⚙️ Task Automation with OpenClaw

Here's how to automate repetitive tasks with OpenClaw—cron jobs, webhooks, and custom workflows. We'll go from zero to a running automation. Roughly 25–35 minutes.

When to use this: You have recurring work (daily summaries, periodic reports, or event-driven tasks) that you want the assistant to run without you asking every time. Cron handles schedules; webhooks handle triggers from GitHub, Sentry, or other tools.

You'll end up with:

• Scheduled tasks running automatically (cron jobs)
• Webhook endpoints for event-driven automation
• Custom workflows for repetitive tasks
• Integration with external services

Before starting:

• OpenClaw installed and running - Complete Getting Started Tutorial
• A channel connected - Follow Channel Setup Tutorial
• Basic understanding of cron syntax (optional but helpful)
• Review automation basics - Check Automation Tutorial

Let's start with a simple daily briefing automation:

{
  "cron": {
    "jobs": [
      {
        "schedule": "0 9 * * *",
        "command": "agent --message 'Give me a daily briefing: check my calendar, summarize important emails, and list my tasks for today.'"
      }
    ]
  }
}

This runs every day at 9 AM. The schedule format is: minute hour day month weekday

Common Cron Patterns

• 0 9 * * * - Every day at 9:00 AM
• */30 * * * * - Every 30 minutes
• 0 */2 * * * - Every 2 hours
• 0 0 * * 1 - Every Monday at midnight

Webhooks allow external services to trigger OpenClaw actions:

{
  "webhooks": {
    "github": {
      "path": "/webhook/github",
      "command": "agent --message 'Process GitHub webhook: {payload}'"
    },
    "sentry": {
      "path": "/webhook/sentry",
      "command": "agent --message 'New Sentry error: {payload}'"
    }
  }
}

Once configured, external services can POST to your webhook URLs to trigger OpenClaw actions.

Let's create a comprehensive workflow example: Automated Daily Report

{
  "cron": {
    "jobs": [
      {
        "schedule": "0 18 * * *",
        "command": "agent --message 'Generate my daily report: 1) Summarize today\\'s calendar events, 2) List completed tasks, 3) Check for important emails, 4) Provide tomorrow\\'s agenda. Format as a markdown report and save it.'"
      }
    ]
  }
}

This creates a comprehensive daily report every evening at 6 PM.

Connect OpenClaw with external services for powerful automation:

Example: GitHub Webhook

Automatically review pull requests:

• Set up webhook in GitHub repository settings
• Point to your OpenClaw webhook endpoint
• OpenClaw receives PR notifications and can review code

Example: RSS Feed Monitoring

Monitor RSS feeds and get notified of updates:

• Create a cron job to check RSS feeds
• Parse new entries
• Send summaries via your channel

Explore advanced automation capabilities:

• Conditional Automation - Run tasks based on conditions
• Chained Workflows - Trigger multiple tasks in sequence
• Error Handling - Set up retry logic and error notifications
• Data Processing - Automate data collection and analysis
• File Management - Automate file organization and backups

Test your automation setup:

1. Manual Trigger - Run the command manually first to verify it works
2. Check Logs - Monitor OpenClaw logs to see automation execution
3. Verify Output - Ensure automation produces expected results
4. Test Webhooks - Use curl or Postman to test webhook endpoints