Step-by-Step Fix
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Confirm the scope
- Try a different browser/device and a different network.
- If only one environment fails, the cause is usually local.
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Refresh your session
- Sign out completely, then sign back in.
- Clear cache/cookies for the service domain.
- Try an incognito/private window with no extensions.
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Check permissions and plan status
- Verify you’re using the correct account/workspace.
- Confirm your subscription/plan is active and assigned correctly.
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Rule out network filtering
- Disable VPN/proxy temporarily.
- Pause ad blockers / privacy tools that may block requests.
- If you’re on a corporate network, test via hotspot.
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Check service incidents
- Review the product status page or recent incident reports.
- If the service is degraded, wait and retry.
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Collect evidence and escalate
- Save screenshots + exact error text + timestamps.
- Include environment details and repro steps in a support ticket.
Common Root Causes
- Expired/invalid session tokens
- Plan or permission mismatch
- Browser extensions interfering with requests
- Network blocks (VPN/proxy/firewall/DNS)
- Temporary outages
Prevention Tips
- Keep a clean browser profile for critical workflows
- Don’t stack multiple privacy extensions that rewrite requests
- Document workspace/team permissions and billing owners
- Export important settings regularly (when supported)
Why This Happens
OpenClaw cron jobs execute in isolated containers that start fresh for each scheduled run — they do not inherit state from previous runs or from your local environment. Failures occur when the container encounters a condition the agent was not designed to handle: an expired API key, a dependency that is unavailable, a network timeout to an external service, or a rate limit that was not present during earlier runs. Because the container terminates whether or not the job succeeds, errors are only visible through the structured log output captured during execution. Without reading these logs, the root cause is invisible.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Checking the dashboard status indicator instead of the full log: The dashboard may show "Failed" without the specific error. Always click through to the log output to see the exact line where the failure occurred.
- Re-running a failing job without reading the logs first: Each failed run consumes plan quota and may trigger external side effects (API calls, emails, database writes) that partially completed. Read the log before retrying.
- Not setting up failure notifications: OpenClaw can send email or webhook alerts when a cron job fails. Without notifications, a job can fail repeatedly for days before you notice. Enable failure alerts in your workflow settings immediately after configuring a cron job.
- Assuming failures are always intermittent: A cron job that fails once on Monday and again on Tuesday is experiencing a recurring issue, not a fluke. Look for a pattern — does it fail at the same step each time, or at the same time of day? Patterns narrow down the root cause significantly.
How to Find Logs for a Failing Cron Job
Navigate to Workflows or Cron Jobs in the OpenClaw sidebar. Click on the failing job name, then open the Run History tab. Each row represents one execution attempt with a timestamp, duration, and status. Click a failed run to expand its full log output. The log is displayed in chronological order — scroll to the last few lines to find the error message. Common patterns include:
Error: 401 Unauthorized— API key problem (see 401 errors guide)Tool execution timeout after 60s— a tool call took too longRate limit exceeded— Anthropic API quota hitPermission denied— the agent attempted an action its plan does not allow
Copy the relevant log lines before contacting support.
Additional FAQ
Q: How long are cron job logs retained in OpenClaw?
Log retention depends on your plan tier. Free and entry-level plans typically retain logs for 7 days. Mid-tier plans retain logs for 30 days, and higher tiers may retain logs for 90 days or more. If you need to investigate a failure that occurred weeks ago and the logs have expired, OpenClaw cannot recover them. Set up external log forwarding (if OpenClaw supports it) or enable failure notifications to capture error details in real time before they expire.
Q: My cron job works when I trigger it manually but fails on schedule — why?
Manual runs execute in your current session context, which may include environment variables or account state that the scheduled run does not have. The most common cause is that the cron job’s environment variable panel is missing a key that is set in your local shell. Open the cron job settings, go to Environment Variables, and compare them against what your manual run uses. Also confirm that the scheduled run’s timezone and execution time do not coincide with rate limit windows or external service maintenance periods.
Q: Can I get a notification in Slack when a cron job fails?
OpenClaw supports webhook-based notifications that can route failure alerts to Slack. In your workflow settings, find Notifications or Alerts and configure a webhook URL pointing to your Slack incoming webhook. Test the integration by manually triggering a failure (e.g., using a bad API key temporarily) to confirm the Slack message arrives. This setup ensures you catch failures within minutes rather than checking the dashboard manually.
Q: How do I identify if a cron job failure is caused by an external service being down?
Look at the log timestamp when the failure occurred and cross-reference it with the status page or incident history of any external services your agent calls. If your agent calls a GitHub API, Notion, or a database, check whether those services reported an incident at that time. If the external service was down, the fix is simply to re-run the job once the service recovers — the cron job configuration does not need to change. Consider adding retry logic to your agent for transient external failures.
Q: What is the difference between a cron job error and a cron job warning?
In OpenClaw run logs, errors (marked ERROR or shown in red) indicate the agent encountered a condition it could not recover from and the run was terminated. Warnings (marked WARN or shown in yellow) indicate the agent encountered an unexpected condition but continued running. A run can complete successfully while still containing warnings. Review warnings even when runs succeed — they often signal edge cases that will eventually become errors as conditions change (e.g., a near-full quota warning before hitting the actual limit).
Related Issues
- OpenClaw 401 invalid API key errors for cron jobs
- OpenClaw agent not responding stuck run
- OpenClaw rate limits or quota limits affecting runs
- OpenClaw tool calls failing timeouts not available
Additional FAQ
Q: How do I know if the problem is on my end or the platform's side? Check the platform's official status page first — most services maintain a public status page that shows current incidents and outages. If no incident is posted and the problem only affects your account (not reported widely on Reddit or Twitter), it is likely a local issue. Testing in incognito mode and on a different network also helps isolate whether the problem is browser-specific, network-specific, or account-specific.
Q: Why do hard refresh and regular refresh fix different problems? A regular refresh (F5) reloads the page using cached resources — it does not clear JavaScript bundles, service worker state, or session cookies. A hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R) bypasses the cache and fetches all resources fresh from the server. Regular refresh fixes transient network hiccups; hard refresh fixes stale cached code. Neither clears cookies or session tokens — for that, you need to clear site data explicitly from browser settings.
Related Articles
- OpenClaw login / API key fix
- OpenClaw rate limits affecting runs
- OpenClaw agent not starting
- OpenClaw tool calls failing
Additional FAQ
Q: How do I know if the problem is on my end or the platform's side? Check the platform's official status page first — most services maintain a public status page that shows current incidents and outages. If no incident is posted and the problem only affects your account (not reported widely on Reddit or Twitter), it is likely a local issue. Testing in incognito mode and on a different network also helps isolate whether the problem is browser-specific, network-specific, or account-specific.
Related Articles
- OpenClaw login / API key fix
- OpenClaw rate limits affecting runs
- OpenClaw agent not starting
- OpenClaw tool calls failing
Additional FAQ
Q: How do I know if the problem is on my end or the platform's side? Check the platform's official status page first — most services maintain a public status page that shows current incidents and outages. If no incident is posted and the problem only affects your account (not reported widely on Reddit or Twitter), it is likely a local issue. Testing in incognito mode and on a different network also helps isolate whether the problem is browser-specific, network-specific, or account-specific.