Lookout API

Overview

The Lookout API enables you to create scheduled research agents that automatically run searches at specified intervals. This is a Pro-only feature that leverages QStash for reliable cron-based scheduling.

Lookout is a Pro-only feature. Users must have an active subscription to create and run scheduled searches.

POST /api/lookout

Create or trigger a lookout (scheduled research agent).

Request Body

string

required

Unique identifier for the lookout. Use UUIDv7 format.

string

required

User ID of the lookout owner. Must match an existing user with Pro subscription.

string

required

The research prompt/query to execute. This will be sent to the AI model for processing.

Lookout Configuration Fields

When creating a new lookout, additional fields are stored in the database:

string

required

Human-readable title for the lookout (e.g., “Daily AI News Digest”)

string

required

Schedule frequency. Options:

"once" - Run once and pause
"hourly" - Run every hour
"daily" - Run daily
"weekly" - Run weekly
"custom" - Custom cron schedule

string

Cron expression for scheduling (required for recurring lookouts).Format: CRON_TZ={timezone} {cron_expression}Example: CRON_TZ=America/New_York 0 9 * * * (9 AM daily in New York)

string

required

IANA timezone identifier (e.g., "America/New_York", "Europe/London")

string

Lookout status: "active", "paused", or "running". Defaults to "active".

Example Request

curl -X POST https://scira.ai/api/lookout \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Cookie: better-auth.session_token=<your-session-token>" \
  -d '{
    "lookoutId": "01933d5e-8f2a-7890-b1c2-d3e4f5a6b7c8",
    "userId": "user_01933d5e-8f2a-7890-b1c2-d3e4f5a6b7c9",
    "prompt": "Summarize the latest developments in AI safety research, focusing on alignment and interpretability. Include key papers, breakthroughs, and ongoing debates."
  }'

Response Format

The endpoint returns a Server-Sent Events (SSE) stream similar to the Search API:

{
  "type": "data-appendText",
  "data": "## Key Points\n\n- Recent advances in mechanistic interpretability..."
}

Cron Schedule Format

Lookouts use standard cron expressions with timezone support:

┌───────────── minute (0 - 59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0 - 23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1 - 31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1 - 12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday to Saturday)
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Examples:

Expression	Description
`0 9 * * *`	Every day at 9:00 AM
`0 /6 * *`	Every 6 hours
`0 9 * * 1`	Every Monday at 9:00 AM
`0 0 1 * *`	First day of every month at midnight
`0 9 * * 1-5`	Every weekday at 9:00 AM

With Timezone:

CRON_TZ=America/New_York 0 9 * * *

Execution Details

Model and Configuration

Lookouts use the following configuration:

Model: scira-grok-4-fast-think (xAI Grok-4 with reasoning)
Tools: extreme_search only (focused deep research)
Stop Condition: Maximum 2 tool execution steps
Max Retries: 10 (for reliability)

Research Quality

Lookouts are optimized for comprehensive research reports:

Format: 3-page research paper format with markdown
Citations: Mandatory inline citations for all factual claims
Structure: Key points, detailed sections, analysis, and conclusion
Depth: Detailed paragraphs (4-6 sentences minimum) with technical depth

Email Notifications

Upon completion, lookouts send an email notification to the user containing:

Chat title (auto-generated)
Response summary (first 2000 characters)
Link to full chat/results

Metrics Tracking

Each lookout run tracks:

Duration: Total execution time in milliseconds
Tokens Used: Total tokens consumed (input + output)
Searches Performed: Count of extreme_search tool calls
Run Status: "success" or "error"
Error Message: If applicable

Status Management

Status Flow

active - Scheduled and ready to run
running - Currently executing
active - Returns to active after completion
paused - One-time lookouts after execution, or manually paused

Status Transitions

Next Run Calculation

For recurring lookouts, the next run time is automatically calculated:

const options = {
  currentDate: new Date(),
  tz: lookout.timezone
};

const cleanCronSchedule = lookout.cronSchedule.startsWith('CRON_TZ=')
  ? lookout.cronSchedule.split(' ').slice(1).join(' ')
  : lookout.cronSchedule;

const interval = CronExpressionParser.parse(cleanCronSchedule, options);
const nextRunAt = interval.next().toDate();

QStash Integration

Lookouts leverage QStash for reliable scheduling:

Reliability: Automatic retries on failure
Timezone Support: Runs in user’s specified timezone
Scalability: Handles thousands of concurrent schedules
Monitoring: Built-in metrics and logging

Usage Tracking

Lookout runs consume resources from your Pro subscription:

Each run increments extreme search usage counter
Token usage is tracked per run
All runs are logged with metrics

Response Structure

Successful lookout executions create:

New Chat: Each run creates a new chat with title “Scheduled: ”
Messages: User message (prompt) and assistant response
Metadata: Includes model, tokens, completion time

