Agent Skills: Scheduled Task Skill

Scheduled Task Skill

You can manage scheduled tasks to automatically execute operations at specified times.

IMPORTANT RULES

1. ONE task per conversation - Each conversation can only have ONE scheduled task
2. Query and WAIT for result - Before creating a task, output [CRON_LIST] and WAIT for the system to return the result
3. NEVER combine commands - Do NOT output [CRON_LIST] and [CRON_CREATE] in the same message. Query first, wait for result, then decide.
4. ASK before delete - If a task exists, you MUST ask the user whether to replace it or keep it. NEVER delete without user's explicit confirmation.
5. ALWAYS include closing tags - [CRON_CREATE] MUST end with [/CRON_CREATE]
6. Output commands directly - Do NOT wrap commands in markdown code blocks

Workflow for Creating a Task

CRITICAL: This is a multi-turn workflow. Do NOT skip steps or combine them.

Step 1: Query existing tasks (STOP and wait) Output ONLY [CRON_LIST] and nothing else. The system will return the current task status. DO NOT proceed to Step 2 until you see the system response.

Step 2: Review the result and ask user (STOP and wait for user response) After receiving the [CRON_LIST] result:

• If "No scheduled tasks" → proceed to Step 3
• If a task already exists → You MUST ask the user what they want to do:
  • Option A: Delete the existing task and create a new one
  • Option B: Keep the existing task and cancel creating a new one
  • NEVER delete the existing task without explicit user confirmation
  • Wait for the user's response before proceeding

Step 3: Execute user's decision

• If user chose to replace: First delete the old task with [CRON_DELETE: <job-id>], wait for confirmation, then create new task
• If user chose to keep: Do NOT create a new task, inform user the existing task is retained

Step 4: Create the new task (only if no task exists or user confirmed deletion) Only after confirming no task exists (or after successfully deleting), output the [CRON_CREATE] block.

Create Scheduled Task

When user requests a timed reminder or periodic task, output this format DIRECTLY (not in code blocks):

[CRON_CREATE] name: Task name schedule: Cron expression schedule_description: Human-readable description of when the task runs message: Message content to send when triggered [/CRON_CREATE]

Required fields:

• name: Short descriptive name for the task
• schedule: Valid cron expression
• schedule_description: Human-readable explanation of the schedule (e.g., "Every Monday at 9:00 AM")
• message: The prompt that will be sent to the AI when triggered. Write it as a complete, self-contained instruction describing what the AI should do or output — NOT a restatement of the user's request.

How to write the message field:

The message is the instruction the AI receives each time the task fires. Think of it as: "When the timer goes off, what should the AI do?" It must be a complete, self-contained prompt — NOT a restatement of the user's request.

| User says | ❌ Bad message | ✅ Good message | | --------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | "Send me hello every day at 10am" | Send me hello | Reply with exactly: Hello! | | "Remind me to drink water daily" | Remind me to drink water | Reply with a friendly reminder to drink water | | "Summarize AI news every Monday" | Summarize AI news | Search for the latest AI news from this week and produce a concise bullet-point summary report |

Key principles:

• If the user wants to receive specific content, write the message as "Reply with: <content>" or describe the exact output
• If the user wants the AI to perform a task, write a detailed, actionable instruction
• The message must be self-contained — when the AI reads it later with no prior context, it should know exactly what to do

Example output (output EXACTLY like this, without code blocks):

[CRON_CREATE] name: Weekly Meeting Reminder schedule: 0 9 * * MON schedule_description: Every Monday at 9:00 AM message: Reply with a short weekly meeting reminder that includes the current date and time. [/CRON_CREATE]

Query Scheduled Tasks

Output [CRON_LIST] directly (not in code blocks) to query scheduled tasks. The system will return the result in a follow-up message. Wait for the response before taking further action.

Delete Scheduled Task

Output [CRON_DELETE: <actual-job-id>] directly to delete a specific task. Replace <actual-job-id> with the real job ID (e.g., cron_abc123).

Cron Expression Reference

| Expression | Meaning | | ----------------- | -------------------------------- | | 0 9 * * * | Every day at 9:00 AM | | 0 9 * * MON | Every Monday at 9:00 AM | | 0 9 * * MON-FRI | Weekdays at 9:00 AM | | */30 * * * * | Every 30 minutes | | 0 */2 * * * | Every 2 hours | | 0 0 1 * * | 1st of every month at midnight | | 0 18 * * FRI | Every Friday at 6:00 PM | | 0 9,18 * * * | Every day at 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM |

Cron Expression Format

┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6, SUN-SAT)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Special Characters

• * - Any value
• , - List separator (e.g., 1,3,5)
• - - Range (e.g., MON-FRI)
• / - Step (e.g., */15 for every 15)

Notes

• Scheduled tasks are bound to the current conversation
• When triggered, the message will be sent to this conversation
• CRITICAL: [CRON_LIST] is an async query. You MUST wait for the system response before proceeding with [CRON_CREATE] or [CRON_DELETE]. Never output multiple commands in one message.