Merge e1ab5a4679a3725c40193c0bcf9ed333fbc3ab2a into 8a05c05596ca9ba0735dafd8e359885de4c2c969

docs/automation/cron-jobs.md

@@ -692,6 +692,68 @@ Immediate system event without creating a job:
 openclaw system event --mode now --text "Next heartbeat: check battery."
 ```
 
+## Pre-check gate (skip when nothing changed)
+
+Recurring jobs often wake an agent when there's nothing to act on — wasting tokens on "nothing new" responses. The **pre-check gate** runs a lightweight shell command before the agent turn; if the command fails or returns empty output, the job is skipped entirely.
+
+```bash
+openclaw cron add \
+  --name "PR review" \
+  --every "30m" \
+  --session isolated \
+  --message "Review these open PRs and flag any issues." \
+  --pre-check 'gh pr list --state open --json number | jq "if length > 0 then . else empty end"'
+```
+
+### How it works
+
+| Pre-check result          | Job outcome                                          |
+| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
+| Exit 0 + non-empty stdout | Job proceeds — stdout optionally included as context |
+| Exit non-zero             | Job skipped (status: `skipped`)                      |
+| Empty stdout              | Job skipped (nothing to do)                          |
+| Timeout (default: 30s)    | Job skipped                                          |
+
+### Pre-check fields
+
+| Field            | Type                                     | Default     | Description                            |
+| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----------- | -------------------------------------- |
+| `command`        | string                                   | _required_  | Shell command to execute               |
+| `timeoutSeconds` | number                                   | `30`        | Kill and skip on timeout               |
+| `outputMode`     | `"prepend"` \| `"replace"` \| `"ignore"` | `"prepend"` | How to use stdout in the agent message |
+
+### Output modes
+
+- **prepend** (default): Stdout is prepended to the agent message as `[Pre-check context]`, giving the agent the data without a separate lookup.
+- **replace**: Stdout becomes the entire agent message (useful when the script produces the full prompt).
+- **ignore**: Only the pass/fail gate matters; stdout is discarded.
+
+### Examples
+
+```bash
+# Only summarize when new mail arrived (check returns count)
+--pre-check 'python3 -c "import imaplib; m=imaplib.IMAP4_SSL(\"imap.gmail.com\"); m.login(\"...\",\"...\"); print(len(m.search(None,\"UNSEEN\")[1][0].split()))"'
+
+# Only alert when disk usage exceeds 80%
+--pre-check 'df -h / | awk "NR==2 {gsub(/%/,\"\",\$5); if(\$5>80) print \$5\"% used\"; else exit 1}"'
+
+# Only process when a file changed since last check
+--pre-check 'find /data -newer /tmp/.last-check -type f | head -5'
+
+# Only wake when API returns non-empty results
+--pre-check 'curl -sf https://api.example.com/pending | jq "if length > 0 then . else empty end"'
+```
+
+### Updating or removing a pre-check
+
+```bash
+# Update the command
+openclaw cron update <job-id> --pre-check 'new-command-here'
+
+# Remove the pre-check (job always runs)
+openclaw cron update <job-id> --pre-check ''
+```
+
 ## Gateway API surface
 
 - `cron.list`, `cron.status`, `cron.add`, `cron.update`, `cron.remove`

src/cron/normalize.ts

@@ -406,6 +406,29 @@ export function normalizeCronJobInput(
     next.delivery = coerceDelivery(base.delivery);
   }
 
+  // Pre-check gate normalization
+  if (base.preCheck === null) {
+    next.preCheck = null; // explicit removal in patch
+  } else if (isRecord(base.preCheck)) {
+    const pc = base.preCheck;
+    const preCheck: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+    if (typeof pc.command === "string" && pc.command.trim()) {
+      preCheck.command = pc.command.trim();
+    }
+    if (typeof pc.timeoutSeconds === "number" && Number.isFinite(pc.timeoutSeconds)) {
+      preCheck.timeoutSeconds = Math.max(1, Math.floor(pc.timeoutSeconds));
+    }
+    if (typeof pc.outputMode === "string") {
+      const mode = pc.outputMode.trim().toLowerCase();
+      if (mode === "prepend" || mode === "replace" || mode === "ignore") {
+        preCheck.outputMode = mode;
+      }
+    }
+    if (preCheck.command) {
+      next.preCheck = preCheck;
+    }
+  }
+
   if ("isolation" in next) {
     delete next.isolation;
