Automation Setup

Automation Setup

Use this skill when the user wants the assistant to:

• remind them later
• check something periodically
• continue an existing investigation on a schedule
• create a recurring follow-up tied to an existing session
• turn a repeated manual workflow into an automation

This skill is a thin planner on top of the cron tool. Do not implement a second scheduler. Do not refer to Heartbeat or HEARTBEAT.md.

Decision Rules

1. If the task should continue an existing conversation or investigation, pass the target sessionId.
2. If the task should use a dedicated background thread, omit sessionId and let cron use its own cron:<jobId> session.
3. If the schedule is one-time, use at.
4. If the schedule is a true fixed interval, use every.
5. If the schedule is a calendar pattern, use cron.

Message Rules

Write the message as an executable instruction for the agent at run time.

• Good: Check the release board, summarize blockers, and report only changes since the previous run.
• Good: Continue the existing debugging session, inspect the latest logs, and append the next concrete step.
• Bad: debug logs

If the user wants a periodic check of a file, include that file path directly in the message.

• Example: Read docs/TODO.md, identify items due this week, and summarize anything blocked.

Session-Bound Follow-Up

When the user wants “continue this later” or “keep following up on this thread”, prefer:

cron(action="add", name="<short-name>", message="<runtime instruction>", every=<seconds>, sessionId="<existing-session-id>")

Examples

Recurring follow-up on the current investigation:

cron(action="add", name="investigation-follow-up", message="Continue the existing investigation, check for new evidence, and report only meaningful changes.", every=1800, sessionId="<session-id>")

Periodic file-based review without a special session:

cron(action="add", name="todo-review", message="Read docs/TODO.md, identify items that need attention, and summarize the highest-priority updates.", cron="0 9 * * *")

One-time reminder:

cron(action="add", name="meeting-reminder", message="At the scheduled time, send a message to the current conversation saying: \"Meeting starts in 10 minutes.\"", at="<absolute-iso-time>")