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Creating Protocols

This guide walks you through creating a protocol step-by-step.

Starting Protocol Creation

You can create protocols in two ways. Navigate to the Protocols tab and tap the plus button in the top right corner, or use the quick actions plus button from any screen and select "Add Protocol". Either method opens the protocol creation form.

Protocol Type Selection

The first decision you'll make is choosing your protocol type using a segmented picker at the top of the form. Select "Structured" for fixed schedules with automatic shot generation, which works best for regular treatments like daily or weekly dosing. Choose "Freeform" for flexible, as-needed dosing where you manually log shots when taken. This choice affects all subsequent configuration options and cannot be changed after creation.

Administration Route

The next picker lets you choose between Subcutaneous (SQ) for under-skin injections or Intranasal (IN) for nasal spray administration. This selection is crucial because it filters the available peptides to show only peptides that support your chosen delivery method.

Protocol Details

Enter a descriptive name for your protocol (the default "New Protocol" clears when you start typing). Common patterns include "Morning Semaglutide" or "Evening BPC-157" that indicate timing and peptide. You can optionally add a description that expands when you tap the chevron, useful for noting specific purposes or reminders that won't appear in notifications.

Timeline Configuration

Structured protocols require duration settings while freeform protocols only need a start date. For structured protocols, choose your start date and optionally enable Auto-Renew (see Auto-Renew & Cycles below). Set the duration length and units (days, weeks, or months) with maximums of 180 days, 52 weeks, or 12 months. Once you add peptides, the duration settings become locked to prevent schedule conflicts.

Note: A protocol month is 30 days, not a calendar month. This ensures consistent scheduling regardless of actual month lengths.

Freeform protocols simply require a start date since they don't use fixed scheduling or automatic renewal.

Auto-Renew & Cycles

Auto-Renew makes a structured protocol repeat in cycles. Each cycle has the same duration and schedule pattern as the original — if your protocol is 30 days with injections every other day, each cycle is another 30 days with the same pattern.

Enabling Auto-Renew

Toggle Auto-Renew Protocol on in the Timeline Configuration section. When enabled, you'll see the message: "Protocol will automatically restart upon completion."

How Cycles Work

When a cycle ends, the next one begins automatically. You don't need to create a new protocol or take any action — the app handles this in the background each time you open it. On the last day of a cycle, the app pre-generates the next cycle's shots and reminders so everything is ready on day one of the new cycle.

What You'll See

While you're in the first cycle, the protocol card looks the same as any structured protocol. Once you move into cycle 2 and beyond, the card updates to show:

  • Cycle number — "Cycle 2", "Cycle 3", etc.
  • "First started [original date]" — so you always know when the protocol originally began
  • Current cycle dates — the start and end dates shown on the card reflect the current cycle, not the original

Editing During a Renewal Cycle

You can edit an auto-renew protocol at any time, even mid-cycle. When you save changes:

  • Future scheduled shots are deleted and regenerated with your new settings
  • Past completed and missed shots are untouched
  • Schedule patterns continue from the original start date anchor (for example, a 5-on/2-off pattern doesn't restart from today)
  • Reminders are rescheduled to match the updated shots

Disabling Auto-Renew

When editing an existing protocol and toggling Auto-Renew off, a confirmation dialog appears:

  • Title: "Disable Auto-Renew?"
  • Message: "Your protocol is currently in Cycle [N]. It will end on [date]. Future cycles will not be generated. Your existing shot history will be preserved."
  • Buttons: "Disable Auto-Renew" (red) or "Cancel"

If you're still in cycle 1, the message omits the cycle number.

On confirm, the current cycle's start date, end date, and cycle number are frozen. The protocol card shows the frozen cycle's end date as the protocol end date, and no more future cycles are generated. Your existing shot history is untouched.

On cancel, nothing changes — the dialog closes and auto-renew stays on.

