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Overview of all automation mechanisms: heartbeat, cron, tasks, hooks, webhooks, and more

Deciding how to automate work with OpenClaw

Choosing between heartbeat, cron, hooks, and webhooks

Looking for the right automation entry point

Automation Overview

Automation

OpenClaw provides several automation mechanisms, each suited to different use cases. This page helps you choose the right one.

Quick decision guide

flowchart TD
    A[What do you need?] --> B{Run on a schedule?}
    A --> C{React to an event?}
    A --> D{Receive external HTTP?}
    A --> E{Persistent instructions?}

    B -->|Yes| F{Exact timing critical?}
    F -->|Yes| G["**Cron** (isolated)"]
    F -->|No| H{Can batch with other checks?}
    H -->|Yes| I[**Heartbeat**]
    H -->|No| J[**Cron**]

    C -->|Yes| K[**Hooks**]
    D -->|Yes| L[**Webhooks**]
    E -->|Yes| M[**Standing Orders**]

    G --> N[All background work tracked via **Tasks**]
    J --> N

    click I "/gateway/heartbeat"
    click G "/automation/cron-jobs"
    click J "/automation/cron-jobs"
    click K "/automation/hooks"
    click L "/automation/webhook"
    click M "/automation/standing-orders"
    click N "/automation/tasks"

Mechanisms at a glance

Mechanism	What it does	Runs in	Creates task record
Heartbeat	Periodic main-session turn — batches multiple checks	Main session	No
Cron	Scheduled jobs with precise timing	Main or isolated session	Yes (all types)
Background Tasks	Tracks detached work (cron, ACP, subagents, CLI)	N/A (ledger)	N/A
Hooks	Event-driven scripts triggered by agent lifecycle events	Hook runner	No
Standing Orders	Persistent instructions injected into the system prompt	Main session	No
Webhooks	Receive inbound HTTP events and route to the agent	Gateway HTTP	No

Specialized automation

Mechanism	What it does
Gmail PubSub	Real-time Gmail notifications via Google PubSub
Polling	Periodic data source checks (RSS, APIs, etc.)
Auth Monitoring	Credential health and expiry alerts

How they work together

The most effective setups combine multiple mechanisms:

Heartbeat handles routine monitoring (inbox, calendar, notifications) in one batched turn every 30 minutes.
Cron handles precise schedules (daily reports, weekly reviews) and one-shot reminders.
Hooks react to specific events (tool calls, session resets, compaction) with custom scripts.
Standing Orders give the agent persistent context ("always check the project board before replying").
Background Tasks automatically track all detached work so you can inspect and audit it.

See Cron vs Heartbeat for a detailed comparison of the two scheduling mechanisms.

Cron vs Heartbeat — detailed comparison guide
Troubleshooting — debugging automation issues
Configuration Reference — all config keys

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