   }

src/cron/pre-check.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { runPreCheck, applyPreCheckOutput } from "./pre-check.js";
+
+const isWindows = process.platform === "win32";
+
+describe("cron pre-check gate", () => {
+  describe("runPreCheck", () => {
+    it("passes when command exits 0 with output", async () => {
+      const result = await runPreCheck({ command: 'echo "hello world"' });
+      expect(result.passed).toBe(true);
+      if (result.passed) {
+        expect(result.output).toContain("hello world");
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("fails when command exits non-zero", async () => {
+      const cmd = isWindows ? "exit /b 1" : "exit 1";
+      const result = await runPreCheck({ command: cmd });
+      expect(result.passed).toBe(false);
+      if (!result.passed) {
+        expect(result.reason).toContain("exited with code 1");
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("fails when command produces empty stdout", async () => {
+      // node -e "" produces no output on all platforms
+      const result = await runPreCheck({ command: 'node -e ""' });
+      expect(result.passed).toBe(false);
+      if (!result.passed) {
+        expect(result.reason).toContain("empty output");
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("fails on timeout", async () => {
+      const cmd = isWindows ? "ping -n 11 127.0.0.1 > nul" : "sleep 10";
+      const result = await runPreCheck({
+        command: cmd,
+        timeoutSeconds: 1,
+      });
+      expect(result.passed).toBe(false);
+      if (!result.passed) {
+        expect(result.reason).toMatch(/timed out|error/i);
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("passes with multi-line output", async () => {
+      const cmd = isWindows
+        ? "node -e \"console.log('line1');console.log('line2');console.log('line3')\""
+        : 'echo "line1"; echo "line2"; echo "line3"';
+      const result = await runPreCheck({ command: cmd });
+      expect(result.passed).toBe(true);
+      if (result.passed) {
+        expect(result.output).toContain("line1");
+        expect(result.output).toContain("line3");
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("includes stderr hint on non-zero exit", async () => {
+      const cmd = isWindows
+        ? "node -e \"process.stderr.write('oops');process.exit(2)\""
+        : 'echo "oops" >&2; exit 2';
+      const result = await runPreCheck({ command: cmd });
+      expect(result.passed).toBe(false);
+      if (!result.passed) {
+        expect(result.reason).toContain("oops");
+        expect(result.reason).toContain("code 2");
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("handles command not found", async () => {
+      const result = await runPreCheck({
+        command: "nonexistent_command_xyz_12345",
+      });
+      expect(result.passed).toBe(false);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("applyPreCheckOutput", () => {
+    it("prepends output by default", () => {
+      const result = applyPreCheckOutput("original message", "check data", undefined);
+      expect(result).toContain("[Pre-check context]");
+      expect(result).toContain("check data");
+      expect(result).toContain("original message");
+      // Pre-check comes before original
+      expect(result.indexOf("check data")).toBeLessThan(result.indexOf("original message"));
+    });
+
+    it("prepends output with explicit 'prepend' mode", () => {
+      const result = applyPreCheckOutput("original", "data", "prepend");
+      expect(result).toContain("data");
+      expect(result).toContain("original");
+    });
+
+    it("replaces original with 'replace' mode", () => {
+      const result = applyPreCheckOutput("original", "replacement", "replace");
+      expect(result).toBe("replacement");
+    });
+
+    it("ignores output with 'ignore' mode", () => {
+      const result = applyPreCheckOutput("original", "ignored data", "ignore");
+      expect(result).toBe("original");
+    });
+  });
+});

src/cron/pre-check.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/**
+ * Cron pre-check gate: execute a lightweight shell command before an agent turn.
+ *
+ * If the command exits 0 with non-empty stdout → job proceeds (stdout available as context).
+ * If the command exits non-zero or stdout is empty → job is skipped (no tokens spent).
