--- doc-schema-version: 1 summary: "Overview of automation mechanisms: automations, hooks, standing orders, and workflows" read_when: - Deciding how to automate work with OpenClaw - Choosing between heartbeat, automations, hooks, and standing orders - Looking for the right automation entry point title: "Automation" --- OpenClaw runs work in the background through native runtimes, scheduled jobs, event hooks, and standing instructions. Use this page to pick the right mechanism. ## Quick decision guide ```mermaid flowchart TD START([What do you need?]) --> Q1{Schedule work?} START --> Q3{Orchestrate multi-step flows?} START --> Q4{React to lifecycle events?} START --> Q5{Give the agent persistent instructions?} Q1 -->|Yes| Q1a{Specific job or ambient monitor?} Q1a -->|Specific job| CRON["Automations"] Q1a -->|Ambient monitor| HEARTBEAT["Heartbeat monitor automation"] Q3 -->|Yes| FLOW[Lobster] Q4 -->|Yes| HOOKS[Hooks] Q5 -->|Yes| SO[Standing Orders] ``` | Use case | Recommended | Why | | ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | | Send daily report at 9 AM sharp | Automations | Exact timing, isolated execution | | Remind me in 20 minutes | Automations | One-shot with precise timing (`--at`) | | Run weekly deep analysis | Automations | Standalone task, can use different model | | Check inbox every 30 min | Automations | Independent recurring schedule and job history | | Trigger safely on new IMAP email | IMAP plugin | Sender-gated isolated reader sessions | | Monitor calendar for upcoming events | Automations | Explicit recurring schedule and delivery policy | | Surface ambient main-session updates | Heartbeat | System-owned monitor automation and quiet alerts | | Run a script on session reset | Hooks | Internal `HOOK.md` scripts react to lifecycle events | | Trigger an agent from an external service | [Webhooks](/automation/cron-jobs#webhooks) | Authenticated HTTP ingress, not an internal event hook | | Execute code on every tool call | Plugin hooks | Typed `api.on(...)` handlers can intercept tool calls | | Always check compliance before replying | Standing Orders | Injected into every session automatically | ### Automations vs Heartbeat | Dimension | User-authored automations | Heartbeat monitor automation | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Timing | One-shot, interval, or cron expression | Scheduler-owned interval, default 30min | | Session context | Isolated, current, named, or main session | Main session, optionally isolated | | Delivery | Channel, webhook, or silent | Owner-routed alerts or silent | | Best for | Explicit reports, reminders, recurring work | Ambient monitoring and event follow-up | Both use the same Automations scheduler. Create an automation for work with its own instructions or schedule; use heartbeat as the system-owned ambient monitor when periodic main-session awareness is useful. ## Core concepts ### Automations Automations are OpenClaw's built-in scheduler for all recurring and one-shot work, including heartbeat monitors. The scheduler persists jobs, wakes the agent at the right time, and can deliver output to a chat channel or webhook endpoint. It supports one-shot reminders, recurring intervals and cron expressions, and inbound webhook triggers. See [Automations](/automation/cron-jobs). ### Background execution and workflows Use [Sub-agents](/tools/subagents) to launch and wait for delegated runs, [ACP](/tools/acp-agents) for coding harness sessions, and automation run history to inspect scheduled work. Each runtime owns execution and completion. [Lobster](/tools/lobster) runs local pipelines with resumable approvals. The shared Tasks ledger, TaskFlow orchestration API, and TaskFlow Webhooks plugin have been removed. Generic [Gateway HTTP hooks](/automation/cron-jobs#webhooks) remain available for authenticated external triggers. ### Standing orders Standing orders grant the agent permanent operating authority for defined programs. They live in workspace files (typically `AGENTS.md`) and are injected into every session. Combine with automations for time-based enforcement. See [Standing Orders](/automation/standing-orders). ### Hooks Internal hooks are event-driven scripts triggered by agent lifecycle events (`/new`, `/reset`, `/stop`), session compaction, gateway startup, and message flow. They are discovered from hook directories and managed with `openclaw hooks`. For in-process tool-call interception, use [Plugin hooks](/plugins/hooks). See [Hooks](/automation/hooks). ### Heartbeat Heartbeat is a system-owned monitor automation that runs a periodic main-session turn, every 30 minutes by default. It can use small monitor-scratch context to surface anything requiring attention without extending session freshness. Create separate automation jobs for work requiring its own schedule. Empty scratch skips as `empty-heartbeat-file`. Scheduled monitor turns defer while the main queue or automation work is busy, another run for the same agent is active, or the target session has active or queued work. See [Heartbeat](/gateway/heartbeat). ## How they work together - **Automations** own every recurring schedule, including reports, reminders, and heartbeat monitors. - **Heartbeat** is the system-owned ambient monitor automation. Independently scheduled checks belong in their own automation jobs. - **Hooks** react to specific events (session resets, compaction, message flow) with custom scripts. Plugin hooks cover tool calls. - **Standing orders** give the agent persistent context and authority boundaries. ## Retired inferred commitments The inferred commitments experiment was removed in v2026.8.1: OpenClaw no longer extracts follow-ups from conversations or delivers them through heartbeat. The `openclaw commitments` maintenance CLI is also gone. The database migration discards the old commitment rows and removes their table and indexes. For reminders or scheduled work, create an explicit [automation](/automation/cron-jobs). Automations are an alternative with a schedule and instructions you choose; they do not restore inferred follow-ups. ## Related - [Automations](/automation/cron-jobs) — precise scheduling and one-shot reminders - [IMAP email trigger](/automation/imap) — sender-gated inbound email and isolated reader sessions - [Hooks](/automation/hooks) — event-driven lifecycle scripts - [Plugin hooks](/plugins/hooks) — in-process tool, prompt, message, and lifecycle hooks - [Standing Orders](/automation/standing-orders) — persistent agent instructions - [Heartbeat](/gateway/heartbeat) — periodic main-session turns - [Configuration Reference](/gateway/configuration-reference) — all config keys