cron-mastery

Cron-mastery provides the authoritative framework for time-sensitive task management within OpenClaw 2026.2.15+ environments. It addresses common agent failure points such as missed reminders, clock drift, and scheduling deadlocks. By enforcing a strict architectural separation between casual polling (Heartbeat) and precise, guaranteed execution (Cron), this skill ensures that agents can reliably handle reminders, background maintenance, and time-bound triggers without sacrificing responsiveness.

This skill is intended for developers and power users building autonomous agents who require high-precision scheduling. It provides the logic needed to transition from unstable internal loops to optimized gateway-managed Cron jobs, complete with automatic cleanup and robust delivery modes. Whether you are building a system janitor or a proactive personal assistant, this guide clarifies when and how to leverage OpenClaw's internal scheduler.

• Precise event scheduling using Cron at/every modes compared to heartbeat-based polling.

• Reliable reminder patterns including AgentTurn integration for proactive push notifications on channels like Telegram or WhatsApp.

• Automated maintenance workflows using the Janitor pattern for system cleanup and job deadlocks resolution.

• Timezone-aware scheduling best practices ensuring that local user intent is correctly interpreted against system time.

• Self-wake rules to prevent agent sleep state during async tasks that extend beyond a single turn.

• Requires OpenClaw 2026.2.15+ for stabilized one-shot reminder patterns and deleteAfterRun functionality.

• Prioritize sessionTarget: main for system maintenance tasks to ensure the agent has full tool permissions.

• Use Strict Instruction patterns to eliminate conversational chatter in automated alerts.

• Monitor gateway execution via cron:list to troubleshoot job variance and timestamp formatting.

• Ensure Memory.md contains explicit timezone definitions to avoid scheduling offsets for end-users.