+ *
+ * This saves tokens on recurring jobs that only need attention when something changed
+ * (e.g., new PRs, new emails, file changes, API status changes).
+ */
+
+import { exec } from "node:child_process";
+import type { CronPreCheck } from "./types.js";
+
+const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 30;
+const MAX_OUTPUT_BYTES = 32_768; // 32 KB — enough context without overwhelming the prompt
+
+export type PreCheckResult = { passed: true; output: string } | { passed: false; reason: string };
+
+/**
+ * Run a pre-check command. Returns `passed: true` with stdout if the gate
+ * passes, or `passed: false` with a reason if it should be skipped.
+ */
+export function runPreCheck(
+  preCheck: CronPreCheck,
+  opts?: { cwd?: string },
+): Promise<PreCheckResult> {
+  const timeoutMs = (preCheck.timeoutSeconds ?? DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS) * 1_000;
+
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    let settled = false;
+    const child = exec(preCheck.command, {
+      timeout: timeoutMs,
+      maxBuffer: MAX_OUTPUT_BYTES,
+      cwd: opts?.cwd,
+      env: { ...process.env },
+    });
+
+    let stdout = "";
+    let stderr = "";
+
+    child.stdout?.on("data", (chunk: string | Buffer) => {
+      stdout += String(chunk);
+    });
+
+    child.stderr?.on("data", (chunk: string | Buffer) => {
+      stderr += String(chunk);
+    });
+
+    child.on("error", (err) => {
+      if (settled) {
+        return;
+      }
+      settled = true;
+      resolve({ passed: false, reason: `preCheck error: ${err.message}` });
+    });
+
+    child.on("close", (code, signal) => {
+      if (settled) {
+        return;
+      }
+      settled = true;
+      if (signal === "SIGTERM") {
+        resolve({
+          passed: false,
+          reason: `preCheck timed out after ${preCheck.timeoutSeconds ?? DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS}s`,
+        });
+        return;
+      }
+
+      if (code !== 0) {
+        const hint = stderr.trim() ? ` (stderr: ${stderr.trim().slice(0, 200)})` : "";
+        resolve({ passed: false, reason: `preCheck exited with code ${code}${hint}` });
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const trimmed = stdout.trim();
+      if (!trimmed) {
+        resolve({ passed: false, reason: "preCheck produced empty output (nothing to do)" });
+        return;
+      }
+
+      // Truncate if needed
+      const output =
+        trimmed.length > MAX_OUTPUT_BYTES
+          ? trimmed.slice(0, MAX_OUTPUT_BYTES) + "\n[truncated]"
+          : trimmed;
+
+      resolve({ passed: true, output });
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Apply the pre-check output to a payload message/text based on the outputMode.
+ */
+export function applyPreCheckOutput(
+  originalText: string,
+  preCheckOutput: string,
+  outputMode: CronPreCheck["outputMode"],
+): string {
+  switch (outputMode ?? "prepend") {
+    case "replace":
+      return preCheckOutput;
+    case "ignore":
+      return originalText;
+    case "prepend":
+    default:
+      return `[Pre-check context]\n${preCheckOutput}\n\n${originalText}`;
+  }
+}

src/cron/service.pre-check.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import type { CronJob, CronJobPatch } from "./types.js";
+import { applyJobPatch } from "./service/jobs.js";
+
+describe("applyJobPatch with preCheck", () => {
+  const makeJob = (preCheck?: CronJob["preCheck"]): CronJob => ({
+    id: "job-1",
+    name: "job-1",
+    enabled: true,
+    createdAtMs: Date.now(),
+    updatedAtMs: Date.now(),
+    schedule: { kind: "every", everyMs: 60_000 },
+    sessionTarget: "isolated",
+    wakeMode: "now",
+    payload: { kind: "agentTurn", message: "do it" },
+    preCheck,
+    state: {},
+  });
+
+  it("adds preCheck to a job that had none", () => {
+    const job = makeJob();
+
+    const patch: CronJobPatch = {
+      preCheck: { command: "echo new" },
+    };
+    applyJobPatch(job, patch);
+    expect(job.preCheck?.command).toBe("echo new");
+  });
+
+  it("merges preCheck fields (partial update)", () => {
+    const job = makeJob({ command: "echo original", timeoutSeconds: 30 });
+    const patch: CronJobPatch = {
+      preCheck: { timeoutSeconds: 60 },
+    };
+    applyJobPatch(job, patch);
+    expect(job.preCheck?.command).toBe("echo original");
