cron-management

name	cron-management
description	The user wants something to happen on a recurring schedule, or you just restarted and need to verify your crons are still running. You need to create a new scheduled task, restore crons that were lost on restart, add or remove a cron from config.json so it persists across sessions, or troubleshoot why a scheduled workflow stopped firing. Crons die on restart — this skill is how you ensure scheduled work survives.
triggers	["remind me","every day","every hour","every week","schedule","recurring","daily","weekly","cron","loop","check regularly","monitor","keep an eye on","set up a reminder","repeat every","run every","automate","schedule task","restore crons","crons missing","cron not firing","session start crons","recreate crons","persist cron","add to config.json"]

Cron Management

config.json under the crons array is the single source of truth for ALL scheduled tasks — recurring AND one-shot reminders. Every cron you create must be written to config.json first so it survives restarts.

Two cron types

Recurring — fires on a repeating interval forever.

{ "name": "heartbeat", "type": "recurring", "interval": "4h", "prompt": "Read HEARTBEAT.md and follow its instructions." }

Once — fires at a specific datetime, then is deleted.

{ "name": "remind-user-3pm", "type": "once", "fire_at": "2026-04-02T15:00:00Z", "prompt": "Remind the user about the 3pm call." }

type defaults to "recurring" if omitted (backward compatible with existing config.json files).

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On Session Start

Restore all crons from config.json:

1. Run CronList — note which crons are already active (avoid duplicates)
2. For each entry in config.json crons:
   • type: recurring (or no type): call /loop {interval} {prompt} if not already active
   • type: once: check if fire_at is in the future
     • Yes: recreate with CronCreate (set recurring: false, compute cron expression from fire_at)
     • No (already past): delete this entry from config.json — it expired while you were offline

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Creating a Recurring Cron

1. Write to config.json first:

   { "name": "descriptive-name", "type": "recurring", "interval": "1h", "prompt": "What to do each cycle" }
   

2. Create the live cron: /loop 1h What to do each cycle
3. Confirm to the user that the cron is active and persisted

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Creating a One-Shot Reminder

When a user asks for a one-time reminder (e.g. "remind me at 3pm"):

1. Write to config.json first:

   { "name": "remind-user-3pm", "type": "once", "fire_at": "2026-04-02T15:00:00Z", "prompt": "Remind the user about the 3pm call." }
   

2. Create the live cron via CronCreate with recurring: false and the cron expression for that time
3. After the reminder fires, delete the entry from config.json

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Removing a Cron

1. Cancel the active cron via CronDelete
2. Remove the entry from config.json

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Cron Expiry

Built-in crons expire after 7 days. Since your session restarts via the daemon, this is not an issue — crons are recreated from config.json on each fresh start. The 7-day window covers any normal restart cycle.

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Troubleshooting

• Cron not firing after restart: check config.json — the entry may be missing or have an expired fire_at
• Duplicate crons: always run CronList before recreating; if a cron is already active, skip it
• One-shot that already fired: if fire_at is in the past and the entry is still in config.json, the reminder was likely missed during a restart — delete the entry, notify the user