Smart Cron

Schedule and manage OpenClaw tasks using natural language with timezone support, failure alerts, logs, and full cron lifecycle commands.

Security Scan

The skill's declared purpose (natural-language cron manager) is plausible, but the instructions promise external alerting and a CLI without providing code, install steps, or any credential/config guidance — this mismatch and the fact the agent will run shell commands that modify crontab are reasons to be cautious.

Purpose & Capability

Skill describes a CLI that manipulates system cron, stores logs locally, and sends WhatsApp/Telegram alerts. The skill.json declares exec and message tools which fit cron manipulation, but SKILL.md also claims 'zero external dependencies' while listing Python 3.8+ and external alert channels — and yet no install artifacts or credentials are provided. The public GitHub URL is referenced but no code is bundled, which is unexpected for a full-featured CLI.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions direct the agent to manage crontab entries and write/read data in ~/.openclaw/workspace/smart-cron-data/, which is consistent with scheduling. However, failure-alert behavior (WhatsApp/Telegram) is described but no mechanism, endpoints, or credential setup is given — the agent may need to access external services or secrets not declared. The SKILL.md examples also imply running arbitrary tasks (e.g., 'summarize my emails') that could require unrelated credentials if invoked.

Install Mechanism

No install spec and no code files are included; this reduces disk-write risk (instruction-only). That said, the skill advertises a CLI and links to a GitHub repo but provides no bundled binary or install steps — an inconsistency that requires clarification from the author.

Credentials

The skill requires no environment variables in metadata, yet promises external alerting channels that typically require API keys/tokens (WhatsApp, Telegram). There is no declared primary credential or guidance for configuring credentials — this is disproportionate and ambiguous. The skill will also write to ~/..., and will need permission to edit crontab, which is expected but privilege-sensitive.

Persistence & Privilege

always:false and user-invocable:true (defaults) — no excessive platform persistence is requested. The skill will create local data under ~/.openclaw/workspace/smart-cron-data/ and may modify system crontab; those are expected for a scheduler but are persistent, so users should consent.

What to consider before installing

This skill is plausible but inconsistent in key ways. Before installing or enabling it: (1) verify the referenced GitHub repo and confirm a trustworthy release/binary or install steps (no code is bundled here); (2) ask the author how WhatsApp/Telegram alerts are implemented and what credentials will be needed — don't provide API keys unless you trust the implementation; (3) be aware the agent will run shell commands (exec) and will edit your crontab and write to ~/.openclaw/workspace/smart-cron-data/ — back up your crontab and review any files created; (4) prefer a version that includes source or a vetted install method, or request explicit instructions for credential configuration and a privacy/telemetry statement. If you need high assurance, treat this as untrusted until you can review the upstream code and alert-channel integration.

Smart Cron — Natural Language Cron Scheduler for OpenClaw

Schedule any OpenClaw task using plain English. No cron syntax required. Just say what you want, when you want it.

What It Does

• Natural language scheduling — "every weekday at 9am", "every 30 minutes", "first Monday of month"
• Full cron job lifecycle — add, list, remove, pause, resume
• Timezone-aware — schedule in any timezone (UTC, Europe/Bucharest, etc.)
• Failure alerts — WhatsApp/Telegram alert if a job fails
• Next run preview — shows exactly when each job runs next
• Run logs — persisted history of every execution
• Zero external dependencies — uses system cron + OpenClaw orchestration

Quick Start

# Add a daily digest job
smart-cron add "every weekday at 9am" --task "summarize my emails"

# Add an interval job
smart-cron add "every 30 minutes" --task "check server health"

# Monthly job
smart-cron add "first Monday of month at 10am" --task "generate monthly report"

# List all scheduled jobs
smart-cron list

# Show next run times
smart-cron next

# View job logs
smart-cron logs

# Pause a job (without deleting it)
smart-cron pause <job-id>

# Resume paused job
smart-cron resume <job-id>

# Remove a job
smart-cron remove <job-id>

Commands

Command	Description
smart-cron add <schedule> --task <task>	Schedule a new task
smart-cron list	List all jobs with status
smart-cron remove <id>	Remove a job
smart-cron next	Show next run time for all jobs
smart-cron run <id>	Run a job immediately
smart-cron logs [id]	View execution logs
smart-cron pause <id>	Pause a job
smart-cron resume <id>	Resume a paused job

Supported Schedule Expressions

Intervals

• every 5 minutes → */5 * * * *
• every hour → 0 * * * *
• every 2 hours → 0 */2 * * *
• every 30 minutes → */30 * * * *

Daily

• every day at 9am → 0 9 * * *
• every weekday at 9am → 0 9 * * 1-5
• every weekend at noon → 0 12 * * 6,0
• daily at midnight → 0 0 * * *

Weekly

• every Monday at 8am → 0 8 * * 1
• every Friday at 5pm → 0 17 * * 5

Monthly

• first Monday of month → calculated and re-scheduled
• 1st of month at 9am → 0 9 1 * *
• last day of month → calculated dynamically

Custom cron (passthrough)

• 0 */6 * * * → runs as-is for advanced users

Timezone Support

# Schedule in your local timezone
smart-cron add "every weekday at 9am" \
  --task "daily standup reminder" \
  --timezone Europe/Bucharest

# List shows times in both UTC and local tz

Failure Alerts

When a scheduled task fails, Smart Cron sends an alert via your configured channel:

⚠️ Smart Cron: "daily standup reminder" FAILED
Time: 09:00 EET (07:00 UTC)
Error: Task timed out after 300s
Last success: yesterday at 09:00
Logs: smart-cron logs job-123

Data Storage

All job configs and logs stored locally at ~/.openclaw/workspace/smart-cron-data/. SQLite, no telemetry.

Configuration

Edit ~/.openclaw/workspace/smart-cron-data/config.json:

{
  "default_timezone": "Europe/Bucharest",
  "alert_channel": "whatsapp",
  "alert_on_failure": true,
  "log_retention_days": 30
}

Use Cases

Morning Briefing

smart-cron add "every weekday at 8am" --task "summarize overnight emails and news"

Uptime Monitoring

smart-cron add "every 5 minutes" --task "check all APIs and alert if any is down"

Weekly Reports

smart-cron add "every Friday at 5pm" --task "generate weekly work summary and log to MEMORY.md"

Monthly Cleanup

smart-cron add "1st of month at 2am" --task "clean old logs and archive memory files older than 90 days"

Requirements

• OpenClaw 1.0+
• Python 3.8+ (for schedule parsing)
• cron daemon (standard on Linux/macOS)

Source & Issues

• Source: https://github.com/mariusfit/smart-cron
• Issues: https://github.com/mariusfit/smart-cron/issues
• Author: @mariusfit