recurring-job-notifications

name	recurring-job-notifications
description	Wire Gmail + Slack notifications into a recurring launchd/cron job. Use when the user says 'send me a daily email', 'notify me on slack', 'send errors if something went wrong', 'email me the summary', 'ping slack on failure', 'daily recap', 'tag me when something breaks', 'mention me on alert', or any natural-language instruction to add email + Slack delivery to an existing scheduled job. Defaults to ERR-trap failure-only alerts — routine success/no-op posts are noise (Pitfall 11/12); do NOT post routine status updates like 'commited / changed / no changes' to Slack unless the user explicitly asks for them. Covers lib-slack-post.sh, slack_alert() mention prefix, mcp_agent_mail bot identity, channel routing (bot is in #life + #ai-general), gog gmail send, ERR trap firing rules, plus Pitfall 19 (trap ERR doesn't fire on exit 127 — preflight fallback to system python), Pitfall 20 (benign config no-op must return 0), and Pitfall 21 (dead API key surfaces as 402/401).
when_to_use	Use when: user asks for email/slack delivery on a launchd or cron job; user says 'notify me', 'daily recap', 'send me a summary', 'email me when X happens', 'alert on errors', 'tag me when X breaks', 'make sure alerts wake me up', 'ping me on Slack failure'; designing a new scheduled job and the user wants both email + slack; debugging a scheduled job whose notifications aren't arriving (silently landing in the channel without waking anyone — see Pitfall 18); deciding which channel to post to for system-generated output. Do NOT use for: one-off Slack posts in an interactive agent session (use mcp__slack__conversations_add_message or the lib-slack-post.sh helper directly); inbound Slack bridge (off per SOUL.md mcp-agent-mail-no-passive-slack-listening); MCP Agent Mail inter-agent messages (different transport).
context	inline
allowed-tools	terminal, file

Recurring Job Notifications — Gmail + Slack for launchd/cron

Why this skill exists (six recurring bugs)

Ad-hoc reinvention of the same notification patterns has bitten every new scheduled job since 2026-06:

1. slack_post_message "$chan" "$text" | tee -a log swallows the function's return code (tee's status wins). Slack posts silently fail and the script logs "Slack notification sent". Always capture rc with $?.
2. find -newermt @<epoch> is GNU-only — macOS BSD find silently returns 0 matches, so any change-detector relying on it reports "no changes" after a real ingest.
3. [[ -z "$X" ]] && X=0 returns non-zero when X is non-empty (the && short-circuits to the false branch). With set -e or an ERR trap, this becomes a false-positive "failed" alarm every run.
4. mcp_agent_mail bot is NOT in #ai-general but IS in #life and #all-$USER-ai. Verify with conversations.info before posting.
5. Hardcoding a Slack channel in a script + committing it kills re-targetability. Use SLACK_CHANNEL=... env var with a sensible default.
6. A routine status post is noise, not a feature. A scheduled job that cheerfully posts "Cron Backup: changed (not committed). Total: 26 jobs." every weekday morning is doing exactly what the user did NOT ask for — filling their inbox with non-actionable summaries. The default for new jobs in this environment should be Slack-silent on success / no-op / routine change. Use ERR-trap failure alerts as the only Slack path. Verified 2026-07-22, thread C0AJQ5M0A0Y/1784734483.171289, on scripts/cron-backup-sync.sh. User pushback: "we dont need a slack alert for it i think". Fix landed as PR #790 — dropped the do_slack function and the three routine branches, kept local completion log + regression test asserting Slack transport cannot return.

Quick wiring (copy-paste skeleton)

For a new launchd-driven job that needs to email + Slack on success and error, copy this skeleton and replace <JOB_NAME> and the markers:

#!/bin/bash
# <JOB_NAME> — short description of what runs

set -u                                  # NOTE: do NOT use `set -e`; rely on ERR trap

WIKI_DIR="$HOME/llm_wiki"               
LOG=


GMAIL_TO=
GMAIL_ACCOUNT=


SLACK_CHANNEL=
LIB_SLACK_POST=

() {   |  -a ; }
 -p 




INGEST_OUT=$()
  ... 2>&1 |  -a   >/dev/null || 
INGEST_EXIT=
INGEST_DOWNLOADED=$(grep -E   2>/dev/null |  -1 | awk  |  -d  ||  0)




() {
     subject= slack_text= gmail_body_file=
    
     [[ -x  ]] || [[ -r  ]]; 
         
         slack_output slack_rc
        slack_output=$(slack_post_message   2>&1)
        slack_rc=$?
          |  -a  >/dev/null
         [[  -eq 0 ]]; 
             
        
             
        
    
    
      -v gog >/dev/null 2>&1; 
         body_arg=()
         [[ -n  && -s  ]]; 
            body_arg=(--body-file )
        
            body_arg=(--body )
        
         gog gmail send --account  --to  \
            --subject  --no-input  >/dev/null 2>&1; 
             
        
             
        
    
     0
}


() {
     err_msg=
     subject=
     slack_text
    slack_text=$( <<
)
     gmail_body
    gmail_body=$( <<
)
    notify   <<<
}


() {
     subject=
    
    
     slack_text gmail_body
    slack_text=$( <<
)
    gmail_body=$( <<
)
    notify   <<<
}


() {
     exit_code=$? line=
     
    notify_error  || 
     
}
  ERR
  INT TERM




notify_success || 
 
 0