Scheduling & Cron Jobs

#Overview

Schedule configuration allows you to:

Run agents and workflows on a recurring schedule (hourly, daily, weekly, etc.)
Set custom input data for scheduled executions
Control timezone for accurate scheduling
Enable/disable schedules without redeployment
Monitor scheduled task execution through the Daita dashboard

Schedules are defined in your daita-project.yaml file and automatically deployed to AWS EventBridge when you run daita push.

#Configuration

Define schedules in the schedules section of your daita-project.yaml:

yaml

schedules:
  agents:
    data_processor:
      cron: '0 */6 * * ? *' # Every 6 hours
      enabled: true
      timezone: 'UTC'
      description: 'Process accumulated data every 6 hours'
      data:
        batch_size: 1000
 
  workflows:
    backup_workflow:
      cron: '0 0 * * ? *' # Daily at midnight
      enabled: true
      timezone: 'UTC'
      description: 'Daily backup workflow'

#Configuration Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`cron`	string	Yes	Cron expression defining when to run
`enabled`	boolean	No	Whether the schedule is active (default: true)
`timezone`	string	No	Timezone for schedule (default: "UTC")
`description`	string	No	Human-readable description of the schedule
`data`	object	No	Input data to pass to the agent/workflow

#Cron Expression Format

Daita uses AWS EventBridge cron expressions, which require 6 fields (not the standard 5-field Unix format):

python

┌────────────── minute (0 - 59)
│ ┌────────────── hour (0 - 23)
│ │ ┌────────────── day of month (1 - 31)
│ │ │ ┌────────────── month (1 - 12 or JAN-DEC)
│ │ │ │ ┌────────────── day of week (1 - 7 or SUN-SAT)
│ │ │ │ │ ┌────────────── year (1970 - 2199)
│ │ │ │ │ │
* * * * ? *

Important differences from Unix cron:

6 fields required - EventBridge adds a year field at the end
? wildcard - Use ? for "any" in day-of-month or day-of-week fields. You cannot use * in both day fields
If you specify a day-of-week, use ? for day-of-month, and vice versa

#Common Patterns

yaml

# Every 15 minutes
cron: "*/15 * * * ? *"
 
# Every hour at minute 30
cron: "30 * * * ? *"
 
# Every 2 hours
cron: "0 */2 * * ? *"
 
# Every 6 hours (at 12am, 6am, 12pm, 6pm)
cron: "0 */6 * * ? *"
 
# Daily at 2:30 AM
cron: "30 2 * * ? *"
 
# Weekdays at 9 AM (use ? for day-of-month when day-of-week is specified)
cron: "0 9 ? * MON-FRI *"
 
# Every Monday at 9 AM
cron: "0 9 ? * MON *"
 
# First day of every month at midnight (use ? for day-of-week when day-of-month is specified)
cron: "0 0 1 * ? *"
 
# Every Sunday at midnight
cron: "0 0 ? * SUN *"
 
# Last day of the month is not directly supported
# Use daily job with date logic instead

#Named Days and Months

You can use names instead of numbers:

yaml

# Days: SUN, MON, TUE, WED, THU, FRI, SAT
cron: "0 9 ? * MON-FRI *"  # Weekdays
 
# Months: JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC
cron: "0 0 1 JAN,JUL ? *"  # First day of January and July

#Examples

#Scheduled Agent with Custom Data

Process data every 6 hours with custom parameters:

yaml

schedules:
  agents:
    data_processor:
      cron: '0 */6 * * ? *'
      enabled: true
      timezone: 'UTC'
      description: 'Process accumulated data every 6 hours'
      data:
        batch_size: 1000
        mode: 'incremental'

Access scheduled data in your agent:

python

@agent()
def data_processor(inputs):
    batch_size = inputs.get('batch_size', 100)
    mode = inputs.get('mode', 'full')
 
    results = process_data(batch_size=batch_size, mode=mode)
    return {"status": "success", "count": len(results)}

#Weekly Reports

Run every Monday at 9 AM Eastern:

yaml

schedules:
  agents:
    report_generator:
      cron: '0 9 ? * MON *'
      enabled: true
      timezone: 'America/New_York'
      description: 'Generate weekly reports every Monday'
      data:
        report_type: 'weekly'

#Multiple Schedules for Same Agent

Use different schedule keys to run the same agent on different schedules:

yaml

schedules:
  agents:
    data_sync_frequent:
      cron: '0 9-17 ? * MON-FRI *'
      timezone: 'America/New_York'
      data:
        mode: 'incremental'
 
    data_sync_full:
      cron: '0 0 * * ? *'
      timezone: 'America/New_York'
      data:
        mode: 'full'

#Timezone Support

Schedules respect timezone configuration to ensure accurate execution timing:

yaml

schedules:
  agents:
    morning_report:
      cron: '0 9 ? * MON-FRI *'
      timezone: 'America/New_York' # 9 AM Eastern Time
 
    evening_cleanup:
      cron: '0 18 * * ? *'
      timezone: 'America/Los_Angeles' # 6 PM Pacific Time
 
    midnight_job:
      cron: '0 0 * * ? *'
      timezone: 'Europe/London' # Midnight UK time

#Common Timezones

UTC - Coordinated Universal Time
America/New_York - US Eastern Time
America/Chicago - US Central Time
America/Denver - US Mountain Time
America/Los_Angeles - US Pacific Time
Europe/London - UK Time
Europe/Paris - Central European Time
Asia/Tokyo - Japan Time
Australia/Sydney - Australian Eastern Time

See the full list of timezones for all supported values.

