> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.baseten.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Schedule autoscaling for traffic
> Change autoscaling settings on a recurring daily or hourly window instead of running an external cron job.
Autoscaling responds to traffic that has already arrived, so requests at the start of a traffic increase wait behind a [cold start](/deployment/autoscaling/cold-starts) while new replicas start up. When your traffic follows known clock times, you can change the autoscaling settings before the traffic arrives rather than after.
An *autoscaling schedule* is a recurring window on a model [environment](/deployment/environments), carrying its own autoscaling settings. While the window is active, the environment runs the schedule's settings. Outside every window, it runs the environment's default configuration. Schedules do this natively, so you don't need an external [cron job](/deployment/autoscaling/traffic-patterns#scheduled-pre-warming) or [GitHub Action](/deployment/ci-cd) calling the [Management API](/deployment/manage/scaling) on a timer.
Autoscaling schedules are in beta and must be enabled for your organization. [Contact support](mailto:support@baseten.co) to request access.
## How schedules work
Autoscaling defaults to the configuration values you set on the environment. To vary those values by time of day or day of week, define up to 10 schedules, each pairing a recurring window with its own set of autoscaling settings. The schedule whose window covers the current time is the one in effect.
A schedule's window recurs on one of two frequencies:
* **Daily**: one window a day, between a start and end time, on the days you choose, such as `09:00` to `18:00` on Monday through Friday.
* **Hourly**: a window in every hour, optionally limited to a range of hours, such as `:55` to `:20` during hours `09` to `17`.
Windows include their start and exclude their end: in a `09:00` to `17:00` window, `09:00` is inside and `17:00` is not. An end time at or before the start wraps past midnight, so a `22:00` to `06:00` window covers the overnight hours. Every schedule on an environment shares one timezone, set once for the whole set, and the times you enter are local to it.
## Configure a schedule
You configure schedules per environment, from the same dialog as the rest of your autoscaling settings.
**To add an autoscaling schedule**:
1. Sign in to your workspace at [app.baseten.co](https://app.baseten.co) and choose **Dedicated Inference** in the sidebar.
2. Select your model, then select the deployment for the environment you want to schedule.
3. Choose **Configure autoscaling**.
4. For **Config to edit**, choose **Schedules**.
5. Choose **Add schedule**, then set its window and replicas:
* For **Frequency**, choose **Daily** or **Hourly**.
* For **On days**, select the days the schedule runs.
* For **Starts at** and **Ends at**, set the window. For an hourly schedule, use **Limit to hours** to restrict which hours it runs in.
* Set **Min** and **Max** replicas for the window. To override the remaining autoscaling settings, choose **More options**.
6. Choose **Save**.
If the new schedule's window covers the current time, the environment switches to it as soon as you save. An **Active** badge marks whichever configuration is running.
A start time is the earliest the settings change, not a promise that replicas are ready to serve. If the deployment can't take the change right then, because it's deploying, loading a model, mid [rolling promotion](/deployment/rolling-deployments), or migrating, Baseten applies it as soon as it can.
## Validation
Saving fails if any schedule breaks one of these rules:
* **Count**: up to 10 schedules per environment.
* **Window length**: at least 5 minutes, long enough to scale up and back down.
* **Overlap**: two windows can't cover the same time.
* **Gaps**: windows either touch exactly or leave at least 5 minutes between them.
* **Coverage**: schedules can't fill the entire week, so the default configuration always has time to run.
* **Timezone**: one shared timezone per environment.
Windows that touch exactly hand off directly. A `05:40` to `09:00` window can hand straight to a `09:00` to `18:00` window with no gap and no return to the default in between.
## Edit or remove a schedule
Changes to the schedule that's currently running apply immediately, not at its next start. Disabling or removing it falls back to the default, or to another schedule whose window covers the current time.
**To edit, rename, duplicate, disable, or remove a schedule**:
1. Sign in to your workspace at [app.baseten.co](https://app.baseten.co) and choose **Dedicated Inference** in the sidebar.
2. Select your model, then select the deployment for the environment.
3. Choose **Configure autoscaling**.
4. For **Config to edit**, choose **Schedules**.
5. Expand the schedule and make your changes:
* To rename, duplicate, or remove it, use the actions menu on its header.
* To pause it without removing it, use the **Enabled** switch.
6. Choose **Save**.
A disabled schedule still has to pass validation, so you can re-enable it later.
## Next steps
Match autoscaling settings to the shape of your traffic.
Shrink the time between a scale-up and a served request.
Understand the environments that schedules attach to.
Apply autoscaling changes to a live deployment from a script.