klytos-scheduled-actions

name	klytos-scheduled-actions
description	Guide for scheduling background tasks, cron jobs, and recurring actions in Klytos CMS. Use when scheduling background tasks, creating cron jobs, running periodic cleanup, executing deferred actions, querying scheduled actions, setting up recurring tasks, handling action retries, managing the action scheduler, or working with ActionScheduler or CronManager.

Klytos Scheduled Actions & Cron

When to Use This Skill

Use this reference when your plugin needs to run background tasks: daily cleanups, periodic API syncs, deferred processing, or any task that runs on a schedule.

Klytos has two systems:

1. Action Scheduler (primary) — Flexible, supports single and recurring actions, retry logic
2. CronManager (legacy) — Simple interval-based pseudo-cron running on admin page loads

---

Action Scheduler (Primary System)

Schedule a One-Time Action

klytos_schedule_single_action(int $timestamp, string $hook, array $args = [], string $group = ''): string

Returns the action ID.

// Run in 1 hour
$actionId = klytos_schedule_single_action(
    time() + 3600,
    'my_plugin.send_report',
    ['report_id' => 42],
    'my-plugin'
);

// Handle the action when it fires
klytos_add_action('my_plugin.send_report', function (array $args): void {
    $reportId = $args['report_id'];
    // ... send the report
    klytos_log('info', "Report {$reportId} sent");
});

Schedule a Recurring Action

klytos_schedule_recurring_action(int $timestamp, int $intervalSeconds, string $hook, array $args = [], string $group = ''): string

Minimum interval: 60 seconds.

// Run every hour starting now
$actionId = klytos_schedule_recurring_action(
    time(),
    3600,                           // Every hour
    'my_plugin.sync_data',
    [],
    'my-plugin'
);

// Run daily (86400 seconds)
$actionId = klytos_schedule_recurring_action(
    time(),
    86400,
    'my_plugin.daily_cleanup',
    [],
    'my-plugin'
);

Cancel Actions

// Cancel by ID
klytos_cancel_scheduled_action(string $actionId): bool

// Cancel ALL pending actions for a hook
klytos_unschedule_all_actions(string $hook, array $args = [], string $group = ''): int

// Cancel specific action
klytos_cancel_scheduled_action($actionId);

// Cancel all sync actions
$count = klytos_unschedule_all_actions('my_plugin.sync_data', [], 'my-plugin');

Query Scheduled Actions

// Next run timestamp (or null)
klytos_next_scheduled_action(string $hook, array $args = [], string $group = ''): ?int

// Is action scheduled?
klytos_is_scheduled_action(string $hook, array $args = [], string $group = ''): bool

// Check before scheduling (avoid duplicates)
if (!klytos_is_scheduled_action('my_plugin.sync_data')) {
    klytos_schedule_recurring_action(time(), 3600, 'my_plugin.sync_data', [], 'my-plugin');
}

// Get next run time
$next = klytos_next_scheduled_action('my_plugin.sync_data');
if ($next) {
    echo "Next sync: " . date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $next);
}

Action Data Structure

[
    'id'           => string,        // UUID
    'hook'         => string,        // Hook name to fire
    'args'         => array,         // Arguments for the hook
    'group'        => string,        // Organization group
    'status'       => string,        // 'pending', 'completed', 'failed', 'canceled'
    'type'         => string,        // 'single' or 'recurring'
    'interval'     => ?int,          // Seconds between runs (null for single)
    'scheduled_at' => string,        // ISO 8601 — when it should run
    'started_at'   => ?string,       // When execution started
    'completed_at' => ?string,       // When execution finished
    'attempts'     => int,           // Current attempt count
    'max_attempts' => int,           // Max retries (default: 3)
    'last_error'   => ?string,       // Last error message
    'created_at'   => string,        // ISO 8601
    'updated_at'   => string,        // ISO 8601
]

Execution: How Actions Run

1. Server cron (preferred): Configure your server's crontab to call cli.php scheduler:run every minute
2. Fallback pseudo-cron: On every admin page load, the Action Scheduler checks for due actions

Failed actions are retried up to max_attempts (default: 3) with exponential backoff.