#Deployment

When you deploy with daita push, schedules are:

Validated for correct cron syntax
Created as AWS EventBridge rules
Linked to your deployed agents/workflows

Deployment shows schedule confirmation:

bash

$ daita push
✓ Deploying to secure Lambda functions...
   Schedules: 2 agents, 1 workflow
✓ Deployed to production

The CLI validates schedules and shows errors if invalid.

#Managing Schedules

Enable/Disable:

yaml

schedules:
  agents:
    data_processor:
      enabled: true  # Active
    backup_agent:
      enabled: false # Disabled

Update Timing: Change the cron expression and deploy:

yaml

schedules:
  agents:
    report_generator:
      cron: '0 9 ? * MON-FRI *' # Updated from MON to MON-FRI

View Schedules:

bash

daita push --dry-run  # Preview schedules before deployment

Monitor Execution:

bash

daita logs data_processor          # View execution logs
daita logs data_processor --follow # Follow in real-time

Run daita push after any schedule changes to apply them.

#Environment-Specific Schedules

Use environment overrides to run schedules at different intervals per environment:

yaml

# Base configuration
schedules:
  agents:
    data_processor:
      cron: '0 */6 * * ? *' # Default: every 6 hours
      enabled: true
 
# Environment-specific overrides
environments:
  staging:
    schedules:
      agents:
        data_processor:
          cron: '0 */12 * * ? *' # Staging: every 12 hours
 
  production:
    schedules:
      agents:
        data_processor:
          cron: '0 */3 * * ? *' # Production: every 3 hours
          enabled: true

Deploy to specific environments:

bash

# Deploy to staging (uses 12-hour schedule)
daita push --env staging
 
# Deploy to production (uses 3-hour schedule)
daita push --env production

#Best Practices

Configuration:

Always include clear descriptions for each schedule
Use timezones that match your business operations
Test with daita push --dry-run before deploying

Frequency:

Avoid over-scheduling (minimum recommended: every 15 minutes)
Don't schedule every minute - may cause throttling
Stagger multiple schedules to avoid resource contention

Agent Code:

Provide defaults for all scheduled input parameters
Handle errors gracefully and return status information
Make scheduled executions idempotent when possible

Monitoring:

Regularly check execution logs: daita logs <agent-name>
Monitor for failures: daita logs <agent-name> | grep -i error
Set up alerts for critical scheduled tasks

#Troubleshooting

Schedule Not Executing:

Verify enabled: true is set
Check cron expression is valid (6 fields required)
Confirm timezone matches expected execution time
Review deployment logs for errors

Wrong Execution Time:

Verify timezone setting (use 24-hour format)
Check if daylight saving time affects your timezone
Remember EventBridge uses 6-field cron (not standard 5-field)
Use ? correctly for day-of-month or day-of-week

Execution Failures:

Check agent handles scheduled inputs with proper defaults
Verify scheduled data fields match agent expectations
Review error logs: daita logs <agent-name>

Changes Not Applied:

Run daita push after configuration changes
Verify YAML syntax (check indentation)
Look for validation errors in deployment output

#Limitations

#Frequency Constraints

Minimum interval: 1 minute (cron expressions with * * * * *)
Maximum frequency: Avoid sub-minute intervals
Rate limits: AWS EventBridge limits apply (check current quotas)

#Cron Expression Support

EventBridge 6-field cron format required:

✅ Supported: 0 */6 * * ? * (every 6 hours)
✅ Supported: 0 9 ? * MON-FRI * (weekdays at 9 AM)
✅ Supported: Named days/months (MON-FRI, JAN-DEC)
✅ Supported: Ranges (9-17 for hours 9 AM to 5 PM)
❌ Not supported: L for last day of month (use daily job with date logic)
❌ Not supported: @daily, @hourly macros (use standard cron format)
❌ Not supported: * in both day-of-month and day-of-week (use ? for one)

#EventBridge Limits

AWS EventBridge quotas apply:

Rules per account: 300 by default (can be increased)
Invocations per second: Varies by region
See AWS EventBridge Quotas

#Next Steps

Deployment - Deploy agents with schedules
Agent - Creating agents
Workflows - Building multi-step workflows
CLI Reference - Complete CLI command reference