Job Scheduler

Define tasks as JSON with cron schedules. Instar spawns Claude Code sessions to execute them.

Job Definition

{
  "slug": "check-emails",
  "name": "Email Check",
  "schedule": "0 */2 * * *",
  "priority": "high",
  "enabled": true,
  "execute": {
    "type": "prompt",
    "value": "Check email for new messages. Summarize anything urgent and send to Telegram."
  }
}

Job Types

Type	Description
prompt	Spawns a Claude Code session with the given prompt
script	Runs a shell command
skill	Executes a slash command

Priority Levels

Jobs have low, medium, or high priority. Higher priority jobs are executed first when multiple jobs are due simultaneously.

Model Tiering

Each job can specify a model:

• opus — Complex reasoning, analysis, long-form work
• sonnet — General tasks, moderate reasoning (default)
• haiku — Quick checks, simple tasks, high-frequency jobs

{
  "slug": "health-check",
  "schedule": "*/5 * * * *",
  "model": "haiku",
  "execute": {
    "type": "prompt",
    "value": "Run health diagnostics and report any issues."
  }
}

Quota Awareness

When quota tracking is enabled (instar add quota), the scheduler respects usage limits. Jobs are throttled automatically when approaching limits.

Managing Jobs

# Add a job
instar job add --slug daily-summary --name "Daily Summary" \
  --schedule "0 9 * * *" --priority medium

# List jobs
curl localhost:4040/jobs

# Trigger a job manually
curl -X POST localhost:4040/jobs/daily-summary/trigger \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN'

Telegram Topics

Each job gets its own topic in your Telegram group. Job output is posted to its topic automatically, creating a living dashboard of agent activity.