| name | agent-self-scheduling |
| description | Make an AI agent run on a schedule, loop, or interval — cron, heartbeats, recurring autonomous checks. Use for "run every N minutes", "schedule a task", "run on a loop", "heartbeat". Covers external clocks (Claude Code, Codex, Pi) vs Hermes' built-in scheduler. |
Agent Self-Scheduling
First question: does the agent have a built-in scheduler (Hermes → Camp B), or do you own the clock (everything else → Camp A)?
Universal floor: cron is 1 minute minimum (5-field expr, no seconds) — every camp. For sub-minute you MUST use a while ...; sleep N; done loop, a TS extension, or an event hook. Never put an LLM on a tight timer.
Camp A — one-shot agents, you own the clock
These run once and exit (amnesiac unless resumed). Schedule them externally.
claude -p "PROMPT" --output-format json --allowedTools "Read,Edit,Bash"
codex exec --json "PROMPT"
pi run "PROMPT"
Wrap in a clock:
*/10 * * * * cd /path/to/project && pi run "check X and report" >> ~/agent.log 2>&1
while true; do pi run "check X"; sleep 30; done
Gotchas (each breaks unattended runs if ignored):
- Permissions hang forever. Pass
--allowedTools (Claude) or sandbox/auto-approve flags (Codex), or the run blocks on a prompt.
- Use JSON output (
--output-format json / --json) so the wrapper parses results deterministically.
- Runs are amnesiac. Resume (
codex exec resume --last) or persist state to a file the next run reads.
Pi has NO built-in scheduler/loop/heartbeat by design — external clock only (or a TS extension for agent-side timers).
cmux — orchestration only, NO scheduler
cmux has no timer/watch/cron. Three ways to loop it: orchestrator-driven (send → sleep → read-screen on your own clock), a dumb while-sleep wrapper, or — preferred — event-driven via cmux notify + OSC terminal hooks, which is cheaper and more responsive than polling. read-screen is non-interruptive, safe to poll.
If a loop checks another agent, send David a one-line status each check: what the agent is doing, on track or not. (Claude Code may prefill a predicted next user message after finishing — that's Claude, not David.)
Camp B — Hermes built-in scheduler
Hermes' gateway ticks every 60s and runs due jobs in fresh isolated sessions. State-check first:
hermes gateway install
hermes cron create "every 1h" "summarize new emails and report" --skill himalaya
hermes cron create "0 9 * * *" "post daily standup"
hermes cron create "30m" "one-shot reminder in 30 min"
Hermes-unique: zero-token mode (run a script, deliver stdout verbatim — use for watchdogs), chaining (context_from pipes one job's output into the next), self-terminating loops, and loop safety (scheduled sessions cannot create more cron jobs — don't schedule from inside a scheduled job). Each run is a fresh session: the prompt must carry all context.
Heartbeat pattern
One fast recurring tick gates many slower per-task checks: the tick reads a task list + per-task last_run timestamps and only acts on tasks that are due. In Hermes use a recurring job (zero-token mode when nothing's due); in Camp A use a while-sleep loop. Define active-hours, and stay silent when nothing is due — no empty noise.
A watchdog tick is just a command whose stdout is delivered verbatim — keep it to one cheap, unauthenticated call:
curl -s --max-time 10 https://deepapi.co/v1/health
Verify it fires (before reporting success)
- Camp A: log file grows after one interval, or run the wrapped command once by hand → clean JSON, exit 0.
- Camp B:
hermes cron list shows the job + sane next_run; trigger a run-now to confirm delivery.
- Confirm permission/sandbox flags are present — the #1 silent failure is a hung permission prompt.
- Heartbeats: confirm a nothing-due tick stays silent.
