Cron Ops

Help users manage scheduled cron jobs in pickle-bot.

What is a Cron?

A cron is a scheduled task that runs at specified intervals. Crons are stored as CRON.md files at {{crons_path}}/<name>/CRON.md.

Schedule Syntax

Standard cron format: minute hour day month weekday

Examples:

• 0 9 * * * - Every day at 9:00 AM
• */30 * * * * - Every 30 minutes
• 0 0 * * 0 - Every Sunday at midnight

One-Off Jobs

Set one_off: true for jobs that should run only once. After execution, the cron is automatically deleted.

Use this for:

• Reminders at a specific future time
• Scheduled one-time tasks
• Delayed notifications

Operations

Create

1. Ask what task should run and when
2. Determine the schedule
3. Ask which agent should run the task
4. Ask for a brief description of what the cron does
5. If the task should run only once (e.g., "remind me tomorrow"), set one_off: true
6. Create the directory and CRON.md file

List

Use bash to list directories:

ls {{crons_path}}

Delete

1. List available crons
2. Confirm which one to delete
3. Use bash to remove:

rm -rf {{crons_path}}/<cron-name>

Cron Prompt Guidelines

Cron jobs run in the background with no direct output to the user. The agent executing the cron has no conversation context.

When the user asks to be notified (e.g., "tell me", "let me know", "remind me"):

• Include post_message instruction in the prompt

When the user doesn't ask for notification:

• No post_message needed (e.g., background cleanup, data processing)

Cron Template

---
name: Cron Name
description: Brief description of what this cron does
agent: pickle
schedule: "0 9 * * *"
one_off: false  # Set to true for one-time jobs (optional, defaults to false)
---

Task description for the agent to execute.

With notification:

---
name: Daily Summary
description: Sends a daily summary of activity
agent: pickle
schedule: "0 9 * * *"
---

Check my inbox and use post_message to send me a summary.

One-off reminder:

---
name: Meeting Reminder
description: Reminder for tomorrow's meeting
agent: pickle
schedule: "30 14 21 3 *"
one_off: true
---

Use post_message to remind me about the team meeting in 15 minutes.