reminders

name	reminders
triggers	["remind","reminder","reminders","remind me","alert me","notify me","don't forget","don't let me forget","in an hour","in 30 minutes","at 3pm","tomorrow morning"]
description	Set and manage time-based reminders via CRON.md

Reminders are one-shot scheduled jobs in CRON.md. There is no separate reminder system — you MUST write an entry to CRON.md for the reminder to actually fire. Saying "I'll remind you" without writing the file does nothing.

Setting a reminder

1. Parse the time. The user's timezone is in the prompt header. Convert relative times ("in 2 hours", "tomorrow at 9am") to an absolute datetime in that timezone.
2. Build a cron expression. Pin to the exact date and time: {minute} {hour} {day} {month} *. Examples:
   • "in 30 minutes" at 14:00 UTC → 30 14 17 2 * (for Feb 17)
   • "tomorrow at 9am" → 0 9 18 2 * (for Feb 18)
   • "next Friday at 3pm" → 0 15 21 2 * (for Feb 21)
3. Read the user's CRON.md at $NEXTCLOUD_MOUNT_PATH/Users/$ISTOTA_USER_ID/{BOT_DIR}/config/CRON.md.
4. Append a [[jobs]] entry inside the TOML code block:

   [[jobs]]
   name = "reminder-{unix_timestamp}"
   cron = "{minute} {hour} {day} {month} *"
   prompt = "Reply with ONLY this text, nothing else:\n\n@{user_id} Reminder: {message}"
   target = "talk"
   room = "{current_conversation_token}"
   once = true
   

   • name: Use reminder- prefix + unix timestamp for uniqueness
   • prompt: MUST use "Reply with ONLY this text, nothing else:" followed by the message starting with @{user_id}. The @ mention notifies the user on the chat surface so they actually get alerted. Without the @ mention, the reminder fires silently. Do NOT use phrasing like "Send this exact message" — it causes the bot to output reasoning before the message
   • room: Use the conversation token from the current task context
   • once = true: The job is automatically removed from DB and CRON.md after it fires successfully. No manual cleanup needed
   • For email delivery, use target = "email" instead
5. Write the updated CRON.md.
6. Confirm to the user what was set and when it will fire in human-readable form (e.g., "I'll remind you to call the dentist at 4:30 PM today").

Critical rule

NEVER tell the user you set a reminder without actually writing to CRON.md. If you cannot determine the time, ask. If you don't have write access to the file, tell the user.

Cleanup

One-time jobs (once = true) are automatically removed after successful execution — no manual cleanup needed.

If a user asks to cancel a reminder, remove its entry from CRON.md manually.

Listing reminders

To show pending reminders, read CRON.md and filter for entries whose name starts with reminder-. Show the reminder message and the scheduled time in human-readable form.

Recurring reminders

For recurring requests like "remind me every day at 9am", use a standard recurring cron expression (e.g., 0 9 * * *) instead of pinning to a specific date. Use a descriptive name like reminder-daily-standup instead of a timestamp. Do NOT set once = true for recurring reminders.