Automation
Sickle can harvest, compound, rebalance or exit positions on your behalf. Choose the actions that fit your position, then configure when they should run.
Choose an automation
Auto-harvest
Claim earnings and optionally convert them to a different token.
Auto-compound
Reinvest earnings using an estimated reward threshold and transaction costs.
Auto-rebalance
Move a concentrated liquidity position to a new range when its configured price and delay conditions are met.
Auto-exit
Exit a position when it crosses a price you set. The trigger price is not a guaranteed execution price.
Status and settings
On Positions, a small sleepy bot marks supported Sickle positions with no automation configured. Select it to open Automate this position, where every automation available for that position has a chip: Rebalance, Rewards and Exit. A chip turns its automation on, with recommended settings, or off. Each automation that is on shows one summary line saying what it will do. Choose Edit to open its settings in place; opening another one folds the first, and the chevron folds it back. Changes apply as you make them and the summary follows; there is nothing to confirm. Tags mark what Save automation will change: Not saved for one you just turned on, Changed for edited settings and Removing for a saved automation you turned off. Saved automations you have not touched show their status instead, such as Active or Needs gas funding, and Check settings marks one that needs a fix before saving. Below the automations, Ready to run on the chain lists what they depend on there, with a separate status for each. Activation and approvals that Save performs count as steps handled by Save, rather than warnings. Funding problems say Needs attention, unavailable checks say Some checks pending, and Ready to run appears when all checks are ready. Automation is off on the chain is tagged Turns on with Save. On chains that approve each action separately, an approval still missing for any automation that is on is tagged Approves with Save. The last row says how runs get paid: Fees pay for each run with a run’s estimated gas cost at the position’s size; when fees fall short at this size, the gas account’s balance, runway and an Add gas button; and an empty gas account in red, since the bot waits until fees grow. Rebalance and Exit are checked separately, including when one is already saved and the other is newly selected. A missing estimate stays unknown instead of borrowing the other action’s result. A reported charge-limit failure stays a warning with Raise limit, even when the gas account has funds. Gas is never added by Save, because it moves money. The row’s link opens the chain in the Automation view. Save’s label names what else it turns on, such as Save and turn on automation for Base or Save and approve rebalance, and wraps on narrow phones so the full action stays visible. The footer counts the changes and lists the transactions in order, for example approve rebalance, turn on automation, then save the rules; with nothing else needed, the changes are saved together in one transaction. Rewards combines the reward options in one menu: choose Compound to compound into this or another position, Keep tokens to send the original rewards to your wallet, or Convert tokens to receive one selected token. The app fills the corresponding automation settings automatically. Switching choices keeps your draft destination and token selection. A changed exit delay or compounding into another position can require additional transactions. For concentrated-liquidity positions, the range chart appears above the automations. Turn on Rebalance or Exit, set a buffer, cutoff or exit trigger, then drag their handles on the chart. The chart and fields update together. Your zoom and pan stay in place while you drag automation limits, including after pinching to zoom out on a phone. Limits from automations that are on stay visible while you edit another one. If handles overlap, select the limit you want from the menu on the handle. These are previews until you choose Save automation. Folding, opening or turning automations off and on keeps your unsaved edits and scroll position until you close the window. On desktop, the window stays anchored near the top of the screen and grows downward as you select automations or expand settings. It only scrolls when the settings exceed the available height. Approving automation for the chain alone does not count as configuring a position. The hint waits for settings to load and disappears once any position automation is configured.
Warnings and informational notices state the action needed in their headings and messages.
Open a position to see its saved range, configured limits, and all automation statuses above the action tabs. This overview stays in place across Increase, Rebalance, Withdraw, Compound, Harvest, and Move. The compact table shows Enabled or Disabled for each automation, with approval, funding, or execution problems taking priority. Its Rewards column covers both reinvestment and harvest automation. Queue and retry details stay out of this overview. Tap or hover over a shortened status to read its full message.
Choose Settings on the automation strip, in the overview, to open Automate this position: a bottom drawer on mobile or a modal anchored near the top on desktop. You can review detailed diagnostics and enable, disable, or update the automation there. Changes still require the usual wallet confirmations. Close the modal to return to the action form with your inputs preserved.
Reward settings load for the selected position’s network. A connection problem on another network does not block its automation settings. If reward settings on the selected network cannot load, choose Retry before editing them.
Fee amounts use neutral tags across automation settings, matching the pool and transaction fee displays.
