How do I change or pause a task's schedule?

Pause a task to stop its scheduling while keeping its instructions and saved schedule. Update the task to replace the schedule, or remove the schedule when you want to keep only the task. These actions also affect pending occurrences.

These commands require Task CLI 0.1.2 or later. Run socra update if your installed plugin predates that release.

Replace TASK_ID with the task's ID. To pause scheduling:

socra task pause TASK_ID

Pausing clears the next run and cancels pending occurrences. It cannot undo work that has already started outside Tasks. To resume an active task with a valid saved schedule:

socra task resume TASK_ID

Replacing the schedule on a pending or in-progress task calculates its next run and resumes scheduling, even if it was paused. If you need it to stay paused, pause it again after the change. For a weekly run at 09:00 on Monday in Chicago, replace the schedule with:

socra task update TASK_ID --cron "0 9 * * 1" --timezone America/Chicago

Calendar schedules use five cron fields and an IANA time zone. Without a specified time zone, the default is UTC. Fixed intervals use values such as 30m or 2h, with a minimum of 60 seconds.

Use only one scheduling option in an update. To remove scheduling entirely:

socra task update TASK_ID --clear-schedule

Read the task again to confirm its saved schedule, paused state, and next run. A schedule change invalidates pending occurrences from the previous schedule. A past one-time schedule needs a future time before it can resume.

To choose a future one-time run, use an ISO timestamp with Z or a time-zone offset:

socra task update TASK_ID --at "2030-01-15T09:00:00-07:00"

Replace this example with your intended future date and offset. On an active task, this update also resumes scheduling.