| Observe externally created tasks | Task Flow (mirrored) |

| One-shot reminder | Cron job |

## Reliable scheduled workflow pattern

For recurring workflows such as market intelligence briefings, treat the schedule, orchestration, and reliability checks as separate layers:

1. Use [Scheduled Tasks](/automation/cron-jobs) for timing.

2. Use a persistent cron session when the workflow should build on prior context.

3. Use [Lobster](/tools/lobster) for deterministic steps, approval gates, and resume tokens.

4. Use Task Flow to track the multi-step run across child tasks, waits, retries, and gateway restarts.

Example cron shape:

```bash

openclaw cron add \

--name "Market intelligence brief" \

--cron "0 7 * * 1-5" \

--tz "America/New_York" \

--session session:market-intel \

--message "Run the market-intel Lobster workflow. Verify source freshness before summarizing." \

--announce \

--channel slack \

--to "channel:C1234567890"

```

Use `session:<id>` instead of `isolated` when the recurring workflow needs deliberate history, previous run summaries, or standing context. Use `isolated` when each run should start fresh and all required state is explicit in the workflow.

Inside the workflow, put reliability checks before the LLM summary step:

```yaml

name: market-intel-brief

steps:

- id: preflight

command: market-intel check --json

- id: collect

command: market-intel collect --json

stdin: $preflight.json

- id: summarize

command: market-intel summarize --json

stdin: $collect.json

- id: approve

command: market-intel deliver --preview

stdin: $summarize.json

approval: required

- id: deliver

command: market-intel deliver --execute

stdin: $summarize.json

condition: $approve.approved

```

Recommended preflight checks:

- Browser availability and profile choice, for example `openclaw` for managed state or `user` when a signed-in Chrome session is required. See [Browser](/tools/browser).

- API credentials and quota for each source.

- Network reachability for required endpoints.

- Required tools enabled for the agent, such as `lobster`, `browser`, and `llm-task`.

- Failure destination configured for cron so preflight failures are visible. See [Scheduled Tasks](/automation/cron-jobs#delivery-and-output).

Recommended data provenance fields for every collected item:

```json

{

"sourceUrl": "https://example.com/report",

"retrievedAt": "2026-04-24T12:00:00Z",

"asOf": "2026-04-24",

"title": "Example report",

"content": "..."

}

```

Have the workflow reject or mark stale items before summarization. The LLM step should receive only structured JSON and should be asked to preserve `sourceUrl`, `retrievedAt`, and `asOf` in its output. Use [LLM Task](/tools/llm-task) when you need a schema-validated model step inside the workflow.

For reusable team or community workflows, package the CLI, `.lobster` files, and any setup notes as a skill or plugin and publish it through [ClawHub](/tools/clawhub). Keep workflow-specific guardrails in that package unless the plugin API is missing a needed generic capability.

## Sync modes

### Managed mode