htekdev/hermes-rocha-family/cron-patterns

Cron Patterns Skill

Overview

Scheduling principles and hygiene for all Hermes cron jobs. Adapted from htekdev/copilot-home-assistant cron.json architecture.

When to Use

• Adding a new cron job
• Reviewing schedule conflicts
• Evaluating job model tier (haiku vs sonnet)
• Post-discharge timing adjustments

Key Principles

• No two jobs share the same minute+hour
• Minimum 3-minute gap between jobs in the same hour
• Lightweight/haiku model for frequent polling
• Sonnet/full model for complex daily tasks
• Early-exit pattern: jobs check if there's anything to do before running
• POST-DISCHARGE: No Paula messages before 9 AM; quiet hours extended to 7 AM

Schedule Slot Architecture

Recommended Hermes Jobs

Daily Briefing

• morning-briefing | 0 7 * * 1-5 | Weekday briefing (Hector only before 9 AM)
• weekend-briefing | 0 8 * * 0,6 | Weekend briefing

Family Pulse

• wellness-coach-morning | 3 9 * * * | Paula check-in (9 AM, not 8)
• nicu-care-checkin | 6 9,11,13,15,17,19 * * * | Mia NICU monitoring
• parenting-coach-morning | 6 9 * * * | HJ sibling adjustment

Weekly/Monthly

• weekly-planner | 10 19 * * 0 | Sunday evening 7-section brief
• budget-review | 0 10 1 * * | 1st-of-month deep dive

Maintenance

• nightly-reflection | 0 21 * * * | 5-phase reflection cycle
• context-audit | 5 6 * * * | Daily quick scan (silent if clean)

Energy Matching

Schedule Hygiene Rules

1. No two jobs share the same minute+hour
2. Always send mesh heartbeat at job start
3. ≤3 jobs within any 15-minute window
4. Disable jobs when their purpose is met (no zombie crons)
5. [SILENT] return if nothing to action (saves tokens)

Common Pitfalls

• Scheduling two jobs at the same minute
• Running heavy sonnet jobs at high frequency
• Not respecting quiet hours for Paula-related jobs
• Forgetting heartbeat-first invariant

Verification Checklist

• [ ] No minute conflicts with existing jobs?
• [ ] Correct model tier for job complexity?
• [ ] Paula-related jobs start at 9 AM or later?
• [ ] Heartbeat-first in every run?

Last updated: 2026-06-03 | Migrated to SKILL.md format (Session 18)