Automate Your Workflows with OpenClaw’s Advanced Scheduling

Many users install OpenClaw but only invoke it manually when needed; the real value lies in its ability to perform tasks automatically. OpenClaw’s cron runs natural‑language instructions, so you describe the desired result and let the Agent decide how to fetch, process, and format the data.

Compared with the classic crontab, which executes a fixed script that must be fully written in advance, OpenClaw’s cron accepts high‑level commands. This removes the need to pre‑define every command, argument, and output format, allowing non‑programmers to schedule complex workflows.

Three Scheduling Modes

at : runs once at a specific time (e.g., "5 pm next Friday").

every : repeats at a fixed interval expressed in milliseconds (e.g., 3600000 for hourly, 1800000 for every 30 minutes). Suitable for monitoring tasks where precise clock time is not required.

cron : uses standard cron expressions with five fields (minute hour day month weekday). This is the most flexible for tasks that need to run at exact times such as "every weekday at 8 am".

Common cron expressions are provided, for example: 0 8 * * * – every day at 8 am 0 8 * * 1-5 – weekdays at 8 am */30 * * * * – every 30 minutes 0 0 1 * * – monthly on the 1st at midnight

Creating Your First Task

The simplest way is to run the command directly in the terminal:

openclaw cron add \
  --name "Daily News Summary" \
  --cron "0 8 * * *" \
  --tz "Asia/Shanghai" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "Search the past 24 hours of AI news, summarize the top 5 items (≤50 words each), and send to Telegram"

Key parameters: --name: human‑readable identifier. --cron: the schedule expression. --tz: time‑zone (important when the Gateway runs on a different region). --session isolated: runs each task in a fresh session to avoid context leakage. --message: the natural‑language instruction that the Agent will execute.

Ready‑to‑Use Templates

Eight practical templates are listed, covering daily briefs, server health checks, weekly reports, Git repository backups, website availability monitoring, monthly billing reminders, log cleanup, and competitor tracking. Each template shows the full openclaw cron add command with appropriate --cron and --message arguments.

Common Pitfalls and Troubleshooting

The most frequent issue is Gateway timeout. The Gateway has a timeoutSeconds setting; if a task runs longer than this value, the connection is cut and the Agent’s work is lost. The recommended fix is to set the timeout to roughly 1.5 × the estimated execution time, e.g.:

openclaw config set agents.defaults.timeoutSeconds 450

For long‑running jobs (e.g., a 15‑minute sales‑data analysis), split the workflow into two sequential tasks with a 20‑minute offset to ensure the first finishes before the second starts.

If a task fails, follow these steps:

Check the task status with openclaw cron list; an error status indicates a recent failure.

Inspect Gateway logs: openclaw gateway logs -- tail 200. Look for timeout or connection closed messages.

Verify the Gateway is running: openclaw gateway status. If it is down, restart it with openclaw gateway restart.

Manually trigger the task for immediate feedback: openclaw cron run <task ID>.

These steps help isolate whether the failure is due to timeout, Gateway unavailability, or the task logic itself.