openclaw/docs/cli/cron.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
CLI reference for `openclaw cron` (schedule and run background jobs)	You want scheduled jobs and wakeups You’re debugging cron execution and logs	cron

openclaw cron

Manage cron jobs for the Gateway scheduler.

Related:

• Cron jobs: Cron jobs

Tip: run openclaw cron --help for the full command surface.

Note: isolated cron add jobs default to --announce delivery. Use --no-deliver to keep output internal. --deliver remains as a deprecated alias for --announce.

Note: one-shot (--at) jobs delete after success by default. Use --keep-after-run to keep them.

Note: recurring jobs now use exponential retry backoff after consecutive errors (30s → 1m → 5m → 15m → 60m), then return to normal schedule after the next successful run.

Note: openclaw cron run now returns as soon as the manual run is queued for execution. Successful responses include { ok: true, enqueued: true, runId }; use openclaw cron runs --id <job-id> to follow the eventual outcome.

Note: retention/pruning is controlled in config:

• cron.sessionRetention (default 24h) prunes completed isolated run sessions.
• cron.runLog.maxBytes + cron.runLog.keepLines prune ~/.openclaw/cron/runs/<jobId>.jsonl.

Upgrade note: if you have older cron jobs from before the current delivery/store format, run openclaw doctor --fix. Doctor now normalizes legacy cron fields (jobId, schedule.cron, top-level delivery fields, payload provider delivery aliases) and migrates simple notify: true webhook fallback jobs to explicit webhook delivery when cron.webhook is configured.

Common edits

Update delivery settings without changing the message:

openclaw cron edit <job-id> --announce --channel telegram --to "123456789"

Disable delivery for an isolated job:

openclaw cron edit <job-id> --no-deliver

Enable lightweight bootstrap context for an isolated job:

openclaw cron edit <job-id> --light-context

Announce to a specific channel:

openclaw cron edit <job-id> --announce --channel slack --to "channel:C1234567890"

Create an isolated job with lightweight bootstrap context:

openclaw cron add \
  --name "Lightweight morning brief" \
  --cron "0 7 * * *" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "Summarize overnight updates." \
  --light-context \
  --no-deliver

--light-context applies to isolated agent-turn jobs only. For cron runs, lightweight mode keeps bootstrap context empty instead of injecting the full workspace bootstrap set.