HeyRocky

Cron Jobs

What this page covers

This page covers Hermes scheduled tasks: recurring or one-shot agent runs, skill-backed jobs, no-agent script jobs, workdir-aware project jobs, and controlled delivery back to chat, files, or platform targets.

Hermes changes quickly, so treat the official documentation as the source of truth and use the built-in CLI to inspect the local install before editing config by hand.

Fast path

hermes cron list
hermes cron create "every 2h" "Check server status and summarize failures."
hermes cron create "0 9 * * *" "Send the morning brief." --skill public-source-research-workflows
hermes cron edit <job_id> --schedule "every 4h"
hermes cron pause <job_id>
hermes cron resume <job_id>
hermes cron run <job_id>
hermes cron remove <job_id>

Practical checklist

  • Pin provider/model for unattended jobs when cost or provider drift matters; unpinned jobs snapshot the current default and fail closed after global model changes.
  • Attach skills instead of pasting long workflow instructions into every scheduled prompt.
  • Use --workdir for project-specific jobs that need repo instructions and file tools rooted in that project.
  • Use no-agent mode for pure scheduled scripts whose stdout should be delivered verbatim.
  • Cron-run sessions cannot recursively create more cron jobs, which prevents runaway scheduling loops.

Common pitfalls

  • Creating broad unattended jobs with unclear delivery targets.
  • Letting scheduled jobs run in the wrong working directory.
  • Forgetting that cron output may go to a platform home channel and should be public-safe for that channel.
  • Assuming a cron command ran because it exists; always inspect status/logs.

Verification checklist

  • hermes cron list shows the job, next run, schedule, and enabled state.
  • A manual hermes cron run <job_id> produces the expected output.
  • Delivery lands in the intended destination.
  • The prompt, skills, workdir, and provider/model are explicit enough for unattended operation.

Official reference

https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/cron/

Related pages