diff --git a/.github/workflows/kurtosis-smoke-test.yml b/.github/workflows/kurtosis-smoke-test.yml
index f2b67bad6..b925c2863 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/kurtosis-smoke-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/kurtosis-smoke-test.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 name: Kurtosis Smoke Test
 
 on:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: '0 6 * * *'
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       charon_image_tag:
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ on:
         description: "Cluster lifetime in minutes (60-300)"
         required: false
         default: "60"
-        type: string
+        type: number
 
 concurrency:
   group: kurtosis-smoke-test
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Clone kurtosis-charon and install dependencies
         env:
-          KURTOSIS_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.branch }}
+          KURTOSIS_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.branch || 'main' }}
         run: |
           git clone --depth 1 --branch "$KURTOSIS_BRANCH" \
             https://github.com/ObolNetwork/kurtosis-charon.git \
@@ -85,11 +87,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Deploy Kurtosis clusters
         id: deploy
         env:
-          CHARON_VERSION: "obolnetwork/charon:${{ inputs.charon_image_tag }}"
+          CHARON_VERSION: "obolnetwork/charon:${{ inputs.charon_image_tag || 'next' }}"
           KURTOSIS_MONITORING_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.KURTOSIS_MONITORING_TOKEN }}
-          KURTOSIS_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.branch }}
-          KURTOSIS_INSTANCE_TYPE: ${{ inputs.instance_type }}
-          LIFETIME_MINUTES: ${{ inputs.lifetime_minutes }}
+          KURTOSIS_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.branch || 'main' }}
+          KURTOSIS_INSTANCE_TYPE: ${{ inputs.instance_type || 'c6a.4xlarge' }}
+          LIFETIME_MINUTES: ${{ inputs.lifetime_minutes || '60' }}
         run: |
           echo "deploy_start=$(date +%s)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           cd /tmp/kurtosis-charon/kurtosis-aws-runner
@@ -109,7 +111,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Wait for clusters to finish
         env:
-          LIFETIME_MINUTES: ${{ inputs.lifetime_minutes }}
+          LIFETIME_MINUTES: ${{ inputs.lifetime_minutes || '60' }}
         run: |
           WAIT_SECONDS=$(( (LIFETIME_MINUTES + 5) * 60 ))
           echo "Waiting $((WAIT_SECONDS / 60)) minutes (${LIFETIME_MINUTES}m lifetime + 5m buffer)..."
@@ -120,10 +122,10 @@ jobs:
         env:
           OBOL_GRAFANA_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.OBOL_GRAFANA_API_TOKEN }}
           DEPLOY_START: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.deploy_start }}
-          LIFETIME_MINUTES: ${{ inputs.lifetime_minutes }}
-          CHARON_IMAGE_TAG: ${{ inputs.charon_image_tag }}
-          KURTOSIS_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.branch }}
-          KURTOSIS_INSTANCE_TYPE: ${{ inputs.instance_type }}
+          LIFETIME_MINUTES: ${{ inputs.lifetime_minutes || '60' }}
+          CHARON_IMAGE_TAG: ${{ inputs.charon_image_tag || 'next' }}
+          KURTOSIS_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.branch || 'main' }}
+          KURTOSIS_INSTANCE_TYPE: ${{ inputs.instance_type || 'c6a.4xlarge' }}
           EXPECTED_CLUSTERS: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.cluster_count }}
         run: |
           ALERT_FROM=$((DEPLOY_START + 20 * 60))