From b1482957f582634071f559f05924866a0968a753 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Steinberger <steipete@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2026 07:08:20 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] feat: add cron time context

---
 CHANGELOG.md                                  |  1 +
 ....uses-last-non-empty-agent-text-as.test.ts | 37 +++++++++++++++++++
 src/cron/isolated-agent/run.ts                | 12 +++++-
 3 files changed, 49 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 37a2b1a99..8e4e5ba85 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 
 ### Changes
 - Agents: keep system prompt time zone-only and move current time to `session_status` for better cache hits.
+- Cron: append current time to isolated agent prompt context for scheduled runs.
 - Browser: add node-host proxy auto-routing for remote gateways (configurable per gateway/node).
 - Plugins: add optional llm-task JSON-only tool for workflows. (#1498) Thanks @vignesh07.
 - CLI: restart the gateway by default after `clawdbot update`; add `--no-restart` to skip it.
diff --git a/src/cron/isolated-agent.uses-last-non-empty-agent-text-as.test.ts b/src/cron/isolated-agent.uses-last-non-empty-agent-text-as.test.ts
index c796580be..90a4e64b8 100644
--- a/src/cron/isolated-agent.uses-last-non-empty-agent-text-as.test.ts
+++ b/src/cron/isolated-agent.uses-last-non-empty-agent-text-as.test.ts
@@ -125,6 +125,43 @@ describe("runCronIsolatedAgentTurn", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("appends current time after the cron header line", async () => {
+    await withTempHome(async (home) => {
+      const storePath = await writeSessionStore(home);
+      const deps: CliDeps = {
+        sendMessageWhatsApp: vi.fn(),
+        sendMessageTelegram: vi.fn(),
+        sendMessageDiscord: vi.fn(),
+        sendMessageSignal: vi.fn(),
+        sendMessageIMessage: vi.fn(),
+      };
+      vi.mocked(runEmbeddedPiAgent).mockResolvedValue({
+        payloads: [{ text: "ok" }],
+        meta: {
+          durationMs: 5,
+          agentMeta: { sessionId: "s", provider: "p", model: "m" },
+        },
+      });
+
+      await runCronIsolatedAgentTurn({
+        cfg: makeCfg(home, storePath),
+        deps,
+        job: makeJob({ kind: "agentTurn", message: "do it", deliver: false }),
+        message: "do it",
+        sessionKey: "cron:job-1",
+        lane: "cron",
+      });
+
+      const call = vi.mocked(runEmbeddedPiAgent).mock.calls.at(-1)?.[0] as {
+        prompt?: string;
+      };
+      const lines = call?.prompt?.split("\n") ?? [];
+      expect(lines[0]).toContain("[cron:job-1");
+      expect(lines[0]).toContain("do it");
+      expect(lines[1]).toMatch(/^Current time: .+ \(.+\)$/);
+    });
+  });
+
   it("uses agentId for workspace, session key, and store paths", async () => {
     await withTempHome(async (home) => {
       const deps: CliDeps = {
diff --git a/src/cron/isolated-agent/run.ts b/src/cron/isolated-agent/run.ts
index 4f8f4deb3..bab060438 100644
--- a/src/cron/isolated-agent/run.ts
+++ b/src/cron/isolated-agent/run.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ import { getSkillsSnapshotVersion } from "../../agents/skills/refresh.js";
 import { resolveAgentTimeoutMs } from "../../agents/timeout.js";
 import { hasNonzeroUsage } from "../../agents/usage.js";
 import { ensureAgentWorkspace } from "../../agents/workspace.js";
+import {
+  formatUserTime,
+  resolveUserTimeFormat,
+  resolveUserTimezone,
+} from "../../agents/date-time.js";
 import {
   formatXHighModelHint,
   normalizeThinkLevel,
@@ -226,7 +231,12 @@ export async function runCronIsolatedAgentTurn(params: {
   });
 
   const base = `[cron:${params.job.id} ${params.job.name}] ${params.message}`.trim();
-  const commandBody = base;
+  const userTimezone = resolveUserTimezone(params.cfg.agents?.defaults?.userTimezone);
+  const userTimeFormat = resolveUserTimeFormat(params.cfg.agents?.defaults?.timeFormat);
+  const formattedTime =
+    formatUserTime(new Date(now), userTimezone, userTimeFormat) ?? new Date(now).toISOString();
+  const timeLine = `Current time: ${formattedTime} (${userTimezone})`;
+  const commandBody = `${base}\n${timeLine}`.trim();
 
   const existingSnapshot = cronSession.sessionEntry.skillsSnapshot;
   const skillsSnapshotVersion = getSkillsSnapshotVersion(workspaceDir);