TL;DR:
The first time, an assistant learns how a site works. The second time, it reuses the saved actions.
Reuse is quicker, uses fewer steps and has fewer chances to go wrong.
If the site changes, the saved action may fail, so a good assistant falls back to looking at the page again.
The first time you drive to a new office, you read the map at every turn. The tenth time, you do not think about it. Learning a website once and reusing it works the same way: slow once, quick afterwards.
The short answer
When an assistant first works on a site, it explores: it looks at the page, finds the buttons and forms and works out what they do. The result is a set of saved actions for that site. On later runs it uses the saved actions instead of exploring again.
What happens step by step
First run. Explore the site, work out the action, do the task.
Save. Keep the action with its name and inputs.
Later runs. Look up the saved action and call it with new values.
Check. Confirm the result looks right.
If it fails. Treat the saved action as out of date and learn the page again.
Walk-through: the second time a task runs on the same site
On Monday you ask: "Download last month's invoice from the supplier's site." This is the first run. The assistant looks at the dashboard, finds the Billing tab, finds the month selector and the Download button, and works through them. It also notes the steps as a saved action, downloadInvoice(month).
Next month you ask the same thing. This time it finds downloadInvoice already saved, calls it with the new month, and checks that a file arrived. It never has to hunt for the Billing tab.
Aspect | First run | Second run |
|---|---|---|
Exploring the page | Yes | No |
Uses a saved action | No | Yes |
Likely effort | More | Less |
When the site changes
Sites get redesigned. A button moves, a field is renamed. A saved action built on the old version can fail. A careful assistant notices that the result is not what it expected, stops using the saved action, and looks at the page again. You may notice the run is slower that one time.
What gets saved, and what does not
What is saved is the shape of the action: its name, its inputs and how to carry it out on that site. What should not be saved is anything private that belongs to a single run, such as a one-time code or a password. DuckyHelper is built not to type your passwords or card numbers, so those are not meant to end up in a saved action.
Why the first run feels slower
The first run does two jobs: it learns the site and it does your task. The second run does only your task. If the first time takes noticeably longer, that is the learning, not a fault. You pay once for something you use repeatedly.
Telling a stale action from a real error
If the page looks different and the action fails at once, the site probably changed.
If the action runs but the result is empty, check your inputs first, such as the month or the account.
If it asks you to sign in again, that is the site and not the saved action.
A well-behaved assistant tells you which of these happened, rather than quietly doing something else.
Which tasks are worth learning
Learning pays back when you repeat the task. Downloading the same report each month, checking the same page for a change, filling the same form with new values: these repeat, so one learning run serves many. A one-off task on a site you will never use again is not worth the setup, and a good assistant will simply do it once and move on.
A rough way to decide: if you expect to do it more than a couple of times, saving it is worthwhile. If you are not sure, run it once and see how it went.
What it can't do
Guarantee the action still works. It has to check.
Learn what it is not allowed to see. Behind a login you have not given it, it learns nothing.
Turn every task into an action. Rare, one-off tasks may not be worth saving.
Privacy and control
DuckyHelper learns a website's actions once and reuses them, as part of its early access ability to work in your apps. It's built to ask first before it sends a message or pays for anything, and not to type your passwords or card numbers.
Try it yourself
Think of a task you repeat on the same site every week. That is the best candidate for reuse. The more often you do it, the more the one-time learning pays back.
Reuse also changes how you can ask. Once a site has a saved action, a short request is enough, because the details live in the action. You say "get this month's invoice", not a list of steps. If you are not sure whether something has been learned yet, simply ask, and let the first run be the lesson.
Keep one habit: glance at the result of the first run of any new task, even if you trust the assistant. A first run that is right becomes a saved action that is right, and every later run benefits. A first run that is slightly wrong, left unchecked, repeats its mistake.
Frequently asked questions
Does it relearn every time?
No. That is the point of saving. It only relearns if the saved version stops working.
Can I see what was saved?
That depends on the product. Ask where the saved actions are shown before you rely on them.
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