Cron Jobs Not Firing / Heartbeat Skipped
Cron job didn't run / heartbeat skipped / No delivery for scheduled task
OpenClaw troubleshooting · Updated 2026
Error Message
Cron job didn't run / heartbeat skipped / No delivery for scheduled task
What Causes This
Cron jobs and heartbeats can be silently skipped due to quiet hours, missing delivery targets, or the gateway not running during the scheduled time.
How to Fix It
Diagnose why the job was skipped:
# Check cron status
openclaw cron status
openclaw cron list
# Check recent runs for a specific job
openclaw cron runs --id <jobId> --limit 10
# Check heartbeat
openclaw system heartbeat last
# Check logs for skip reason
openclaw logs --follow | grep -i "heartbeat\|cron\|skipped"
Common causes: activeHours config excludes the scheduled time (check timezone), the delivery channel target doesn't exist (run openclaw channels status --probe), or the gateway was offline during the scheduled time. Since v2026.3.11, isolated cron jobs no longer notify via ad hoc sends — run openclaw doctor --fix to migrate.