Techniques for persistent scheduling are provided. A principal registers a schedule with a network-based scheduling service. The scheduling service determines when a trigger is to be sent to a client associated with the principal for purposes of having that client process a particular action. The trigger is sent when the client is detected as being online; and when the client is offline, the trigger is sent as soon as the client comes online. Furthermore, once a trigger is successfully sent, a current date and time that the trigger was sent is maintained with the schedule for the client.