openclaw-automation

name

openclaw-automation

description

Automation in OpenClaw — cron jobs, hooks, tasks, webhooks, poll, standing orders, Task Flow, Clawflow. Also covers: auth-monitoring, clawflow, commitments, cron-vs-heartbeat, standing-orders reference docs. Use when: scheduling recurring tasks, setting up cron jobs, configuring webhooks, reacting to events with hooks, running background tasks, orchestrating multi-step workflows, using standing orders to inject persistent instructions. Triggers on: "automation", "cron", "schedule", "webhook", "hook", "task", "background", "standing order", "recurring", "every x minutes", "task flow", "clawflow", "poll", "CI", "logging", "automation troubleshooting", "gmail", "pubsub", "gmail pubsub", "cron vs heartbeat", "scheduled task", "commitments", "auth monitoring", "clawflow workflow".

OpenClaw Automation Reference

Automation mechanisms

Mechanism	When to use
Cron jobs	Exact-time recurring tasks, one-shot reminders, isolated execution
Hooks	React to events: session start/end, tool calls, message events
Tasks	Track detached/background work across the system
Webhook	HTTP callbacks from external services
Standing orders	Persistent instructions injected into every session
Task Flow	Durable multi-step orchestration with revision tracking

Quick decision guide

Exact time, recurring? → Cron jobs
Event-driven reaction? → Hooks
Track detached work? → Background tasks
Multi-step orchestration? → Task Flow
HTTP callbacks? → Webhooks
Persistent instructions? → Standing orders

Cron jobs

# Create a cron job
openclaw cron add --name "daily-report" --every "0 9 * * *" --message "Run daily report"

# List jobs
openclaw cron list

# Remove a job
openclaw cron remove <job-id>

Hooks

Hooks fire on lifecycle events:

Event	When it fires
session.start	New session created
session.end	Session ends
tool.call	Every tool call
message.in	Inbound message
message.out	Outbound message

openclaw hooks list
openclaw hooks enable <hook-name>

Heartbeat vs Cron

	Cron	Heartbeat
Timing	Exact	Approximate (~30 min)
Context	Fresh/isolated	Full main session
Use when	Precise scheduling	Periodic awareness tasks

References

• references/index.md — automation overview and decision guide
• references/cron-jobs.md — cron job setup and examples
• references/hooks.md — hook events and configuration
• references/tasks.md — background tasks, webhooks, standing orders
• references/auth-monitoring.md — auth monitoring and metrics
• references/ci.md — CI setup and automation
• references/clawflow.md — Clawflow workflow DSL
• references/commitments.md — commitments and standing orders
• references/cron-vs-heartbeat.md — cron vs heartbeat comparison
• references/logging.md — logging setup and log levels
• references/standing-orders.md — persistent standing order tasks
• references/taskflow.md — Task Flow orchestration