cron

name	cron
command	/cron
description	Manage recurring scheduled tasks — supports sub-minute intervals via betaclaw's internal scheduler, and minute-level tasks via system crontab
allowed-tools	["exec","read"]
version	2.0.0

Cron — Recurring Tasks

Two scheduling systems are available. Choose the right one based on the interval:

betaclaw Internal Scheduler (preferred — supports seconds)

Use this for any interval, including sub-minute (every 30 seconds, every 5 minutes, etc.). Tasks run inside betaclaw and can send messages back to the user.

Cron expression format (6-field, seconds supported)

┌──────── second (0-59)
│ ┌────── minute (0-59)
│ │ ┌──── hour (0-23)
│ │ │ ┌── day-of-month (1-31)
│ │ │ │ ┌ month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ │ ┌ day-of-week (0-7, 0=Sun)
│ │ │ │ │ │
* * * * * *

Common examples:

• Every 30 seconds: */30 * * * * *
• Every minute: 0 * * * * *
• Every 5 minutes: 0 */5 * * * *
• Every hour at :00: 0 0 * * * *
• Daily at 9am: 0 0 9 * * *
• Every weekday at 8am: 0 0 8 * * 1-5

Add a task

exec: betaclaw schedule add --cron "*/30 * * * * *" --name "check-in" --instruction "Send a warm check-in message to the user" --group GROUP_ID

Replace GROUP_ID with the actual group/chat JID (e.g. 48434866319368@lid). If sending to the CLI, use --group default.

List tasks

exec: betaclaw schedule list

Remove a task

exec: betaclaw schedule remove TASK_ID_OR_NAME

Use the ID prefix (first 8 chars) or the exact task name.

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System Crontab (minute-level only)

Use this for OS-level commands that don't need to talk back to the user (backups, scripts, etc.). Minimum interval is 1 minute — cannot do sub-minute.

• List entries: exec: crontab -l
• Add entry: exec: (crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "*/5 * * * * /path/to/script.sh") | crontab -
• Remove entry: exec: crontab -l | grep -v "PATTERN" | crontab -

Replace PATTERN with a unique string from the entry to remove.

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Which to use?

Need	Use
Check in with user every 30s	betaclaw internal scheduler
Send daily reminder via WhatsApp	betaclaw internal scheduler
Run a backup script every hour	System crontab
Sub-minute anything	betaclaw internal scheduler