This dialog only appears when you're editing an existing protocol that has auto-renew on and you're turning it off. It does not appear for new protocols or when turning auto-renew on.

Re-enabling Auto-Renew

If you previously disabled auto-renew and want to turn it back on, toggle Auto-Renew on and save. No confirmation dialog appears — the protocol saves normally. The frozen cycle data is automatically cleared and normal auto-renew cycle behavior resumes, with new cycle shots generated as expected.

Peptide Schedules

A peptide schedule defines what you're taking, how much, and how often. Tap the plus button in the Peptide Schedules section header to add a schedule. This opens the "Add Peptide Schedule" screen with three card options:

  • New Preparation - Define a new vial or pen to use
  • Existing Preparation - Use a vial or pen you have already set up
  • Single Peptide - Choose a peptide from the list

Note: If your dose or timing changes partway through the protocol, add the same peptide or preparation again with different settings.

Adding Single Peptides

Scroll through the list of available peptides or use the search bar to find specific ones. The list shows only peptides compatible with your selected administration route. Each peptide displays its category, half-life, typical uses, and administration details. Tap any peptide to select it and configure dosing, schedule, and tracking options.

Detailed Peptide Configuration →

Add New Preparation

A preparation is your vial or pen—it can contain a single peptide or a blend. See Preparations for details.

Tap "New Preparation" to create one while setting up your protocol. This opens the preparation form where you:

  1. Enter a preparation name (e.g., "Recovery Blend March 2025")
  2. Select container type (Vial or Pen)
  3. Choose dosing units (mL, Units, or IU)
  4. Add one or more peptides with their amounts
  5. Enter the BAC water amount used for reconstitution

After saving the new preparation, it automatically appears in your protocol's peptide list. You'll then configure the injection volume and dosing schedule—see Peptide Schedules: Preparations for details on how volume-based dosing works.

Add Existing Preparation

Tap "Add Existing Preparation" to select a preparation you've already created. This shows a list of your existing preparations that aren't already assigned to other active protocols.

Important: Each preparation can only belong to one active protocol at a time. Once you add a preparation here, other protocols cannot use it until you remove it from this one.

After selecting an existing preparation, you'll configure the injection volume (how much to draw), dosage display preference (mg or mcg), and timing/schedule settings.

All peptides in the preparation share the same timing and schedule since they're mixed together. When logging shots, a single swipe completes all peptides in the preparation simultaneously.

See Peptide Schedules: Preparations for a detailed explanation of how injection volume determines peptide dosage.

Mixing Peptides and Preparations

You can combine individual peptides and preparations in the same protocol. For example, add a preparation for your morning multi-peptide injection and add individual peptides for evening doses. Each preparation and individual peptide gets its own dosing schedule configuration.

Configuring Your Peptide Schedule

After selecting a peptide or preparation, you configure everything about that schedule: dosage, timing, schedule patterns, reminders, and Peptide Level Tracking. See Peptide Schedules for complete details on each setting. When you save, you return here to continue with the protocol.

Reminder Settings

Structured protocols include a master reminder toggle that acts as a global override for all notifications in that protocol. When disabled, no reminders are sent regardless of individual peptide settings. When enabled, each peptide can configure its own reminder timing during setup. The system automatically enables protocol-level reminders if any peptide has reminders configured.

Freeform protocols don't have scheduled shots, so there's no protocol-level reminder toggle.

Review and Create

Once all required sections are complete, the form validates that you've entered a protocol name and selected at least one peptide. Tap "Create Protocol" to save.

