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Automation is optional and ran independently from Orbit.
Without these, you’ll need to manually refresh certain aspects of your Workspace. You’ll only need to set these up if you’re self-hosting or using vercel.
We handle it for you on Cloud Instances.
You must be on Orbit 2.1.4beta5 or later.

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Self-Hosting

This section is for anyone running Orbit on a dedicated or virtual linux based operating system.
  1. In your root folder, create a file named .automation_env 
    nano /root/.automation_env
  2. Insert a 32 character secret key and save (X -> **Y **-> Enter). 
    export CRON_SECRET='INSERT_CODE_HERE'
  3. Next, you’ll need to add this to your Orbit **.env **and save (X -> **Y **-> Enter). 
    nano /root/orbit/.env

    CRON_SECRET="INSERT_SAME_CODE"
  4. Next we’ll need to insert the code into Crontab. 
    crontab -e
    At the bottom of the file, paste the following. Be sure to change the URL to your own.
    Once done, save. (X -> **Y **-> Enter)     
    * * * * * . /root/.automation_env && /usr/bin/curl -fsS -X POST 'https://instance.planetaryapp.cloud/api/cron/update-sessions' -H "x-cron-secret: $CRON_SECRET" | /usr/bin/jq -r || true
0 * * * * . /root/.automation_env && /usr/bin/curl -fsS -X POST 'https://instance.planetaryapp.cloud/api/cron/update-roles' -H "x-cron-secret: $CRON_SECRET" | /usr/bin/jq -r || true
  5. Done!
    • Your group roles will now automatically sync every hour adding any new members to your workspace.
    • Your session statuses will now update in accordance with the statuses setup enhancing your API Development Opportunities.

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Vercel

  1. In your GitHub repo, add a secret CRON_SECRET (Settings → Secrets & variables → Actions → New repository secret). Put the same value you set in Vercel env.
  2. Create a workflow file: .github/workflows/cron-session-webhooks.yml
  3. Example workflow (copy/paste): 
    name: Update Roles Cron

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 * * * *' # every hour
  workflow_dispatch: {}

jobs:
  call-cron:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Call Vercel cron endpoint
        env:
          CRON_SECRET: ${{ secrets.CRON_SECRET }}
          TARGET_URL: https://instance.planetaryapp.cloud/api/cron/update-roles
        run: |
          # Use curl, fail if non-2xx
          echo "Calling $TARGET_URL"
          curl -sS -X POST "$TARGET_URL" -H "x-cron-secret: $CRON_SECRET" -H "Content-Type: application/json" --fail -o /dev/null
          echo "OK"

    name: Update Sessions Cron

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '* * * * *' # every hour
  workflow_dispatch: {}

jobs:
  call-cron:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Call Vercel cron endpoint
        env:
          CRON_SECRET: ${{ secrets.CRON_SECRET }}
          TARGET_URL: https://instance.planetaryapp.cloud/api/cron/update-sessions
        run: |
          # Use curl, fail if non-2xx
          echo "Calling $TARGET_URL"
          curl -sS -X POST "$TARGET_URL" -H "x-cron-secret: $CRON_SECRET" -H "Content-Type: application/json" --fail -o /dev/null
          echo "OK"
  4. Replace https://instance.planetaryapp.cloud with your real domain (or Vercel preview URL if calling preview).
  5. Use workflow_dispatch to trigger manually for testing.

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Next steps

Self-hosting guide

Review the full self-hosting checklist to make sure your environment is production ready.

Vercel deployment

Walk through the one-click Vercel deployment flow and environment setup.

Activity & roles APIs

Combine automation with the public API to build dashboards, bots, or external tooling.