add-a-cron-job

Add a Cron Job

How to add a new background job to the agentic-memory system. There are 23 cron scripts today (cron/cron_*.py); this is how to add a 24th. All cron scripts live in the cron/ subdirectory (moved from the repo root on 2026-06-22).

The 60-second version

1. Write cron/cron_your_op.py in the cron/ subdirectory. Keep it small (50-200 lines).
2. Use sys.executable for the python interpreter, not hardcoded paths (M8 fix).
3. Set the feature flag env var it needs at the top (os.environ.setdefault(...)).
4. Add the crontab line to cron/install_crontab.sh (NOT docs/how-to/cron-setup.md — that file is for users, not maintainers).
5. Add a CI drift check (if you want it covered by the wirings-check script).
6. Update the crontab: bash cron/install_crontab.sh.
7. Test it manually: venv/bin/python cron/cron_your_op.py.

Total: ~30 minutes.

Step 1: write the script

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Cron wrapper: your-op — what this does in one line.

Run hourly via crontab:
    0 * * * * /path/to/agentic-memory/venv/bin/python /path/to/agentic-memory/cron_your_op.py
"""
import os
import sys
import json
import sqlite3
from pathlib import Path

# Step 2: feature flag env (if applicable)
os.environ.setdefault("MEMORY_YOUR_FEATURE", "1")

# Step 3: standard preamble
os.chdir(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))

# Step 4: import what you need
from memory_common import connection_pool, get_memory_paths
from your_module import your_op

# Step 5: do the work
def main():
    cwd, local_mem, global_mem = get_memory_paths()
    db_path = global_mem / "memory.db"
    if not db_path.exists():
        print(f"No memory.db at {db_path}", file=sys.stderr)
        sys.exit(1)

    conn = connection_pool.get(str(db_path), timeout=30.0)
    try:
        result = your_op(conn)
        print(json.dumps(result, indent=2))
    finally:
        # Return to pool, do NOT close
        from memory_common import safe_close_db
        safe_close_db(conn)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()