Cron Hardening

Reliable cron config learned through repeated failures. Follow these rules for every new cron.

1. PIN the model

Every cron that delivers to the user must explicitly set a fast model. The global default can get stuck on model resolution (MiniMax cold-start especially).

"model": "deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash"

Time-sensitive crons that need pinning:

• Expense check-ins (10am, 1:30pm, 10pm)
• Expense sync (9:30am)
• News briefings (7:30am, 3pm, 10pm)
• Investment check-in (Sat 10am) and sync (Sat 11am)
• Transport check-in (9am)

Non-time-sensitive crons (dashboard, backup, security audit) can use default model — delay is harmless.

2. Absolute paths only

Cron agentTurn payloads run in an isolated context. They cannot cd to the workspace first. Every command MUST use absolute paths.

WRONG:

cd /workspace && python3 scripts/sync.py

RIGHT:

/usr/bin/python3 /home/hobopi/.openclaw/workspace/scripts/sync-ledger-to-sheet.py

Preflight checks reject cd && python3 chains.

3. Timeouts

4. Delivery config

For crons that deliver to Telegram, use explicit delivery:

"delivery": {
  "mode": "announce",
  "channel": "telegram",
  "to": "telegram:37134287"
}

mode: "none" for crons that don't need to notify the user (dashboard updates, token tracking).

5. Failure recovery

• Check lastRunStatus and consecutiveErrors on cron status
• lastDiagnostics shows the error phase: model-call-started = model resolution timeout
• Common fixes: pin model, bump timeout, check absolute paths
• After fixing, next scheduled run uses new config (no manual trigger needed)

6. maxConcurrentRuns

Set cron.maxConcurrentRuns in openclaw.json when multiple crons fire simultaneously:

"cron": { "maxConcurrentRuns": 2 }

Prevents Sunday 5am clash (security audit + hourly dashboard + expense check-in).

7. Failure alerts

"failureAlert": {
  "after": 2,
  "mode": "announce",
  "channel": "telegram",
  "to": "telegram:37134287"
}

Notifies Hobo after 2 consecutive failures. Default enabled.