+    expect(job.preCheck?.timeoutSeconds).toBe(60);
+  });
+
+  it("removes preCheck when patched with null", () => {
+    const job = makeJob({ command: "echo original" });
+    expect(job.preCheck).toBeDefined();
+
+    const patch: CronJobPatch = { preCheck: null };
+    applyJobPatch(job, patch);
+    expect(job.preCheck).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it("replaces preCheck command while preserving other fields", () => {
+    const job = makeJob({ command: "echo old", timeoutSeconds: 30 });
+    const patch: CronJobPatch = {
+      preCheck: { command: "gh pr list --json number" },
+    };
+    applyJobPatch(job, patch);
+    expect(job.preCheck?.command).toBe("gh pr list --json number");
+    expect(job.preCheck?.timeoutSeconds).toBe(30);
+  });
+
+  it("sets outputMode via patch", () => {
+    const job = makeJob({ command: "echo data" });
+    const patch: CronJobPatch = {
+      preCheck: { outputMode: "replace" },
+    };
+    applyJobPatch(job, patch);
+    expect(job.preCheck?.command).toBe("echo data");
+    expect(job.preCheck?.outputMode).toBe("replace");
+  });
+
+  it("does not touch preCheck when patch omits it", () => {
+    const job = makeJob({ command: "echo keep" });
+    const patch: CronJobPatch = { name: "renamed" };
+    applyJobPatch(job, patch);
+    expect(job.preCheck?.command).toBe("echo keep");
+    expect(job.name).toBe("renamed");
+  });
+});

src/cron/service/jobs.ts

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import type {
   CronJobPatch,
   CronPayload,
   CronPayloadPatch,
+  CronPreCheck,
 } from "../types.js";
 import { normalizeHttpWebhookUrl } from "../webhook-url.js";
 import { resolveInitialCronDelivery } from "./initial-delivery.js";
@@ -554,6 +555,7 @@ export function createJob(state: CronServiceState, input: CronJobCreate): CronJo
     sessionTarget: input.sessionTarget,
     wakeMode: input.wakeMode,
     payload: input.payload,
+    preCheck: input.preCheck,
     delivery: resolveInitialCronDelivery(input),
     failureAlert: input.failureAlert,
     state: {
@@ -644,6 +646,13 @@ export function applyJobPatch(
   if (patch.state) {
     job.state = { ...job.state, ...patch.state };
   }
+  if ("preCheck" in patch) {
+    if (patch.preCheck === null) {
+      job.preCheck = undefined;
+    } else if (patch.preCheck) {
+      job.preCheck = { ...job.preCheck, ...patch.preCheck } as CronPreCheck;
+    }
+  }
   if ("agentId" in patch) {
     job.agentId = normalizeOptionalAgentId((patch as { agentId?: unknown }).agentId);
   }

src/cron/service/timer.ts

@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
-import { resolveFailoverReasonFromError } from "../../agents/failover-error.js";
+import { dirname } from "node:path";
 import type { CronConfig, CronRetryOn } from "../../config/types.cron.js";
 import type { HeartbeatRunResult } from "../../infra/heartbeat-wake.js";
-import { DEFAULT_AGENT_ID } from "../../routing/session-key.js";
-import { resolveCronDeliveryPlan } from "../delivery.js";
-import { sweepCronRunSessions } from "../session-reaper.js";
 import type {
   CronDeliveryStatus,
   CronJob,
@@ -12,6 +9,12 @@ import type {
   CronRunStatus,
   CronRunTelemetry,
 } from "../types.js";
+import type { CronEvent, CronServiceState } from "./state.js";
+import { resolveFailoverReasonFromError } from "../../agents/failover-error.js";
+import { DEFAULT_AGENT_ID } from "../../routing/session-key.js";
+import { resolveCronDeliveryPlan } from "../delivery.js";
+import { runPreCheck, applyPreCheckOutput } from "../pre-check.js";
+import { sweepCronRunSessions } from "../session-reaper.js";
 import {
   computeJobPreviousRunAtMs,
   computeJobNextRunAtMs,
@@ -21,7 +24,6 @@ import {
   resolveJobPayloadTextForMain,
 } from "./jobs.js";
 import { locked } from "./locked.js";
-import type { CronEvent, CronServiceState } from "./state.js";
 import { ensureLoaded, persist } from "./store.js";
 import { DEFAULT_JOB_TIMEOUT_MS, resolveCronJobTimeoutMs } from "./timeout-policy.js";
 
@@ -1009,6 +1011,29 @@ export async function executeJobCore(
 ): Promise<
   CronRunOutcome & CronRunTelemetry & { delivered?: boolean; deliveryAttempted?: boolean }
 > {
+  // ── Pre-check gate ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+  // If the job has a preCheck, run the lightweight shell command first.