---

Via MCP (AI Interface)

klytos_schedule_single_action

{
    "timestamp": 1711900800,
    "hook": "my_plugin.send_report",
    "args": {"report_id": 42},
    "group": "my-plugin"
}

klytos_schedule_recurring_action

{
    "timestamp": 1711900800,
    "interval_seconds": 86400,
    "hook": "my_plugin.daily_cleanup",
    "args": {},
    "group": "my-plugin"
}

klytos_cancel_scheduled_action

{
    "action_id": "abc123-def456"
}

klytos_list_scheduled_actions

{
    "status": "pending",
    "group": "my-plugin"
}

klytos_get_scheduler_status

Returns scheduler health: queue size, last run, next run, failed count.

---

Via Admin (Desktop Interface)

• Scheduled Actions page: admin/scheduled-actions.php
• View all scheduled actions with status, next run, group
• Cancel or retry failed actions
• View execution history

---

CronManager (Legacy Pseudo-Cron)

For simple recurring tasks. Runs on every admin page load.

Register a Cron Task

klytos_add_filter('cron.tasks', function (array $tasks): array {
    $tasks[] = [
        'id'       => 'my_plugin_daily_task',
        'callback' => function (): void {
            klytos_log('info', 'Running daily task');
            // ... task logic
        },
        'interval' => 'daily',
    ];
    return $tasks;
});

Available Intervals

Interval	Seconds	Description
'hourly'	3600	Every hour
'daily'	86400	Every 24 hours
'weekly'	604800	Every 7 days
'monthly'	2592000	Every 30 days

Core Cron Tasks

Task	Interval	Purpose
analytics_prune	daily	Prune analytics data older than 90 days
audit_log_prune	daily	Prune audit logs older than 90 days
rate_limit_cleanup	hourly	Clean expired rate limit entries

---

When to Use Which System

Scenario	System	Why
Run once in 1 hour	Action Scheduler	Single action with timestamp
Run every day	Action Scheduler	Recurring with 86400 interval
Retry on failure	Action Scheduler	Built-in retry logic
Simple daily cleanup	CronManager	Simple, no retry needed
Process queue of items	Action Scheduler	Each item can be its own action
Deferred heavy processing	Action Scheduler	Runs via server cron, not on page load

Recommendation: Use the Action Scheduler for new code. CronManager is maintained for backwards compatibility.

---

Best Practices

1. Always check before scheduling to avoid duplicate actions:

   if (!klytos_is_scheduled_action('my_plugin.sync')) {
       klytos_schedule_recurring_action(time(), 3600, 'my_plugin.sync');
   }
   

2. Use groups to organize actions by plugin:

   klytos_schedule_single_action(time() + 60, 'my_hook', [], 'my-plugin');
   

3. Clean up on deactivation:

   // plugins/my-plugin/deactivate.php
   klytos_unschedule_all_actions('my_plugin.sync', [], 'my-plugin');
   klytos_unschedule_all_actions('my_plugin.cleanup', [], 'my-plugin');
   

4. Keep actions short — long-running actions may timeout. Break large tasks into smaller actions.

5. Log results for debugging:

   klytos_add_action('my_plugin.sync', function (): void {
       $start = microtime(true);
       // ... work
       $duration = round(microtime(true) - $start, 2);
       klytos_log('info', "Sync completed in s");
   });
   

---

Source Files

• Action Scheduler: core/action-scheduler.php
• CronManager: core/cron-manager.php
• Global functions: core/helpers-global.php (lines 574-655)
• MCP scheduler tools: core/mcp/tools/scheduler-tools.php
• Admin page: admin/scheduled-actions.php