Cron Job Token Auditor

Audits OpenClaw Gateway cron jobs from jobs.json (or CLI), classifies scheduled workloads by token cost (agent turns vs deterministic work), and suggests when OS timers plus scripts and openclaw message send could replace recurring LLM runs. Use when optimizing token spend, reviewing cron schedules, or comparing Gateway cron to systemd-style automation. Read-only: never edits cron or migrates jobs automatically.

Cron Job Auditor

This skill guides read-only reviews of OpenClaw Gateway cron jobs so the user can spot token-saving opportunities—typically moving purely mechanical recurring work to an OS-scheduled script (systemd timer, launchd, etc.) that calls openclaw message send without running the model on every tick.

Hard boundaries

• Do not edit jobs.json, systemd units, or user scripts unless the user explicitly asks for a draft or a diff to apply themselves.
• Do not claim guaranteed savings; give confidence levels (high / medium / low).
• Do not assume paths: default is often ~/.openclaw/cron/jobs.json — confirm or use openclaw cron / docs if the install differs.

When to apply this skill

• User asks to audit, review, optimize, or reduce tokens for cron, scheduled jobs, or recurring OpenClaw tasks.
• User shares or points to jobs.json (or pastes JSON).

What to read

1. jobs.json (or user-provided excerpt): each job’s name, enabled, schedule, payload, delivery, agentId.
2. Prefer openclaw cron / openclaw cron list (or current CLI) when available — aligns with the live Gateway.
3. REFERENCE.md in this skill folder for glossary and checklist language.

Classification (per job)

• payload.kind: agentTurn → counts as LLM-invoking for each run (unless documentation says otherwise for this version).
• Extract a short summary of the message / instructions (first ~200 chars + ellipsis if long). Do not reproduce secrets or API keys; redact chat IDs as ***.

Heuristics — “script candidate”

Flag as candidate only when medium or high confidence:

Signal	Suggests
Same task could be a shell/Python script + one message	Possible migration
Prompt needs search, summarization, judgment, variable tool use	Usually keep agent cron
Only fetch fixed URL, run CLI, grep, template message	Stronger candidate

Patterns (map each candidate to one):

• A — CLI + send: e.g. some-cli … \| … then openclaw message send …
• B — HTTP + send: curl/fetch + parse + send (no LLM).
• C — Hybrid: data from script; optional rare agent run for exceptions only (document separately).

Output format — use this template every time

markdown

## Cron Job Auditor — Summary

- **Source**: (path or CLI)
- **Jobs scanned**: N (enabled: M)
- **Likely LLM per run**: (count of agentTurn-style jobs, or “unknown” if schema unclear)

## Per-job table

| Job name | Enabled | Schedule | Payload kind | LLM? | Confidence (migration) | Notes |
|----------|---------|----------|--------------|------|------------------------|-------|

## Candidates for OS timer + script (no auto-migration)

For each row with confidence **medium** or **high**:

### 1. `<job name>`

- **Why it costs tokens**: …
- **Suggested pattern**: A / B / C (one paragraph)
- **Prerequisites**: …
- **Manual steps** (numbered):
  1. Implement script at `…` (user path)
  2. Test with dry-run / manual run
  3. Add systemd timer (or launchd) — user edits unit files
  4. **Disable or remove** the Gateway cron entry to avoid duplicate sends
  5. Verify with checklist in REFERENCE.md

## Not recommended for migration

| Job | Reason |
|-----|--------|

## Low-confidence items

(Brief list — what would be needed to decide.)

Tone

• Clear, cautious, actionable. Prefer numbered steps over prose walls.
• Link to OpenClaw Cron documentation when reminding users how Gateway scheduling works.

Related

• Users who already moved jobs to OS scripts often keep openclaw message send for delivery only — that path avoids per-tick LLM usage for the poll itself.