Imported from TheHappyHermit/Autognosia (skills/cron-script-permanent/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add TheHappyHermit/Autognosia --skill cron-script-permanent. Copyright stays with the author.

Cron Script Management

Use when creating or maintaining Hermes cron jobs that execute scripts. This covers both local cron jobs (~/.hermes/scripts/) and repo scripts (autognosia-repo/scripts/).

The Problem with Transient Scripts

Cron jobs that generate scripts at runtime (e.g., /tmp/hermes-verify-graphify-integrity.py) waste tokens and create stale artifacts:

• Each cron tick regenerates the script from scratch in the agent's prompt
• Temp files accumulate in /tmp/ and are rarely cleaned up
• No version history or review capability
• Script logic is invisible until the cron job runs

The Right Way

1. Write the script to a permanent location:

   • Local scripts: ~/.hermes/scripts/<name>.py
   • Repo scripts: <repo>/scripts/<name>.py

2. Update the cron job to reference the permanent script:

   # Update the cron job definition
   job['prompt'] = f"Run the verification script: python3 /home/home_user/.hermes/scripts/{name}.py"

3. Test the script manually before relying on it:

   python3 /home/home_user/.hermes/scripts/<name>.py 2>&1

4. Clean up any temp files from previous transient runs:

   rm -f /tmp/hermes-verify-*.py /tmp/check_*.py /tmp/update_cron*.py

5. Commit repo scripts and push, so the script is versioned and reviewed.

Pitfalls

• Cron jobs may error before the script is installed. If a cron job references a script that doesn't exist in ~/.hermes/scripts/, it fails silently. Always check last_status after updating.
• Heredoc quoting in execute_code is fragile. Use write_file() instead of inline heredocs when creating scripts. Heredocs often fail due to Python string escaping issues.
• Don't leave temp files. After converting a transient script to a permanent one, delete any /tmp/ remnants.

Workflow

1. Identify the cron job creating transient scripts (check ~/.hermes/cron/output/ for recent runs)
2. Extract the script logic from the cron job's prompt or temp files
3. Write it as a permanent script
4. Update the cron job definition
5. Test manually
6. Clean up temp files
7. Commit to repo if appropriate

Related

• See references/cron-verify-stack.md for the verify_stack.py pattern.