Selora AI: Delayed/scheduled actions via chat

Summary

Parse relative time expressions from natural language and execute delayed actions. This allows users to schedule smart home tasks (like turning off lights or adjusting climate) without needing to set up complex automations or timers manually.

Example

User: “Turn on the porch light in 10 minutes”

Selora AI: “Got it. I’ve scheduled the porch light to turn on in 10 minutes (at 8:15 PM).”

Selora AI parses the delay, identifies the light.porch entity, and schedules a light.turn_on service call to fire after the specified interval.

Value

• Convenience: Users can set temporary timers and delayed actions using natural speech.
• Flexibility: No need to create permanent automations for one-off scheduling needs.
• Intelligent Parsing: Understands relative time (e.g., “in 5 minutes”, “at 10 PM”, “in an hour”).

Scope

• Natural Language Time Parsing: Integration with libraries to extract time/delay intents.
• Task Scheduler: A robust backend mechanism to track and execute scheduled service calls.
• Confirmation & Visibility: Feedback to the user confirming the scheduled time and a way to view/cancel pending actions.
• Persistence: Ensuring scheduled tasks survive agent restarts or system reboots.

Dependencies

• Selora Smart Agent (Epic #5): GitLab epic #5
• Infrastructure (Epic #7): GitLab epic #7

Open questions

• Conflict Management: How to handle overlapping or conflicting scheduled actions?
• Maximum Delay: Should there be a limit on how far in the future an action can be scheduled?
• User Feedback: Should the agent proactively notify the user when the action is executed?