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:

SignalSuggestsSame task could be a shell/Python script + one messagePossible migrationPrompt needs search, summarization, judgment, variable tool useUsually keep agent cronOnly fetch fixed URL, run CLI, grep, template messageStronger 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.