> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://tmniche-docs.keywordrush.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://tmniche-docs.keywordrush.com/building-a-site/autopilot.md).

# Generate on autopilot

Autopilot writes your planned articles for you, day after day, without you logging in. Turn it on once and TMN works through your plan on its own.

## Turn it on

Go to **Too Much Niche → Autopilot** and flip the switch at the top. That's the only step that's required — everything below it already has sensible defaults.

The panel at the top always tells you where things stand: whether Autopilot is on, how many articles it has started today, and whether anything needs you.

![The Autopilot page, switched on](/files/AuMVKNAt9TmmhrNaEbxj)

Articles are created using each plan's preset, so whether they go live straight away or wait as drafts is whatever you already chose there. The page tells you which one applies.

## Choose a pace

There are two ways to decide how many articles get written each day.

* **Use my monthly allowance** *(default)* — spreads your monthly articles evenly across the month. With 100 articles and 30 days, that's about 3 or 4 a day. You don't run out in the first week, and nothing is left unused when the month resets.
* **Follow my plan calendar** — writes whatever your plan says is due today, plus anything that's overdue. Best if you set a publishing schedule when you created the plan and want to keep to it.

{% hint style="info" %}
Autopilot decides when articles are **written**. Your plan still decides when they **appear** — an article with a future publish date is created as Scheduled, and WordPress publishes it on the day.
{% endhint %}

## Set a monthly amount

**Monthly budget for this site** is how many articles this site is allowed to generate each month. It starts at your full allowance, and the page shows roughly how many a day that works out to.

If your license is used on more than one site, all of them draw from the same pool of articles. Give each site its own amount so they don't compete for the same ones — for example 60 on your main site and 40 on the second. TMN reminds you about this on the page when it sees more than one site.

## Choose which plans

Autopilot covers every active plan. Untick any plan you'd rather work through yourself — it stays in the list, so you can add it back whenever you like.

{% hint style="warning" %}
New plans are included automatically. If you prefer to review and edit a Topic Map before anything is written, untick the plan first, or leave Autopilot off until you're happy with it.
{% endhint %}

## When Autopilot stops

* **You've used your articles for the month** — it waits, then starts again on its own when your allowance resets. Nothing for you to do.
* **Articles keep failing** — after five failures in a row it stops and emails you, naming the article and what went wrong. Fix that, then press **Resume**.
* **Your license isn't active** — it stops, and starts again by itself once the license is active again.

Running out of articles is normal and fixes itself. Repeated failures usually mean something in a plan needs attention — most often a missing product source.

## Emails

Autopilot only emails when it's worth your time:

* **When something needs your attention** — it has stopped, and why.
* **When your monthly articles reset** — a short summary of last month, and what's coming this month.

Choose the address, or switch either message off, under **Notifications** on the Autopilot page. You won't get an email simply for running out of articles, because that sorts itself out.

## Keeping it running

Autopilot relies on WordPress's background tasks, and those only run when somebody visits your site. On a quiet site it can sit idle for a long time.

Setting up a proper scheduled task on your hosting fixes this, and is worth doing before you leave Autopilot to run unattended — see [Troubleshooting](/help/common-issues.md). The Autopilot page shows a warning when it detects the problem.

## Next

* [**Generate & publish articles**](/building-a-site/generate-articles.md) — generating on demand, and in bulk.
* [**Use presets**](/building-a-site/presets.md) — control whether articles go live or wait as drafts.
* [**Plans & limits**](/account-and-licensing/plans-and-limits.md) — how many articles you get each month.