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Schedules ​

Data apps

With schedules, you can configure your data app to build and deploy at a regular cadence, ensuring that the data powering your application stays fresh. You can choose to build your app on a daily or a weekly cadence, and you can configure up to one schedule per data app.

You must have a GitHub repository linked to your data app in order to set up scheduled deploys. If you haven’t done that yet, see the GitHub documentation for instructions.

Configuring a schedule ​

To configure a schedule, create a file named observablehq.cloud.yaml in the root directory of your local Framework project. In that file, specify the type of schedule you want.

ScheduleTiming
hourlyAround :00
dailyAround 11 AM UTC (6 AM EST / 3 AM PST)
weeklyMonday around 11 AM UTC

To set a daily schedule, for example, write:

schedule: daily

Then, commit the file and push it up to your GitHub repository.

Once your schedule configuration has been saved, you should see the schedule in the Automation tab on your app settings page, along with a timestamp showing the time of the next scheduled build.

Screenshot of the Automation tab of a data app. It shows a set of tab titles at the top, with the Automation tab selected. The tab shows a Schedules section, in which there is one schedule set to “daily”. The schedule says that the next build will happen on September 7, 7:00 AM. To the right of the date is a toggle button for pausing and unpausing the schedule.
Schedule configuration in the Automation tab on the app settings page.

You can change the schedule at any time by updating observablehq.cloud.yaml in your Framework project and pushing up your changes.

TIP

Data apps may use two configuration files: observablehq.config.js configures the contents and appearance of your Observable Framework app, and observablehq.cloud.yaml configures how Observable Cloud builds and serves it.

Pausing a schedule ​

If at any point you want to pause a schedule, you can do so by clicking the toggle to the right of the schedule in the Automation tab. Toggle it again to unpause the schedule.