Introduction
# Casual Cron
Create Clawdbot cron jobs from natural language. Supports one-shot and repeating schedules with safe run-guard rules.
## Cron Run Guard (Hard Rules)
- When running inside a cron job: do NOT troubleshoot, do NOT restart gateway, and do NOT check time. - Do NOT send acknowledgements or explanations. - Output ONLY the exact message payload and then stop.
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## How It Works
1. Agent detects scheduling intent from user message (or `/at` / `/every` command) 2. Parses: time, frequency, channel, destination, message 3. Builds `openclaw cron add` command with correct flags 4. Confirms parsed time, job name, and job id with user before executing
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## Scheduling Rules
When a message starts with `/at` or `/every`, schedule via the CLI (NOT the cron tool API).
Use: `openclaw cron add`
### /at (one-shot)
- If user gives a clock time (e.g., "3pm"), convert to ISO with offset computed for America/New_York on that date (DST-safe). - Prefer relative times for near-term reminders (e.g., `--at "20m"`). - Use `--session isolated --message "Output exactly: <task>"`. - Always include `--delete-after-run`. - Always include `--deliver --channel <channel> --to <destination>`.
### /every (repeating)
- If interval: use `--every "<duration>"` (no timezone needed). - If clock time: use `--cron "<expr>" --tz "America/New_York"`. - Use `--session isolated --message "Output exactly: <task>"`. - Always include `--deliver --channel <channel> --to <destination>`.
### Confirmation
- Always confirm parsed time, job name, and job id with the user before finalizing.
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## Command Reference
One-shot (clock time, DST-aware): ``` openclaw cron add \ --name "Reminder example" \ --at "2026-01-28T15:00:00-05:00" \ --session isolated \ --message "Output exactly: <TASK>" \ --deliver --channel telegram --to <TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> \ --delete-after-run ```
One-shot (relative time): ``` openclaw cron add \ --name "Reminder in 20m" \ --at "20m" \ --session isolated \ --message "Output exactly: <TASK>" \ --deliver --channel telegram --to <TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> \ --delete-after-run ```
Repeating (clock time, DST-aware): ``` openclaw cron add \ --name "Daily 3pm reminder" \ --cron "0 15 * * *" --tz "America/New_York" \ --session isolated \ --message "Output exactly: <TASK>" \ --deliver --channel telegram --to <TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> ```
Repeating (interval): ``` openclaw cron add \ --name "Every 2 hours" \ --every "2h" \ --session isolated \ --message "Output exactly: <TASK>" \ --deliver --channel telegram --to <TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID> ```
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## Configuration
| Setting | Value | |---------|-------| | Default timezone | `America/New_York` (DST-aware) | | Default channel | `telegram` (override via `CRON_DEFAULT_CHANNEL` env var) | | Supported channels | telegram, whatsapp, slack, discord, signal |
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## Supported Patterns
### Time Formats
| Input | Cron | |-------|------| | `8am` | `0 8 * * *` | | `8:45pm` | `45 20 * * *` | | `noon` | `0 12 * * *` | | `midnight` | `0 0 * * *` | | `14:30` | `30 14 * * *` |
### Frequencies
| Input | Behavior | |-------|----------| | `daily` / `every day` | Daily at specified time | | `weekdays` / `mon-fri` | Mon-Fri at specified time | | `mondays` / `every monday` | Weekly on Monday | | `hourly` / `every hour` | Every hour at :00 | | `every 2 hours` | `0 */2 * * *` | | `weekly` | Weekly (defaults to Monday) | | `monthly` | Monthly (1st of month) |