Understanding status messages
Automation statuses explain what is waiting and whether you need to act. Focus or hover over a position’s automation icon to read its explanation. In the compact automation overview, select the status badge for the same details; on a phone, they open in a drawer. The status summary also shows the explanation below the status, alongside Next check when a retry time is available.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Price moved, will retry | Price movement changed the required Custom rebalance range. Automation retries with a fresh quote. |
| Waiting for a rebalance trigger | Custom rebalance is waiting for the price to reach a valid trigger. |
| Target range unchanged | Custom rebalance would keep the same range, so it waits for a different target. |
| Waiting to avoid a repeat move | Custom rebalance would move straight back to the previous range. It waits for the price to change. |
| Waiting: slippage too high | The quoted swap output did not meet your slippage limit. Automation retries automatically. |
| Price outside the new range | The proposed rebalance range does not contain the current price. Automation retries automatically. |
| Action approval needed | Review and approve the action in the position’s automation settings before it can run. |
| Waiting for minimum interval | The gas account is waiting for your configured interval between paid runs. |
| Gas account interval needed | Set a minimum interval for the action in Gas Account settings before the account can pay for it. |
Enable automation
When opening a position, the deposit form’s Automate section shows the same chips as the position automation window, one for each automation the pool supports. Select Rebalance, Rewards or Exit to turn it on with recommended settings; its summary line appears below the chips. Choose Edit to open its settings in place, one at a time, and the chevron to fold them. Turning an automation off hides its summary and settings while keeping its draft for when you turn it on again. In Rewards, choose Compound, Keep tokens, or Convert tokens. The app configures reward automation from your choice. Conversion requires a selected token. You can combine reward automation with Rebalance and Exit. Switching reward choices keeps your draft destination and token selection. Opening or folding settings never turns an automation on or off, and only automations that are on show their chart handles. The settings are saved with the deposit, together with any required wallet confirmations, and the button reads Deposit & automate while any automation is on.
When automation is selected and no gas account is paying (or it’s empty), one warning appears above the deposit button. It names the enabled auto-rebalance and auto-exit actions and shows one estimated minimum position size; if both are selected, it uses the higher requirement so the position supports both. Reward automation has no fixed minimum position size: smaller positions take longer to earn enough for an execution. Rewards-only setups explain this without showing a separate reward-value minimum. Estimates are informational and do not block deposits. When an estimate cannot be loaded, the warning explains that fee-funded automation may need to wait.
Choose Enable gas account (or Add gas when the account is on but empty) to open that chain’s gas account in the Automation view without leaving your deposit form. Add gas there can turn on paying from the account in the same step. Once the account is paying and holds a balance, the warning disappears; turning off all automation also hides it. Existing positions keep their funding status and diagnostic messages above the action form.
- Enable it for the chain. This authorizes vfat.io’s Automation contract to call these functions on your Sickle on your behalf.
- Configure each position. Turn on the automation types you want to use. Each guide above explains its settings, conditions and fees.
Only the current automation system is supported. Positions with an older automation approval show automation as off. Configure automation from the position to enable the actions you want; you can continue to manage positions manually.
When fees cannot cover gas
Automation failure reasons come from the API’s reported status or last attempt. Position values and gas estimates do not determine a failure reason or override a queued or processing state. When a gas account is on, position-size thresholds are omitted from the status and settings. Small positions can use a gas account without a fee-funded size minimum; reported balance or charge-limit failures remain visible.
If the API reports that an automation attempt’s fee could not cover gas, the status reads Waiting: fee below gas cost, and eligible Sickles show a gas button beside it above the action form. The detailed status includes an explanation. Choose Add gas to open that chain’s gas account in the Automation view on Add gas, where Use it when fees fall short turns on paying from it; with a balance already there, Turn on does it without adding funds. If the gas account is already on or its settings are still unknown, choose Review gas account to check them first.
If the gas account says paying is off but its auto-rebalance permission remains, choose Remove remaining permission under Limits and complete the wallet confirmations, then turn it on.
If an attempt is blocked by a low gas account balance, the status shows Waiting for gas in red with an Add gas button. A limit per run that is too low shows Gas limit too low for this run with Raise limit: adding gas alone does not increase that limit. On Positions, hover or tap a row’s automation icon to read the same status with what fixes it. These buttons open the affected chain’s gas account in the Automation view above the automation settings (on Add gas for a low balance or Limits for a charge limit); you review and confirm any changes there. Close it to return to your open automation settings.
The failure reason stays visible while another check is scheduled. Queue and Next check show the retry timing separately. Compare Last attempt gas cost with Last attempt protocol fee to understand the previous attempt; Current gas estimate may have changed since then.
Small dollar amounts in automation status and threshold messages use subscript notation so a nonzero amount does not round to zero. For example, $0.0₂12 means $0.0012; the subscript counts the zeros before the first significant digit after the decimal point.
Status colors describe the outcome: green for success, amber for funding or settings blockers, red for execution errors, and neutral for ordinary waiting states. The same reason keeps its color across automation types and scheduled retries.
The automation icons on each position row also flag reported issues: amber for blockers and red for execution errors. Hover over or focus an icon to read the reason without opening the position’s settings. Ordinary waiting states, including rewards below threshold, keep the usual enabled icon. The issue color clears when a successful result replaces the failure.
A gas account does not bypass your automation triggers, permissions or transaction limits, and funding it does not guarantee an immediate run. See Managing your Sickles for details.