Understanding Cron Jobs
A cron job is simply a scheduled task — like setting an alarm clock for your agent. Define what to do, when to do it, and how to deliver the results.
@daily
Daily
Every day at midnight
@weekly
Weekly
Every Sunday at midnight
@hourly
Hourly
Every hour on the hour
0 8 * * *
Custom
Every day at 8:00 AM
The Power of Automation
A morning briefing cron job that saves you 10 minutes daily = 60 hours saved per year. That's like getting a week and a half of work back.
Your First 3 Automations
1. Morning Briefing (Daily at 8 AM)
🌅 Your Morning Briefing
Good morning! Here's your day:
• Weather: 72°F, sunny — perfect for your run
• Calendar: 3 meetings (10am, 2pm, 4pm)
• Tasks: 2 items due today
• Reminder: Call Mom at 4pm
2. Weekly Planning (Sunday at 8 PM)
📅 Week Ahead
Next week's preview:
• Monday: Project deadline
• Wednesday: Team offsite
• Friday: Dentist appointment
Top 3 priorities flagged. Prep suggestions attached.
3. Price Monitoring (Hourly)
💰 Price Alert!
The headphones you're watching dropped to $89 (was $129). This is below your $100 threshold. Want me to send you the link?
🎯 Quick Quiz: Cron Schedule
What schedule runs a task every Monday at 9 AM?
✅ Correct! 0 9 * * 1 means minute 0, hour 9, every day of month, every month, Monday (day 1).
❌ Not quite. @daily runs every day, @weekly runs Sundays. 0 9 * * 1 is Monday at 9 AM.
Your Turn — 3 Exercises
1
Morning Briefing
Set up a daily morning briefing at your preferred time.
Set up a daily cron job at [time, e.g., 8:00 AM]. Every morning, send me a briefing with: weather, today's calendar, any urgent tasks, and any reminders I should know about.
2
Weekly Review
Create a Sunday evening planning session.
Set up a weekly cron job for Sunday at [time]. Review the upcoming week: flag any conflicts, identify my top 3 priorities, and suggest what I should prepare in advance.
3
Custom Automation
Create an automation for something specific to your life.
Set up a cron job that runs [how often]. It should [what it does] and [how it notifies you].
Module 8 Complete!
Your agent now works while you sleep. Next: advanced multi-step workflows.