Cron Reference#
📌 TL;DR#
- OpenClaw has its own scheduler at
~/.openclaw/cron/; you manage it by talking to Jarvis. - Jobs are JSON files; the OpenClaw Gateway daemon executes them on schedule.
- View jobs visually in Mission Control's Calendar tab or by asking Jarvis.
- Common jobs include daily briefings, weekly meal prep, and market updates.
🎯 How Scheduling Works#
OpenClaw uses its own scheduler, not the Unix cron system. Job definitions live as JSON files in ~/.openclaw/cron/<job-id>/. You never edit these files directly. Instead, you ask Jarvis in plain English to schedule, edit, or delete tasks. The OpenClaw Gateway daemon reads these files and executes jobs at their specified times.
📋 Common Default Jobs#
Here are typical jobs you might schedule after setup. Jarvis can create these for you.
| Job Name | Typical Schedule | What It Does | Which Agent Runs It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Morning Briefing | 30 8 * * * (08:30 daily) | Fetches weather, headlines, and calendar. | Jarvis (orchestrates, uses Sherlock for news) |
| Daily Wrap-up | 0 19 * * * (19:00 daily) | Summarizes the day's tasks and sets tomorrow's intent. | Jarvis |
| Weekly Meal Prep | 0 9 * * 0 (Sundays 09:00) | Plans recipes and generates a grocery list. | Shakespeare |
| Market Briefing | 0 9 * * 1-5 (Weekdays 09:00) | Provides a snapshot of key financial indices. | Jarvis + Sherlock |
| Trash-Out Reminder | 0 18 * * 3 (Wednesdays 18:00) | Sends a Telegram reminder to take out the trash. | OpenClaw scheduler (static reminder, no agent) |
| AI News Brief | 0 8 * * * (08:00 daily) | Summarizes top AI/tech news from trusted sources. | Sherlock |
➕ Adding a Job#
Use natural language with Jarvis. He will write the correct cron expression and confirm.
💬 Try this
"Jarvis, remind me every Monday at 9 AM to review my week."
✅ What you should see Jarvis confirms the job is scheduled and provides a brief description. The job will appear on your Mission Control Calendar tab.
⏸️ Pausing, Editing, or Deleting Jobs#
Manage jobs through conversation with Jarvis.
- Pause a job:
"Jarvis, pause my daily wrap-up for a week." - Edit a job's schedule:
"Jarvis, change my market briefing to run at 8:30 instead of 9." - Delete a job:
"Jarvis, delete the meal-prep reminder."
Jarvis will confirm the action and update the underlying job file.
👁️ Viewing Scheduled Jobs#
You have two primary ways to see what's scheduled:
- Mission Control Calendar (Recommended): The visual calendar at
http://localhost:3000/calendarshows all jobs. - Ask Jarvis: Simply say,
"What jobs do you have scheduled for me?"for a list.
📜 Cron Expression Syntax Primer#
While Jarvis handles the syntax, here's the format used: (minute) (hour) (day-of-month) (month) (day-of-week).
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
30 8 * * * | Daily at 08:30. |
0 8 * * 1-5 | At 08:00 on weekdays (Monday-Friday). |
0 9 * * 0 | At 09:00 on Sundays. |
*/30 * * * * | Every 30 minutes. |
📁 Where Job Files Live#
All scheduler data is under ~/.openclaw/cron/. Each job has its own directory (e.g., ~/.openclaw/cron/daily-briefing/) containing:
job.json: The job definition (schedule, command, metadata).run.log: A history of execution attempts and outputs.
Do not edit these files manually. Use Jarvis. This structure is documented for troubleshooting.
🐛 Troubleshooting#
| Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A job didn't run. | Pi was off/sleeping, or the Gateway daemon stopped. | 1. Ask Jarvis: "Why didn't my <job> run?"2. Shell: openclaw gateway restart3. Check the job's run.log. |
| Too many notifications. | Job frequency is too high. | Ask Jarvis: "Reduce the frequency of my <job> reminders." |
| I want to test a job now. | You want to see the output immediately. | Ask Jarvis: "Run my <X> job now." He will execute it on demand. |