Schedules recurring tasks and reminders for your agent.
Install
mkdir -p .claude/skills/cron && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/1536" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/cron && rm skill.zipInstalls to .claude/skills/cron
Activation
This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.
Schedule reminders and recurring tasks.Key capabilities
- →Schedule recurring tasks
- →Set one-time reminders
- →Execute dynamic tasks at intervals
- →List and remove scheduled jobs
How it works
The tool registers jobs with specified time expressions or intervals, triggering the agent to perform actions or send messages back to the originating session.
Inputs & outputs
When to use cron
- →Set daily reminders
- →Schedule periodic status checks
- →Trigger tasks at specific times
About this skill
Cron
Use the cron tool to schedule reminders or recurring tasks that should report back to the originating chat/session when they run.
Do not use cron for periodic background checks that should stay quiet when there is nothing useful to report. For those, update HEARTBEAT.md; the protected heartbeat job runs those checks and only delivers results that pass the notification gate.
Three Modes
- Reminder - message is sent directly to user
- Task - message is a task description, agent executes and sends result
- One-time - runs once at a specific time, then auto-deletes
Examples
Fixed reminder:
cron(action="add", message="Time to take a break!", every_seconds=1200)
Dynamic task (agent executes each time):
cron(action="add", message="Check HKUDS/nanobot GitHub stars and report", every_seconds=600)
One-time scheduled task (compute ISO datetime from current time):
cron(action="add", message="Remind me about the meeting", at="<ISO datetime>")
Timezone-aware cron:
cron(action="add", message="Morning standup", cron_expr="0 9 * * 1-5", tz="America/Vancouver")
List/remove:
cron(action="list")
cron(action="remove", job_id="abc123")
Time Expressions
| User says | Parameters |
|---|---|
| every 20 minutes | every_seconds: 1200 |
| every hour | every_seconds: 3600 |
| every day at 8am | cron_expr: "0 8 * * *" |
| weekdays at 5pm | cron_expr: "0 17 * * 1-5" |
| 9am Vancouver time daily | cron_expr: "0 9 * * *", tz: "America/Vancouver" |
| at a specific time | at: ISO datetime string (compute from current time) |
Timezone
Use tz with cron_expr to schedule in a specific IANA timezone. Without tz, the server's local timezone is used.
When not to use it
- →For periodic background checks that require no output
- →For tasks requiring high-frequency sub-second execution
Prerequisites
Limitations
- →Server local time used if no timezone specified
- →Not for silent background monitoring
How it compares
It allows for agent-executed tasks rather than simple notification-only scheduling.
Compared to similar skills
cron side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.
| Skill | Installs | Updated | Safety | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cron (this skill) | 8 | 5mo | No flags | Beginner |
| zapier-workflows | 11 | 8mo | Review | Beginner |
| automation-brainstorm | 7 | 9mo | No flags | Beginner |
| connect-apps | 6 | 7mo | No flags | Beginner |
Try saying
Example prompts that trigger this skill in your AI assistant.
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