Database Records

{
  lastRunAt: Date,
  lastRunChatId: string,
  runStatus: "success" | "error",
  duration: number,        // milliseconds
  tokensUsed: number,      // total tokens
  searchesPerformed: number, // tool call count
  error?: string,          // if failed
  nextRunAt: Date          // for recurring
}

Error Handling

Common Errors

Lookout not found

{
  "error": "Lookout not found"
}

User not found

{
  "error": "User not found"
}

Pro subscription required

{
  "error": "Lookouts require a Pro subscription"
}

Execution failed

{
  "error": "Internal server error"
}

Error Recovery

When a lookout run fails:

Status is set back to "active"
Error message is logged to database
Next scheduled run proceeds normally
No email notification is sent

Retry Logic

Lookouts include retry logic:

Lookout validation: 3 retries with exponential backoff
AI generation: 10 max retries via AI SDK
QStash: Built-in delivery retries

Best Practices

Use specific, focused prompts

Lookouts work best with well-defined research questions. Be specific about what information you want and in what format.Good: “Summarize daily AI safety papers from arXiv, focusing on alignment research with citations”Poor: “Tell me about AI”

Set appropriate frequencies

Consider the rate of change in your topic:

Fast-moving topics: hourly or daily
Academic research: daily or weekly
Industry trends: weekly or monthly

Monitor your usage

Even as a Pro user, monitor your lookout usage:

Check run metrics (duration, tokens, searches)
Review generated content quality
Adjust prompts and frequency as needed

Use appropriate timezones

Set lookouts to run in your local timezone for better scheduling:

Morning briefings: 8-9 AM local time
End-of-day summaries: 5-6 PM local time
Weekly reports: Monday mornings

Handle one-time vs recurring

Use "once" frequency for:

Testing lookout configurations
One-off deep research tasks
Event-specific research

Use recurring frequencies for:

Ongoing monitoring
Regular briefings
Continuous learning

Example Use Cases

Daily AI News Digest

{
  "title": "Daily AI News Digest",
  "prompt": "Research and summarize the most important AI developments from the past 24 hours. Focus on breakthrough research, product launches, policy changes, and industry news. Include citations.",
  "frequency": "daily",
  "cronSchedule": "CRON_TZ=America/New_York 0 8 * * *",
  "timezone": "America/New_York"
}

Weekly Academic Research Summary

{
  "title": "Weekly ML Papers",
  "prompt": "Find and summarize the top 10 machine learning papers published this week on arXiv. Focus on papers with novel architectures, training techniques, or significant benchmark improvements. Include paper titles, authors, and key contributions.",
  "frequency": "weekly",
  "cronSchedule": "CRON_TZ=Europe/London 0 9 * * 1",
  "timezone": "Europe/London"
}

Market Intelligence

{
  "title": "Competitor Monitoring",
  "prompt": "Research recent developments, product launches, and news about [Competitor Name]. Include funding news, hiring trends, product updates, and market positioning. Provide detailed analysis with sources.",
  "frequency": "weekly",
  "cronSchedule": "CRON_TZ=America/Los_Angeles 0 10 * * 1",
  "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles"
}

API

Overview

POST /api/lookout

Request Body

Lookout Configuration Fields

Example Request

Response Format

Cron Schedule Format

Execution Details

Model and Configuration

Research Quality

Email Notifications

Metrics Tracking

Status Management

Status Flow

Status Transitions

Next Run Calculation

QStash Integration

Usage Tracking

Response Structure

Database Records

Error Handling

Common Errors

Error Recovery

Retry Logic

Best Practices

Example Use Cases

Daily AI News Digest

Weekly Academic Research Summary

Market Intelligence

Next Steps

Search API

Rate Limits

​Overview

​POST /api/lookout

​Request Body

​Lookout Configuration Fields

​Example Request

​Response Format

​Cron Schedule Format

​Execution Details

​Model and Configuration

​Research Quality

​Email Notifications

​Metrics Tracking

​Status Management

​Status Flow

​Status Transitions

​Next Run Calculation

​QStash Integration

​Usage Tracking

​Response Structure

​Database Records

​Error Handling

​Common Errors

​Error Recovery

​Retry Logic

​Best Practices

​Example Use Cases

​Daily AI News Digest

​Weekly Academic Research Summary

​Market Intelligence

​Next Steps

Search API

Rate Limits

Overview

POST /api/lookout

Request Body

Lookout Configuration Fields

Example Request

Response Format

Cron Schedule Format

Execution Details

Model and Configuration

Research Quality

Email Notifications

Metrics Tracking

Status Management

Status Flow

Status Transitions

Next Run Calculation

QStash Integration

Usage Tracking

Response Structure

Database Records

Error Handling

Common Errors

Error Recovery

Retry Logic

Best Practices

Example Use Cases

Daily AI News Digest

Weekly Academic Research Summary

Market Intelligence

Next Steps