys it.
Daily briefing
Build me a daily briefing app. Each weekday at 7am, collect the day's bookings and any new form submissions from my other apps, using my own OpenAI account (I'll add the key in settings) to summarise them into a short plain-English brief, and email it to me. Keep the last month of briefings on a page behind my login.
Reminder emails
Build me an app that sends reminder emails on a schedule. Let me create reminders with a message, a recipient, and a rule — a specific date, or every week or month. Each morning, check what's due, send those emails, and mark them sent so nothing goes twice. Give me a simple page to add and edit reminders.
Why Croft
An automation needs a home. This is a good one.
Your own AI
Connect the Claude or OpenAI account you already use. We don't resell AI or mark up usage — the thinking is billed by your provider, not by us.
Runs on your server
Your automation lives on a private machine that's yours alone — not a shared, multi-tenant pool you share with strangers.
It can remember
Every app has its own database, so an automation keeps state between runs — what it's seen, what it's done, what to do next.
It can have a face
Because it's just an app, an automation can also have a private dashboard behind your login — not only a job that runs in the dark.
A flat plan price
No per-automation fees, no per-run metering. Your plan covers the ground; your AI account covers the thinking.
Yours to take
Export the whole thing — code, database, schedules — and run it anywhere Docker does. No lock-in, ever.
One honest note
Automations that think use your own AI.
To read, summarise, and decide, an automation uses your own Claude or OpenAI account — the same kind you may already pay for. You connect it once (your assistant walks you through it), Croft keeps it safe, and the AI usage is billed by Claude or OpenAI, not by us. Same bring-your-own-AI deal as the rest of Croft: no markup, no lock-in.
And plenty of useful automations need no AI at all — reminders, overnight syncs, scheduled reports. Those run on your plan alone.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a Croft automation?
An automation is an app that runs on its own — on a schedule, or the moment something happens — like a reminder email, a nightly data sync, or a weekly report. You set it up by asking your assistant, not by writing code.
Do automations use AI?
They can. With your own Claude or OpenAI key, an automation can read, summarise, and decide — for example, a morning briefing. Many automations, like reminders, syncs, and scheduled reports, need no AI at all.
Does Croft have AI agents?
Croft calls these automations, not autonomous agents. They do one job well, on a schedule or when an event happens, exactly as you set them up — not open-ended reasoning loops that wander off.
Do automations cost extra?
No. Schedules and background jobs are part of your plan. AI-powered automations use your own AI account, so the thinking is billed by your provider and never marked up by Croft.
Do automations keep running after a deploy or reboot?
Yes. Schedules are managed by the platform and survive new versions and server restarts, so a recurring job keeps running on time without you touching it.
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