> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://ona.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Background automations

> Proactive background agents that combine AI prompts with deterministic commands in trigger-based, closed-loop workflows.

Automations are background agents that run in the cloud. They combine AI prompts with deterministic commands to deliver merge-ready pull requests — triggered manually, on a schedule, on pull request events, or via webhooks.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/gitpod-13c83c2b/4vgXCiQwLDATxcBd/images/automations/create-automation-landing.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=4vgXCiQwLDATxcBd&q=85&s=481ff63df36571a9f377c58883840e14" alt="Automations page" width="2518" height="1638" data-path="images/automations/create-automation-landing.png" />

<Tip>
  Automations work best with [projects](/ona/projects/overview). A project provides the Dev Container configuration, pre-installed dependencies, and environment settings that every Automation run uses. Set up a [project](/ona/create-first-project) first, then build Automations on top of it.
</Tip>

## How Automations work

Every Automation follows a closed-loop workflow:

1. **Trigger**: run manually, on PR events, on a schedule, or via webhook.
2. **Execute**: Ona clones, branches, installs, builds, tests, iterates, commits, pushes, and opens a PR. The same loop a human engineer runs, except Automations can do it across hundreds of repos in parallel.
3. **Review**: inspect outputs, logs, and linked PRs. Approve and merge when satisfied.

Every Automation runs in a fully configured environment defined by `devcontainer.json` and `automations.yaml`. Dependencies install, services start, tools are available. Not a minimal CI runner, but a full development environment.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/gitpod-13c83c2b/4vgXCiQwLDATxcBd/images/automations/overview_2.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=4vgXCiQwLDATxcBd&q=85&s=fdcfbf6ab5da5f5ca2093544031e7dda" alt="Automation execution dashboard" width="3118" height="1871" data-path="images/automations/overview_2.png" />

For how Automations fit into the broader platform, see [Core Components](/ona/understanding/core-components#automations).

## Runs in the cloud

Automations run in the background. Your laptop does not need to be on. Review results from your phone or iPad.

On Ona Cloud, execution happens in Ona's infrastructure. Enterprise customers can run Ona in their own network (AWS, GCP), giving Automations the same connectivity and context your engineers have: query databases, hit internal APIs, run the full test suite against staging without tunnels or exported secrets.

## Integrations

Ona has native integrations with [Linear](/ona/integrations/configure-linear), [Sentry](/ona/integrations/configure-sentry), [Notion](/ona/integrations/configure-notion), [Granola](/ona/integrations/configure-granola), [GitHub, GitLab, and Atlassian](/ona/integrations/configure-atlassian), giving Automations the same context and permissions your engineers have to read backlogs, triage issues, and open PRs.

Any [MCP server](/ona/mcp) can be added as config-in-code via `.ona/mcp-config.json` in your repository.

## Use cases

Get started with a template or [build your own from scratch](/ona/automations/configure-automations).

<div className="overview-cards">
  <a href="https://ona.com/templates/10x-engineer" className="overview-card">
    <div className="overview-card-content">
      <div className="overview-card-title">Autonomous backlog picker</div>
      <div className="overview-card-desc">Runs daily. Picks your top Linear issue, implements it, runs tests, and opens a draft PR.</div>
      <div className="overview-card-link">Use template →</div>
    </div>
  </a>

  <a href="https://ona.com/templates/sentry-error-triage-and-fix" className="overview-card">
    <div className="overview-card-content">
      <div className="overview-card-title">Sentry error triage and fix</div>
      <div className="overview-card-desc">Triages new Sentry issues, traces them to source, applies fixes, and opens PRs.</div>
      <div className="overview-card-link">Use template →</div>
    </div>
  </a>

  <a href="https://ona.com/templates/cve-mitigation-dependency-updates" className="overview-card">
    <div className="overview-card-content">
      <div className="overview-card-title">CVE remediation</div>
      <div className="overview-card-desc">Runs security scans, resolves CVEs, reruns until clean, and creates standardized PRs.</div>
      <div className="overview-card-link">Use template →</div>
    </div>
  </a>

  <a href="https://ona.com/templates/scan-recent-commits-for-bugs" className="overview-card">
    <div className="overview-card-content">
      <div className="overview-card-title">Scan recent commits for bugs</div>
      <div className="overview-card-desc">Scans recent commits for likely bugs and proposes minimal fixes in a draft PR.</div>
      <div className="overview-card-link">Use template →</div>
    </div>
  </a>

  <a href="https://ona.com/templates/draft-weekly-release-notes" className="overview-card">
    <div className="overview-card-content">
      <div className="overview-card-title">Draft weekly release notes</div>
      <div className="overview-card-desc">Drafts release notes from the week's merged PRs, grouped by category with summaries.</div>
      <div className="overview-card-link">Use template →</div>
    </div>
  </a>

  <a href="https://ona.com/templates/daily-standup-generator" className="overview-card">
    <div className="overview-card-content">
      <div className="overview-card-title">Daily standup generator</div>
      <div className="overview-card-desc">Pulls Linear sprint data and git activity to post a formatted daily standup update.</div>
      <div className="overview-card-link">Use template →</div>
    </div>
  </a>
</div>

See [Automations in practice](/ona/automations/automations-in-practice) for detailed setup guides for each use case.

## Access

Automations are available on Core and Enterprise plans with [plan-based limits](/ona/automations/plans-and-limits) on the number of Automations, concurrent actions, and features like webhooks. Enterprise organizations require [Ona Intelligence](https://ona.com/contact/sales).

Organization admins can [share Automations with individual users and groups](/ona/automations/sharing-automations), allowing team members to run pre-built Automations without admin privileges.

## Related: Tasks and Services

Automations run across repositories at scale. For per-environment automation (database seeding, server startup, test commands), see [Tasks and Services](/ona/configuration/tasks-and-services/overview). Tasks and Services are configured in `automations.yaml` and run within individual environments.

## FAQ

<Accordion title="Can I see Automation environments in the sidebar?">
  No. Automation environments are isolated execution contexts, not interactive environments.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="How should I iterate on an Automation?">
  Test on one or a few repositories first. Review results, adjust steps, then scale up gradually.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Projects vs repositories: when to use which?">
  **Projects**: repetitive tasks on known repositories, pull request triggers.

  **Repositories**: large-scale migrations across thousands of repos, fine-grained selection.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Where should I install packages?">
  Always in your Dev Container configuration. Packages are then available for all steps, pre-installed for faster runs.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="How do I integrate with external systems?">
  Configure [MCP integrations](/ona/mcp) in Settings > Integrations. These are then available to your Automations.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Can I pause an Automation without deleting it?">
  Yes. Disable it from the three-dot menu in the list or the toggle on the details page. Disabled Automations retain their configuration and history but won't start new runs. See [Enable and disable](/ona/automations/configure-automations#enable-and-disable).
</Accordion>