Cron: keep list/status responsive during startup catch-up

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 ### Fixes
 
 - Agents/Ollama: preserve unsafe integer tool-call arguments as exact strings during NDJSON parsing, preventing large numeric IDs from being rounded before tool execution. (#23170) Thanks @BestJoester.
+- Cron/Gateway: keep `cron.list` and `cron.status` responsive during startup catch-up by avoiding a long-held cron lock while missed jobs execute. (#23106) Thanks @jayleekr.
 - Gateway/Pairing: treat operator.admin pairing tokens as satisfying operator.write requests so legacy devices stop looping through scope-upgrade prompts introduced in 2026.2.19. (#23125, #23006) Thanks @vignesh07.
 - Memory/QMD: add optional `memory.qmd.mcporter` search routing so QMD `query/search/vsearch` can run through mcporter keep-alive flows (including multi-collection paths) to reduce cold starts, while keeping searches on agent-scoped QMD state for consistent recall. (#19617) Thanks @nicole-luxe and @vignesh07.
 - Chat/UI: strip inline reply/audio directive tags (`[[reply_to_current]]`, `[[reply_to:<id>]]`, `[[audio_as_voice]]`) from displayed chat history, live chat event output, and session preview snippets so control tags no longer leak into user-visible surfaces.

src/cron/service.read-ops-nonblocking.test.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,22 @@ const noopLogger = {
   error: vi.fn(),
 };
 
+async function withTimeout<T>(promise: Promise<T>, timeoutMs: number, label: string): Promise<T> {
+  let timeout: NodeJS.Timeout | undefined;
+  try {
+    return await Promise.race([
+      promise,
+      new Promise<T>((_resolve, reject) => {
+        timeout = setTimeout(() => reject(new Error(`${label} timed out`)), timeoutMs);
+      }),
+    ]);
+  } finally {
+    if (timeout) {
+      clearTimeout(timeout);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 async function makeStorePath() {
   const dir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "openclaw-cron-"));
   return {
@@ -135,4 +151,86 @@ describe("CronService read ops while job is running", () => {
       await store.cleanup();
     }
   });
+
+  it("keeps list and status responsive during startup catch-up runs", async () => {
+    const store = await makeStorePath();
+    const enqueueSystemEvent = vi.fn();
+    const requestHeartbeatNow = vi.fn();
+    const nowMs = Date.parse("2025-12-13T00:00:00.000Z");
+
+    await fs.mkdir(path.dirname(store.storePath), { recursive: true });
+    await fs.writeFile(
+      store.storePath,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        version: 1,
+        jobs: [
+          {
+            id: "startup-catchup",
+            name: "startup catch-up",
+            enabled: true,
+            createdAtMs: nowMs - 86_400_000,
+            updatedAtMs: nowMs - 86_400_000,
+            schedule: { kind: "at", at: new Date(nowMs - 60_000).toISOString() },
+            sessionTarget: "isolated",
+            wakeMode: "next-heartbeat",
+            payload: { kind: "agentTurn", message: "startup replay" },
+            delivery: { mode: "none" },
+            state: { nextRunAtMs: nowMs - 60_000 },
+          },
+        ],
+      }),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+
+    let resolveRun:
+      | ((value: { status: "ok" | "error" | "skipped"; summary?: string; error?: string }) => void)
+      | undefined;
+    let resolveRunStarted: (() => void) | undefined;
+    const runStarted = new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+      resolveRunStarted = resolve;
+    });
+
+    const runIsolatedAgentJob = vi.fn(async () => {
+      resolveRunStarted?.();
+      return await new Promise<{
+        status: "ok" | "error" | "skipped";
+        summary?: string;
+        error?: string;
+      }>((resolve) => {
+        resolveRun = resolve;
+      });
+    });
+
+    const cron = new CronService({
+      storePath: store.storePath,
+      cronEnabled: true,
+      log: noopLogger,
+      nowMs: () => nowMs,
+      enqueueSystemEvent,
+      requestHeartbeatNow,
+      runIsolatedAgentJob,
+    });
+
+    try {
+      const startPromise = cron.start();
+      await runStarted;
+
+      await expect(
+        withTimeout(cron.list({ includeDisabled: true }), 300, "cron.list during startup"),
+      ).resolves.toBeTypeOf("object");
+      await expect(withTimeout(cron.status(), 300, "cron.status during startup")).resolves.toEqual(
+        expect.objectContaining({ enabled: true, storePath: store.storePath }),
+      );
+
+      resolveRun?.({ status: "ok", summary: "done" });
+      await startPromise;
+
+      const jobs = await cron.list({ includeDisabled: true });
+      expect(jobs[0]?.state.lastStatus).toBe("ok");
+      expect(jobs[0]?.state.runningAtMs).toBeUndefined();
+    } finally {
+      cron.stop();
+      await store.cleanup();
+    }
+  });
 });