+  // Skip the entire agent turn (no tokens spent) if the gate fails.
+  let preCheckOutput: string | undefined;
+  if (job.preCheck?.command) {
+    // Run pre-check from the session store directory (near the agent workspace)
+    // or fall back to the gateway's working directory.
+    const cwd = state.deps.storePath ? dirname(state.deps.storePath) : undefined;
+    const result = await runPreCheck(job.preCheck, { cwd });
+    if (!result.passed) {
+      state.deps.log.debug(
+        { jobId: job.id, jobName: job.name, reason: result.reason },
+        "cron: preCheck gate failed, skipping job",
+      );
+      return { status: "skipped", error: result.reason };
+    }
+    preCheckOutput = result.output;
+    state.deps.log.debug(
+      { jobId: job.id, jobName: job.name, outputLen: preCheckOutput.length },
+      "cron: preCheck gate passed",
+    );
+  }
+
   const resolveAbortError = () => ({
     status: "error" as const,
     error: timeoutErrorMessage(),
@@ -1039,7 +1064,7 @@ export async function executeJobCore(
     return resolveAbortError();
   }
   if (job.sessionTarget === "main") {
-    const text = resolveJobPayloadTextForMain(job);
+    let text = resolveJobPayloadTextForMain(job);
     if (!text) {
       const kind = job.payload.kind;
       return {
@@ -1050,6 +1075,10 @@ export async function executeJobCore(
             : 'main job requires payload.kind="systemEvent"',
       };
     }
+    // Apply pre-check output to main session text
+    if (preCheckOutput) {
+      text = applyPreCheckOutput(text, preCheckOutput, job.preCheck?.outputMode);
+    }
     // Preserve the job session namespace for main-target reminders so heartbeat
     // routing can deliver follow-through in the originating channel/thread.
     // Downstream gateway wiring canonicalizes/guards this key per agent.
@@ -1130,9 +1159,15 @@ export async function executeJobCore(
     return resolveAbortError();
   }
 
+  // Apply pre-check output to isolated agent message
+  let agentMessage = job.payload.message;
+  if (preCheckOutput) {
+    agentMessage = applyPreCheckOutput(agentMessage, preCheckOutput, job.preCheck?.outputMode);
+  }
+
   const res = await state.deps.runIsolatedAgentJob({
     job,
-    message: job.payload.message,
+    message: agentMessage,
     abortSignal,
   });
 

src/cron/types.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import type { FailoverReason } from "../agents/pi-embedded-helpers.js";
 import type { ChannelId } from "../channels/plugins/types.js";
-import type { CronJobBase } from "./types-shared.js";
 
 export type CronSchedule =
   | { kind: "at"; at: string }
@@ -43,6 +42,45 @@ export type CronDeliveryPatch = Partial<CronDelivery>;
 export type CronRunStatus = "ok" | "error" | "skipped";
 export type CronDeliveryStatus = "delivered" | "not-delivered" | "unknown" | "not-requested";
 
+/**
+ * Pre-check gate: a lightweight shell command that runs before the agent turn.
