Automations and Modes: Let Your PC Do the Routine Parts
Automations run a few steps by themselves when something happens: a monitor is plugged in, a program comes to the front, a call starts, the laptop goes on
Automations run a few steps by themselves when something happens: a monitor is plugged in, a program comes to the front, a call starts, the laptop goes on battery, it is 9:00 on a weekday. Modes switch several things at once (pop-ups, alert sounds, the Touch Bar, the microphone, the volume ...) and put them back when they end.
Both are part of the free SlyPilot. Nothing runs until you make or switch on an automation, and a step that could cost you something asks you first.
WHEN something happens ONLY IF (optional) DO
───────────────────────── ────────────────────────── ─────────────────────────────
a monitor is connected ──► weekdays and 09:00-17:30 ──► start presenting
Photoshop comes to the front 2 monitors go to desktop 2; volume 30
a call starts / ends plugged in / on battery any voice command or macro step
on battery, below 20 % meeting mode is on a macro of your own
idle 15 minutes, back, lock ... chrome.exe is running ... or a mode: start meeting mode✨ At a Glance
| What you want | How | |
|---|---|---|
| Start presenting when the projector is plugged in | A template: Projector connected: start presenting (and disconnected: stop presenting). | free |
| Open your work layout on weekday mornings | At a time of day: 09:00 weekdays, steps: restore workspace work. | free |
| Quieter on battery | The PC goes on battery: volume 30; is plugged in: back. | free |
| No pings during calls | A call starts: mute alert sounds, or start Meeting mode; a call ends: undo it. | free |
| Pause the music when you walk away | The PC is left alone for 15 minutes: pause music. | free |
| One button for the end of the day | Only when I start it: save the layout, show the desktop. Say "run automation end of day". | free |
| Concentrate for 50 minutes | "start deep work mode": pop-ups and alert sounds off, the Touch Bar away, a countdown that ends it. | free |
| Several at once | Meeting mode and Presenting mode together: what both want stays until both have ended. | free |
When: what can start an automation
| Trigger | Example |
|---|---|
| A program comes to the front (with words of its title if you want) | front photoshop.exe, front chrome.exe Gmail |
| A program starts / closes (its last window) | app zoom.exe, close zoom.exe |
| A window with these words in its title opens | window Invoice |
| A time of day (daily, weekdays, weekends or days you name), or every few minutes | at 09:00 weekdays, every 30 minutes |
| A monitor is connected or disconnected, a number of monitors, one monitor setup | monitors connected, monitors 2 |
| On battery, plugged in, the battery below a level | power battery, power below 20 |
| The PC wakes up, is left alone, you come back, it is locked or unlocked | wake, idle 15, back, lock, unlock |
| A call starts or ends (a program that is not SlyPilot's own uses the microphone; it ends after 10 seconds without) | call starts, call ends |
| The PC joins or leaves a network (Wi-Fi or cable, by the name Windows shows; or any network: online / offline) | network Office connected, network disconnected |
| Headphones, a headset or a speaker connects or disconnects (words of its name) | audio headphones connected |
| A USB drive is plugged in or removed (any, or by letter or label) | drive connected, drive E disconnected |
| You switch to a desktop (its number or name) | desktop 2 |
| A mode starts or ends | mode meeting starts |
| A new file arrives in a folder; text with some words is copied | folder C:\Users\you\Downloads *.pdf, clipboard https:// |
| SlyPilot starts; only when you start it | start, manual |
Only if adds conditions that must all hold: a time window (also over midnight, such as 22:00-06:00), days, battery or plugged in, a number of monitors, a program running or not, a desktop, a mode on or off, a network (network home, not network office), an audio device (audio headphones).
Do is a macro of your own, or the steps themselves: any of SlyPilot's voice commands by its words ("go to desktop 2", "volume 30", "start presenting"), and the macro steps (send: keys, text:, run: a program or site, sleep:, say:, speak: ...). The editor has the same step picker as the Voice Library.
Safe by design
- Off until you switch it on. Templates start switched off.
- A risky step asks first. A step that asks for a confirm when you say it (remove a desktop, close all other windows, sleep ...) shows a small card at the bottom right of the screen: what started it and every step in plain words, Run it or Skip. No answer in a minute = skipped. The card never takes the keyboard focus and ignores a click in its first second, so a click meant for something else cannot land on it. You can tick "run without asking" for one automation; turning off, restarting or signing out the PC always asks.
- It waits for you. Triggers you did not cause (a time, a file, a monitor) wait until you stop typing, then count down three seconds (Escape cancels).
- No storms. Each automation waits a minute before it runs again (10 seconds for a program in front, a desktop, coming back, unlocking), at most 60 runs an hour, and 20 runs in one minute pause every automation with a note. An automation started by another one counts one level deeper and stops at two.
- One switch: "pause automations" (or the button in the window) stops them all.
- A log: the Automations window shows the last 100 runs;
logs\automations.logkeeps more (names, triggers and results, never text you typed).
Modes
| Mode | What it changes | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Deep work | pop-up notifications off, SlyPilot's alert sounds off, the Touch Bar away | after 50 minutes, or when you say so |
| Meeting | pop-ups and alert sounds off, the PC kept awake | when you say so |
| Gaming | pop-ups and voice commands off, the Touch Bar away, the PC kept awake | when you say so |
| Your own | any of: pop-up notifications, keep the PC awake, Touch Bar, desktop icons, SlyPilot's own messages, alert sounds, microphone, volume, speakers, voice commands, pointer highlight, shortcut display; steps when it starts and when it ends; minutes after which it ends |
Putting back is careful: when a mode ends, a setting goes back only if it is still what the mode set. If you unmuted the microphone during Meeting mode, ending the mode does not mute it again. Several modes can be on: the newest wins where they differ, and ending one goes back to the older mode's value. Presenting mode works together with them. Closing SlyPilot ends the modes; after a crash, the next start puts everything back.
Say "start meeting mode", "deep work mode for thirty minutes", "stop meeting mode", "which mode is on", "end the modes". The tray menu (Voice Commands > Modes) has a check mark on each mode that is on.
For AI assistants
An assistant connected through MCP or the agent API (slypilot_automation, agent automation ..., agent mode ...) can list your automations and modes, read the log, run one, switch one off, pause them, and start or end a mode. Making, changing, deleting or switching on an automation, and making or deleting a mode, wait for your click on a card that shows the whole automation in words. What an assistant makes is saved switched off and carries its name. See Assistants That Point and Draw and the AI Assistant Guide.
Next Steps
- Step by step: the Automations and Modes Guide →
- Build the steps: Voice Commands → (macros, the step picker, the Voice Library)
- Presenting mode: Presenter Tools →