A confirmation dialog appears:

  • Title: "Create Protocol"
  • Message: "This will create your protocol and generate your treatment schedule."
  • Buttons: "Create Protocol and Generate Schedule" or "Cancel"

Past Date Handling

If your protocol's start date is in the past, the app shows a dialog instead of the standard save confirmation. There are two versions depending on the situation:

When the start date is days ago:

  • Title: "Protocol Starts in the Past"
  • Message: "Your protocol starts X day(s) ago. Would you like to automatically fill those past shots as completed according to your protocol schedule, or skip them and only schedule future shots?"
  • Buttons: "Fill Past Shots as Completed", "Skip Past Shots", or "Cancel"

When the start date is today but some shot times have already passed:

  • Title: "Protocol Starts Today"
  • Message: "Your protocol starts today, but some shots would have occurred earlier today. Do you want us to automatically fill those past shots as completed, or skip those and only schedule future shots?"
  • Buttons: "Fill Past Shots as Completed", "Skip Past Shots", or "Cancel"

Choosing Fill Past Shots as Completed marks all shots that would have occurred before now as completed, as if you had taken them on schedule. This is useful when you're setting up a protocol for a treatment you've already been doing. Choosing Skip Past Shots ignores all past dates and only generates shots from today forward.

For auto-renew protocols with a past start date, filling past shots generates all cycles through the current one — past shots are marked Completed, future shots are marked Scheduled.

Protocol Generation

For structured protocols, the system immediately generates all scheduled shots based on your configuration and sets up reminders if enabled. Freeform protocols simply activate for manual shot logging without generating scheduled shots.

Protocol Management

Editing Protocols

Edit any protocol by tapping the Edit button on its card in the Protocols view. The same creation form opens with all current settings populated. You can modify any configuration except the protocol type (structured vs freeform), which cannot be changed after creation. For structured protocols with existing peptides, duration settings become locked to prevent schedule conflicts. An "Edit" button appears next to Duration Settings, which opens a dialog asking "Changing protocol duration requires removing all peptides. You will need to add them back again. Continue?" If you confirm, all peptides are removed and duration becomes editable again.

When you save changes, a confirmation dialog appears:

  • Title: "Update Protocol"
  • Message: "This will update your protocol and regenerate your treatment schedule."
  • Buttons: "Update Protocol and Regenerate Schedule" or "Cancel"

If you changed the start date to a date in the past, a different dialog appears instead:

  • Title: "Please Note:"
  • Message: "Your existing completed shots will stay unchanged. No new shots will be created for the past period — only from today forward. To add past completed shots, please create a new protocol."
  • Buttons: "Regenerate Protocol" or "Cancel"

In both cases, past completed and missed shots are preserved. Only future scheduled shots are regenerated with your updated settings.

Note: If you edit a preparation that's linked to an active protocol, PepTrac may recalculate dosages automatically. See Editing Preparations for details.

If you're editing an older non-auto-renew protocol whose end date has already passed, PepTrac alerts you so you can decide whether to extend the duration or save as-is. You'll see an "End Date Has Passed" dialog with the option to "Save Anyway" or "Go Back" to adjust the dates.

If you set a duration that exceeds the maximum allowed, the value is automatically clamped and an alert appears:

  • Title: "Duration Limit Reached"
  • Message: "Protocol duration cannot exceed 180 days, 52 weeks, or 12 months. The value has been set to the maximum allowed."
  • Button: "OK"

Archiving vs Deleting

Archive a protocol when you want to stop treatment but keep your history. Archiving cancels all future scheduled shots and reminders, but your completed shots, analytics, and records stay intact. You can reactivate an archived protocol later if you resume treatment. PepTrac asks you to confirm before archiving.

Delete protocols only when you want to permanently remove all data including shot history, reminders, and configurations. This action cannot be undone and should be used sparingly. The system warns you about permanent data loss and suggests archiving as an alternative.

What Happens Next

Structured protocols populate your dashboard with upcoming shots, schedule reminders based on your settings, and begin monitoring estimated levels if you enabled advanced features. Freeform protocols appear in your active list ready for manual shot logging whenever you take doses.

The protocol creation process ensures all necessary configuration is captured upfront, making your ongoing treatment management automated and consistent.

Next: Peptide Schedules →