+ * If the command exits 0 and produces non-empty stdout, the job proceeds with
+ * stdout as context. If it exits non-zero or produces empty stdout, the job
+ * is skipped — saving tokens when there's nothing to do.
+ *
+ * Example: `preCheck: { command: "gh pr list --state open --json number | jq 'if length > 0 then . else empty end'" }`
+ * Only wakes the agent when there are open PRs.
+ */
+export type CronPreCheck = {
+  /** Shell command to execute. Runs in the agent workspace directory. */
+  command: string;
+  /** Timeout in seconds (default: 30). Killed + skipped on timeout. */
+  timeoutSeconds?: number;
+  /**
+   * What to do with stdout when the check passes:
+   * - "prepend" (default): prepend stdout to the agent message/system-event as context
+   * - "replace": use stdout as the entire message (replaces payload text/message)
+   * - "ignore": discard stdout, just use the gate result
+   */
+  outputMode?: "prepend" | "replace" | "ignore";
+};
+
+export type CronPayload =
+  | { kind: "systemEvent"; text: string }
+  | {
+      kind: "agentTurn";
+      message: string;
+      /** Optional model override (provider/model or alias). */
+      model?: string;
+      thinking?: string;
+      timeoutSeconds?: number;
+      allowUnsafeExternalContent?: boolean;
+      deliver?: boolean;
+      channel?: CronMessageChannel;
+      to?: string;
+      bestEffortDeliver?: boolean;
+    };
+
 export type CronUsageSummary = {
   input_tokens?: number;
   output_tokens?: number;
@@ -78,8 +116,6 @@ export type CronFailureAlert = {
   accountId?: string;
 };
 
-export type CronPayload = { kind: "systemEvent"; text: string } | CronAgentTurnPayload;
-
 export type CronPayloadPatch = { kind: "systemEvent"; text?: string } | CronAgentTurnPayloadPatch;
 
 type CronAgentTurnPayloadFields = {
@@ -99,10 +135,6 @@ type CronAgentTurnPayloadFields = {
   bestEffortDeliver?: boolean;
 };
 
-type CronAgentTurnPayload = {
-  kind: "agentTurn";
-} & CronAgentTurnPayloadFields;
-
 type CronAgentTurnPayloadPatch = {
   kind: "agentTurn";
 } & Partial<CronAgentTurnPayloadFields>;
@@ -132,14 +164,24 @@ export type CronJobState = {
   lastDelivered?: boolean;
 };
 
-export type CronJob = CronJobBase<
+export type CronJob = {
-  CronSchedule,
+  id: string;
-  CronSessionTarget,
+  agentId?: string;
-  CronWakeMode,
+  name: string;
-  CronPayload,
+  description?: string;
-  CronDelivery,
+  enabled: boolean;
-  CronFailureAlert | false
+  deleteAfterRun?: boolean;
-> & {
+  createdAtMs: number;
+  updatedAtMs: number;
+  schedule: CronSchedule;
+  sessionTarget: CronSessionTarget;
+  wakeMode: CronWakeMode;
+  payload: CronPayload;
+  /** Optional pre-check gate. Runs a shell command before the agent turn;
+   *  skips the job (no tokens spent) if the command fails or returns empty. */
+  preCheck?: CronPreCheck;
+  delivery?: CronDelivery;
+  failureAlert?: CronFailureAlert | false;
   state: CronJobState;
 };
 
@@ -152,8 +194,13 @@ export type CronJobCreate = Omit<CronJob, "id" | "createdAtMs" | "updatedAtMs" |
   state?: Partial<CronJobState>;
 };
 
-export type CronJobPatch = Partial<Omit<CronJob, "id" | "createdAtMs" | "state" | "payload">> & {
+export type CronPreCheckPatch = Partial<CronPreCheck>;
+
+export type CronJobPatch = Partial<
+  Omit<CronJob, "id" | "createdAtMs" | "state" | "payload" | "preCheck">
+> & {
   payload?: CronPayloadPatch;
+  preCheck?: CronPreCheckPatch | null;
   delivery?: CronDeliveryPatch;
   state?: Partial<CronJobState>;
 };