Weekly video: Agent Completion, Format or schedule on Sume?

For a video you make every week, use a Format if your own code decides when to run, and a schedule if Sume should decide. Use an Agent Completion only when the task itself changes each time. All three run the same agent and return the same kind of receipt; they differ in what Sume saves for you (Sume docs: Agent Completions, read 2026-10-06).

The weekly video is the textbook repeatable job, which is why a saved surface fits it better than a fresh prompt. A Format stores how to do the work. A schedule stores what to do and when. A completion stores nothing.

The three surfaces side by side

A Format is called with POST /v1/formats/{handle}/{slug}/runs and takes new inputs each time. A scheduled run lives under /v1/actions, is created in the dashboard, and is triggered either by a cron expression with a time zone or by an API call. An Agent Completion is POST /v1/agent/completions and requires a spend cap on every call.

A simple decision rule

Ask two questions. Does the brief change in structure each time, or only in data? If only in data, save it as a Format. Then ask who owns the clock. If you already have a scheduler, a job runner or a CI cron, call the Format from it and keep the schedule in your own system where you can see it. If you want Sume to own the clock, create a schedule in the dashboard.

The weekly newsletter video with a fixed look and new copy each week is a Format. The 'every Monday at nine, pull last week's numbers and make the recap' job is a schedule. A one-off 'turn this PDF into a three-slide video' request is a completion.

Guardrails differ too

A scheduled run defaults to a $1.00 cap, and a per-run override can only lower it. Its on_active_run defaults to skip, so an overlapping trigger is skipped rather than doubled. A Format run defaults to allow, so two overlapping calls both run. If your weekly job might fire twice, set on_active_run explicitly or use an idempotency key.

One more difference: schedules cannot be created or edited through the API, and there is no MCP tool or CLI command for them. Creating one is a dashboard step, then you can trigger it by API if its trigger type is api.

A note on cost visibility

Whatever surface you choose, read usage from the terminal receipt and keep a running total per series. A weekly job drifts: the brief grows, the clips get longer, the cap that looked generous in week one is tight by week ten. A monthly look at real numbers beats a guess made at setup.

Moving between surfaces

You are not locked in. A task that starts as a one-off completion can become a Format once you have run it a few times and know which parts stay fixed. A Format that you call from a cron job can become a schedule if you would rather not run the cron yourself.

Move when the pain shows. If you keep pasting the same long instruction into completions, save it as a Format. If you keep maintaining a scheduler only to call one Format, consider a schedule.