src/cron/service/ops.ts

@@ -28,14 +28,15 @@ async function ensureLoadedForRead(state: CronServiceState) {
 }
 
 export async function start(state: CronServiceState) {
+  if (!state.deps.cronEnabled) {
+    state.deps.log.info({ enabled: false }, "cron: disabled");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const startupInterruptedJobIds = new Set<string>();
   await locked(state, async () => {
-    if (!state.deps.cronEnabled) {
-      state.deps.log.info({ enabled: false }, "cron: disabled");
-      return;
-    }
     await ensureLoaded(state, { skipRecompute: true });
     const jobs = state.store?.jobs ?? [];
-    const startupInterruptedJobIds = new Set<string>();
     for (const job of jobs) {
       if (typeof job.state.runningAtMs === "number") {
         state.deps.log.warn(
@@ -46,7 +47,13 @@ export async function start(state: CronServiceState) {
         startupInterruptedJobIds.add(job.id);
       }
     }
-    await runMissedJobs(state, { skipJobIds: startupInterruptedJobIds });
+    await persist(state);
+  });
+
+  await runMissedJobs(state, { skipJobIds: startupInterruptedJobIds });
+
+  await locked(state, async () => {
+    await ensureLoaded(state, { forceReload: true, skipRecompute: true });
     recomputeNextRuns(state);
     await persist(state);
     armTimer(state);

src/cron/service/timer.ts

@@ -458,22 +458,97 @@ export async function runMissedJobs(
   state: CronServiceState,
   opts?: { skipJobIds?: ReadonlySet<string> },
 ) {
-  if (!state.store) {
+  const startupCandidates = await locked(state, async () => {
-    return;
+    await ensureLoaded(state, { skipRecompute: true });
-  }
+    if (!state.store) {
-  const now = state.deps.nowMs();
+      return [] as Array<{ jobId: string; job: CronJob }>;
-  const skipJobIds = opts?.skipJobIds;
+    }
-  const missed = collectRunnableJobs(state, now, { skipJobIds, skipAtIfAlreadyRan: true });
+    const now = state.deps.nowMs();
-
+    const skipJobIds = opts?.skipJobIds;
-  if (missed.length > 0) {
+    const missed = collectRunnableJobs(state, now, { skipJobIds, skipAtIfAlreadyRan: true });
+    if (missed.length === 0) {
+      return [] as Array<{ jobId: string; job: CronJob }>;
+    }
     state.deps.log.info(
       { count: missed.length, jobIds: missed.map((j) => j.id) },
       "cron: running missed jobs after restart",
     );
     for (const job of missed) {
-      await executeJob(state, job, now, { forced: false });
+      job.state.runningAtMs = now;
+      job.state.lastError = undefined;
+    }
+    await persist(state);
+    return missed.map((job) => ({ jobId: job.id, job }));
+  });
+
+  if (startupCandidates.length === 0) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const outcomes: Array<TimedCronRunOutcome> = [];
+  for (const candidate of startupCandidates) {
+    const startedAt = state.deps.nowMs();
+    emit(state, { jobId: candidate.job.id, action: "started", runAtMs: startedAt });
+    try {
+      const result = await executeJobCore(state, candidate.job);
+      outcomes.push({
+        jobId: candidate.jobId,
+        status: result.status,
+        error: result.error,
+        summary: result.summary,
+        delivered: result.delivered,
+        sessionId: result.sessionId,
+        sessionKey: result.sessionKey,
+        model: result.model,
+        provider: result.provider,
+        usage: result.usage,
+        startedAt,
+        endedAt: state.deps.nowMs(),
+      });
+    } catch (err) {
+      outcomes.push({
+        jobId: candidate.jobId,
+        status: "error",
+        error: String(err),
+        startedAt,
+        endedAt: state.deps.nowMs(),
+      });
     }
   }
+
+  await locked(state, async () => {
+    await ensureLoaded(state, { forceReload: true, skipRecompute: true });
+    if (!state.store) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    for (const result of outcomes) {
+      const job = state.store.jobs.find((entry) => entry.id === result.jobId);
+      if (!job) {
+        continue;
+      }
+      const shouldDelete = applyJobResult(state, job, {
+        status: result.status,
+        error: result.error,
+        delivered: result.delivered,
+        startedAt: result.startedAt,
+        endedAt: result.endedAt,
+      });
+
+      emitJobFinished(state, job, result, result.startedAt);
+
+      if (shouldDelete) {
+        state.store.jobs = state.store.jobs.filter((entry) => entry.id !== job.id);
+        emit(state, { jobId: job.id, action: "removed" });
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Preserve any new past-due nextRunAtMs values that became due while
+    // startup catch-up was running. They should execute on a future tick
+    // instead of being silently advanced.
+    recomputeNextRunsForMaintenance(state);
+    await persist(state);
+  });
 }
 
 export async function runDueJobs(state: CronServiceState) {