The most powerful feature of a 24/7 AI agent is proactive automation — tasks that run on a schedule without you asking. Here's how to set up cron-style automation in OpenClaw.
Why Scheduled Tasks Matter
A chatbot only works when you use it. An AI agent works while you sleep:
- 6:00 AM — Check weather and adjust your commute recommendation
- 8:00 AM — Send morning briefing to Telegram
- 9:00 AM — Post daily standup reminder in Slack
- 12:00 PM — Check for urgent emails you haven't responded to
- 5:00 PM — Summarize today's accomplishments
- 9:00 PM — Send tomorrow's agenda and reminders
- 2:00 AM — Monitor price drops on your watchlist
Setting Up Scheduled Tasks
Method 1: Natural Language (Simplest)
Just tell OpenClaw what you want:
"Every morning at 8 AM, send me a briefing with my calendar, weather, and top 3 emails."
"Every Friday at 4 PM, summarize what I accomplished this week."
"Check the price of MacBook Air on Amazon every 6 hours. Tell me if it drops below $900."
OpenClaw parses these into scheduled tasks automatically.
Method 2: Cron Configuration
For precise control, configure cron-style schedules:
openclaw config set scheduling.tasks.morning-briefing.cron "0 8 * * *"
openclaw config set scheduling.tasks.morning-briefing.prompt "Send morning briefing"
openclaw config set scheduling.tasks.weekly-review.cron "0 16 * * 5"
openclaw config set scheduling.tasks.weekly-review.prompt "Weekly accomplishment summary"
Cron syntax: minute hour day month weekday
Method 3: Interval-Based
For recurring checks at fixed intervals:
openclaw config set scheduling.tasks.email-check.interval "2h"
openclaw config set scheduling.tasks.email-check.prompt "Check for urgent emails"
Practical Automation Recipes
Morning Briefing
The most popular automation:
"Every weekday at 7:30 AM, send me: today's calendar events, weather forecast, top 5 unread emails (summarized), any task deadlines today, and one motivational quote."
Email Digest
"Every day at 12 PM and 6 PM, check my email. Summarize anything new. Flag anything urgent."
Social Media Monitor
"Every 4 hours, check Twitter mentions of my company name. Summarize any new mentions."
Price Tracking
"Monitor these Amazon products daily. Alert me immediately if any drops more than 15%: [product links]"
Invoice Reminders
"On the 1st of every month, remind me which client invoices are due. On the 5th, remind me about any unpaid invoices."
Competitor Monitoring
"Every Monday morning, check the blog/changelog of Competitor X and Competitor Y. Summarize any new features or announcements."
Health Reminders
"Every 2 hours between 9 AM and 6 PM, remind me to drink water and stretch."
Weekly Reports
"Every Friday at 3 PM, compile a summary of all tasks I completed this week, emails sent, and meetings attended. Format it as a professional weekly report."
Managing Scheduled Tasks
List Active Tasks
"What scheduled tasks do I have running?"
Pause a Task
"Pause the morning briefing for this week — I'm on vacation."
Modify a Schedule
"Change the email digest to every 3 hours instead of every 2."
Delete a Task
"Stop the price monitoring for MacBook Air."
The 24/7 Requirement
Scheduled tasks only work if OpenClaw is running continuously. This is the core reason managed hosting matters:
- Self-hosted: Your server needs 100% uptime. Power outage, restart, or crash = missed tasks
- ClawTank: Managed containers run 24/7 with automatic restarts. Your automations never miss a beat
Tips for Good Automation
Start with One Task
Set up a morning briefing first. Once you see the value, add more gradually.
Be Specific About Timing
"Every morning" is vague. "Every weekday at 7:30 AM Pacific" is precise.
Set Quiet Hours
"Never send me notifications between 10 PM and 7 AM unless it's tagged urgent."
Review Periodically
Check your automated tasks monthly. Remove ones you no longer need. Adjust timing based on your changing schedule.
Get Started
Deploy on ClawTank for always-on OpenClaw hosting. Set up your first morning briefing in under 5 minutes and let your AI agent work while you sleep.