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Scheduled Tasks (Cron Jobs)

Your UltraClaw agent can run tasks on a schedule — morning briefings, weekly summaries, recurring reminders, and anything else you need done automatically. These are powered by cron jobs.

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How Cron Jobs Work

Each cron job has four components:
ComponentDescription
NameA descriptive label for the job (e.g., “Morning Briefing”)
ScheduleA cron expression defining when the job runs
Session TargetWhich channel receives the output (iMessage, Telegram, etc.)
PayloadThe instruction your agent executes when the job fires
When a cron job fires, your agent runs the payload in an isolated session — completely separate from any active conversation. This means scheduled tasks never interrupt or interfere with what you’re currently discussing.
Cron jobs run in isolated sessions, so they never disrupt your active conversations. Your agent handles them in the background and delivers the results to your chosen channel.

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Common Schedules

Here are some popular cron job configurations:
Schedule: Every day at 7:00 AM
0 7 * * *
Example payload: “Check my Google Calendar for today’s meetings. Check Gmail for anything urgent overnight. Check the weather. Give me a concise morning briefing.”

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Cron Expression Reference

If you’re not familiar with cron syntax, here’s a quick guide: 
┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6, Sunday=0)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *
ExpressionMeaning
0 7 * * *Every day at 7:00 AM
0 18 * * 1-5Weekdays at 6:00 PM
0 10 * * 1Every Monday at 10:00 AM
0 8 1 * *1st of every month at 8:00 AM
0 */4 * * *Every 4 hours
30 9 * * 1,3,5Mon, Wed, Fri at 9:30 AM
All times are in your configured timezone. Set your timezone in the dashboard under Settings.

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Setting Up a Cron Job

1

Open Your Dashboard

Go to ultraclaw.ai/dashboard and navigate to Scheduled Tasks.
2

Create a New Job

Click New Scheduled Task and fill in the name, cron schedule, session target, and payload.
3

Test It

Use the Run Now button to test your job immediately. Check the output to make sure it does what you expect.
4

Activate

Toggle the job to Active. It will run on the schedule you defined.
You can also set up cron jobs by asking your agent directly: “Set up a morning briefing cron job that runs every day at 7am. Check my calendar, email, and weather, then text me a summary.”

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Managing Jobs

From the Scheduled Tasks section of your dashboard, you can:
  • Enable / disable individual jobs without deleting them
  • Edit the schedule, payload, or session target
  • View run history to see past outputs and any errors
  • Delete jobs you no longer need

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Best Practices

Be Specific in Payloads

Write payloads like you’re giving instructions to a person. Include what to check, what to summarize, and how you want the output formatted.

Choose the Right Channel

Send time-sensitive outputs to iMessage or Telegram for instant visibility. Use web chat for longer reports you’ll review later.

Stagger Your Jobs

If you have multiple jobs, spread them out by a few minutes to avoid overlapping outputs.

Combine With Integrations

Cron jobs become powerful when paired with integrations — pull from Google Calendar, Gmail, QuickBooks, and more.