> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://openclaw.yoinkit.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cron Examples

> Automate your research with scheduled jobs

## Overview

OpenClaw's cron system lets you automate research workflows. Set up jobs to:

* Monitor trends daily
* Get weekly research reports
* Alert you when content goes viral

## Daily Trend Check

Check what's trending every morning and get a summary:

```json theme={null}
{
  "name": "Daily Trend Check",
  "schedule": {
    "kind": "cron",
    "expr": "0 9 * * *",
    "tz": "America/Chicago"
  },
  "payload": {
    "kind": "agentTurn",
    "message": "Run yoinkit research for my niches: [productivity, AI tools, creator economy]. Summarize what's trending and flag any viral content I should respond to quickly."
  },
  "sessionTarget": "isolated",
  "delivery": {
    "mode": "announce",
    "channel": "telegram"
  }
}
```

**What it does:**

* Runs at 9 AM Central every day
* Researches your defined niches
* Sends a summary to your Telegram

## Weekly Deep Research

More comprehensive research once a week:

```json theme={null}
{
  "name": "Weekly Deep Research",
  "schedule": {
    "kind": "cron",
    "expr": "0 10 * * 1",
    "tz": "America/Chicago"
  },
  "payload": {
    "kind": "agentTurn",
    "message": "Do deep research on my content niches (AI, productivity, creator tools). Pull transcripts from the top 5 videos in each niche this week. Identify 3 content ideas I haven't covered yet. Save findings to my Obsidian vault at Yoinkit/Research/Weekly."
  },
  "sessionTarget": "isolated"
}
```

**What it does:**

* Runs Monday at 10 AM
* Deep research with transcript pulls
* Saves to Obsidian for later review

## Viral Content Alert

Check hourly for viral content in your niches:

```json theme={null}
{
  "name": "Viral Alert",
  "schedule": {
    "kind": "every",
    "everyMs": 3600000
  },
  "payload": {
    "kind": "agentTurn",
    "message": "Check yoinkit trending for youtube and tiktok in my niches. If anything is going viral (>100K views in <24h), alert me immediately with a suggested content response strategy."
  },
  "sessionTarget": "isolated",
  "delivery": {
    "mode": "announce",
    "channel": "telegram"
  }
}
```

**What it does:**

* Runs every hour
* Only alerts if something is actually viral
* Includes suggested response strategy

## Competitor Watch

Monitor specific creators weekly:

```json theme={null}
{
  "name": "Competitor Watch",
  "schedule": {
    "kind": "cron",
    "expr": "0 18 * * 5",
    "tz": "America/Chicago"
  },
  "payload": {
    "kind": "agentTurn",
    "message": "Analyze this week's content from these creators: @mkbhd, @aliabdaal, @thomasfrank. What topics did they cover? What's performing well? Any gaps I could fill?"
  },
  "sessionTarget": "isolated"
}
```

**What it does:**

* Runs Friday at 6 PM
* Analyzes competitor content
* Identifies opportunities

## Setting Up Cron Jobs

### Via OpenClaw Chat (Recommended)

Just tell your assistant what you want. No JSON required:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Daily Trend Monitoring">
    > "Every morning at 9, check what's trending on YouTube and TikTok in tech"

    > "Set up a daily trend check for productivity content"

    > "I want a morning briefing on what's viral in my niches"
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Topic Research">
    > "Create a weekly job that researches AI tools and sends me content ideas"

    > "Every Monday, find what creators are talking about in the home automation space"

    > "Set up research on fourth amendment discussions — check Twitter and Reddit weekly"
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Competitor Tracking">
    > "Watch these channels weekly and tell me what they're posting: @mkbhd, @aliabdaal"

    > "Every Friday, analyze my competitors' top performing content"

    > "Track what MKBHD, Marques Brownlee, and Linus Tech Tips are doing"
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Alerts">
    > "Alert me if anything about privacy laws goes viral on Twitter"

    > "Every few hours, check if any AI content is blowing up"

    > "Notify me immediately when videos in my niche hit 100K views"
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Content Planning">
    > "Every Sunday night, give me a content plan based on what's trending"

    > "Research next week's potential topics every Friday"

    > "Find me 5 video ideas based on this week's trends"
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Note>
  **OpenClaw translates your request into a cron job.** You describe the schedule and research goal — it handles the technical details.
</Note>

### Via CLI

```bash theme={null}
# Add a job
openclaw cron add --name "Daily Trends" --schedule "0 9 * * *" ...
```

### Via Config

Add to `~/.openclaw/openclaw.json`:

```json theme={null}
{
  "cron": {
    "jobs": [
      {
        "name": "Daily Trend Check",
        "schedule": { "kind": "cron", "expr": "0 9 * * *" },
        ...
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

## Tips

<Tip>
  **Batch similar checks** — Instead of multiple hourly jobs, combine checks into one job that runs every few hours.
</Tip>

<Tip>
  **Use time zones** — Always specify `tz` in your cron schedule to avoid confusion.
</Tip>

<Tip>
  **Save to files** — For research jobs, have the agent save results to Obsidian or markdown files for later review.
</Tip>

<Warning />

## Example Workflow: Content Creator

A typical setup for a content creator:

| Job              | Schedule      | Purpose                  |
| ---------------- | ------------- | ------------------------ |
| Daily Trends     | 9 AM daily    | Quick trend overview     |
| Viral Alerts     | Every 2 hours | Catch viral content fast |
| Deep Research    | Monday 10 AM  | Weekly content planning  |
| Competitor Watch | Friday 6 PM   | Weekend analysis         |

Total API calls: \~50-100 per week (varies by depth settings)