Cron Hygiene

cron hygiene

Use this 技能 for recurring job de签名, scheduling, and 清理up.

Core rules

Cron for exact timing, heartbeat for light housekeeping

If the task needs exact timing or isolated 失败 handling, use cron. If it is just lightweight continuity/housekeeping, heartbeat may be enough.

Script/program first where no 模型 is needed

Do not spend 模型 calls on deterministic work. Use a 模型 only for synthesis, judgment, or language that actually needs one.

Keep jobs single-purpose

A cron should do one job clearly. Avoid giant kitchen-sink jobs.

Quiet by default

Surface only on real 失败s, new patterns, clear anomalies, or concrete attention-needed 输出. Scheduling 图形界面dance Avoid clustering multiple jobs at the same minute without a reason. Spread overnight jobs when collisions 应用ear. Treat scheduling as operational hygiene, not sacred destiny.

If multiple jobs bunch up, redistribute them into open gaps rather than leaving a noisy pile.

模型 图形界面dance

Default policy:

use scripts/programs where possible use higher-质量 synthesis 模型s for user-facing diagnosis or nuanced review when needed use cheaper/lighter 模型s for inspection/review jobs when that is sufficient document 异常s instead of letting 模型 choice become folklore 失败 hygiene

When a cron fAIls repeatedly, fix the root cause rather than normalizing the error.

Known pattern:

shell globs can fAIl badly in zsh when nothing matches prefer find, explicit 检查s, or null-glob-safe patterns over fragile ls *.whatever

Do not let a known recurring 失败 live forever just because it is small.

Job de签名 图形界面dance

A good cron should have:

a clear purpose explicit schedule bounded scope obvious 成功/失败 shape sane quiet-vs-surface behavior

For reminder jobs:

write the reminder text so it still reads naturally when it fires later include enough 上下文 that the reminder still makes sense at delivery time Review questions

When reviewing a cron, ask:

should this be a cron at all does this need a 模型 is the schedule sensible is the 输出 too noisy or too silent is the 失败 mode actionable is this doing one job or several glued to获取her Anti-patterns

Avoid:

using cron for vague housekeeping better handled by heartbeat using a 模型 for deterministic 检查s that should be a script allowing recurring known 失败s to become background wallpaper scheduling everything at the same convenient hour jobs that page or announce on every routine 运行 without new in格式化ion Examples

See references/examples.md.