Scheduled Task Reference

Scheduled tasks allow Qoder CLI to automatically trigger a prompt or slash command at specified times. This page explains the cron expression format, storage location, and execution limits. For a usage guide on scheduled tasks, see Scheduled Execution Task.

cron expression format

Scheduled tasks use standard 5-field cron expressions, interpreted in the Local Time Zone where the CLI is running:

┌───────── Minute (0-59)
│ ┌─────── Hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───── Day (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌─── Month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌─ Day of week (0-6, 0=Sunday; 7 is also Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Supported field syntax:

Syntax	Meaning	Example
`*`	Wildcard, matches all	`* * * * *` (every minute)
`N`	Single value	`0 9 * * *` (9:00 every day)
`*/N`	Step, every N units	`/15 * * *` (every 15 minutes)
`N-M`	Range	`0 9-17 * * *` (every hour from 9 to 17)
`N,M,...`	List	`0 9,12,18 * * *` (at 9, 12, and 18 every day)

L, W, ?, and name aliases are not supported. When both day of month and day of week are restricted, an "OR" semantics is applied—triggering if either matches (standard cron behavior).

Common examples:

Expression	Meaning
`/10 * * *`	Every 10 minutes
`0 * * * *`	Every hour on the hour
`0 9 * * *`	9:00 every day
`0 9 * * 1-5`	9:00 on weekdays
`0 0 /2 *`	0:00 every 2 days

Storage Location

Persistent scheduled tasks are saved in the .qoder/scheduled_tasks.json under the project. File format:

{
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "a1b2c3d4",
      "cron": "0 9 * * *",
      "prompt": "/standup",
      "createdAt": 1700000000000,
      "recurring": true
    }
  ]
}

Task fields:

Field	Description
`id`	8-character hexadecimal task identifier.
`cron`	5-field cron expression.
`prompt`	Prompt text or slash command queued upon trigger.
`createdAt`	Creation timestamp (milliseconds).
`lastFiredAt`	Last trigger timestamp (milliseconds, written back for recurring tasks).
`recurring`	Whether it is a recurring task.

Task Types

One-time task (recurring is false or omitted): Automatically deleted after a single trigger.
Recurring Task (recurring: true): Triggered repeatedly on a cycle, rescheduled from the current time until explicitly deleted or automatically expired.

Execution Limits and Expiration

Maximum number of tasks: Up to 50 tasks. Once the limit is reached, existing tasks must be deleted before creating new ones.
Auto-expiration: Recurring tasks automatically expire and are cleaned up 7 days after creation (one-time tasks are deleted immediately after triggering).
Jitter Scheduling: To prevent multiple sessions from triggering simultaneously, the scheduler adds a deterministic jitter delay—recurring tasks are delayed by up to 10% of their interval (capped at 15 minutes); one-time tasks are triggered up to 90 seconds early when aligned to 30-minute boundaries. Jitter is calculated based on the task ID and remains stable across restarts.
Missed tasks: If a task's next scheduled run time is already in the past (missed while the process was not running), a prompt will be shown at startup.
Single-process driven: A File Lock ensures that only one process drives the scheduling for the same project directory, preventing duplicate triggers.

Creation and Deletion

Create, list, and delete tasks using the Agent's scheduled task tool (simply request it in natural language during a conversation).
Quickly create recurring tasks via /loop; see Loop Command Reference.
Recurring tasks can be manually deleted before their 7-day auto-expiration.

Next Steps

Scheduled task usage guide: Scheduled Execution Task.
Loop execution: Loop Command Reference.

​cron expression format

​Storage Location

​Task Types

​Execution Limits and Expiration