Fix scheduled tasks and improve task scheduling UX

- Fix Apple Container mount issue: move groups/CLAUDE.md to groups/global/
  directory (Apple Container only supports directory mounts, not file mounts)
- Fix scheduled tasks for main group: properly detect isMain based on
  group_folder instead of always setting false
- Add isScheduledTask flag so agent knows when running as scheduled task
- Improve schedule_task tool description with clear format examples for
  cron, interval, and once schedule types
- Update global CLAUDE.md with instructions for scheduled tasks to use
  mcp__nanoclaw__send_message when needed

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

SPEC.md

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ A personal Claude assistant accessible via WhatsApp, with persistent memory per
 │  │  Working directory: /workspace/group (mounted from host)       │   │
 │  │  Volume mounts:                                                │   │
 │  │    • groups/{name}/ → /workspace/group                         │   │
-│  │    • groups/CLAUDE.md → /workspace/global/CLAUDE.md            │   │
+│  │    • groups/global/ → /workspace/global/ (non-main only)        │   │
 │  │    • ~/.claude/ → /home/node/.claude/ (sessions)               │   │
 │  │    • Additional dirs → /workspace/extra/*                      │   │
 │  │                                                                │   │

container/agent-runner/src/index.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ interface ContainerInput {
   groupFolder: string;
   chatJid: string;
   isMain: boolean;
+  isScheduledTask?: boolean;
 }
 
 interface ContainerOutput {
@@ -219,11 +220,17 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
   let result: string | null = null;
   let newSessionId: string | undefined;
 
+  // Add context for scheduled tasks
+  let prompt = input.prompt;
+  if (input.isScheduledTask) {
+    prompt = `[SCHEDULED TASK - You are running automatically, not in response to a user message. Use mcp__nanoclaw__send_message if needed to communicate with the user.]\n\n${input.prompt}`;
+  }
+
   try {
     log('Starting agent...');
 
     for await (const message of query({
-      prompt: input.prompt,
+      prompt,
       options: {
         cwd: '/workspace/group',
         resume: input.sessionId,

container/agent-runner/src/ipc-mcp.ts

@@ -67,11 +67,16 @@ export function createIpcMcp(ctx: IpcMcpContext) {
 
       tool(
         'schedule_task',
-        'Schedule a recurring or one-time task. The task will run as a full agent with access to all tools.',
+        `Schedule a recurring or one-time task. The task will run as a full agent with access to all tools.
+
+IMPORTANT - schedule_value format depends on schedule_type:
+• cron: Standard cron expression (e.g., "*/5 * * * *" for every 5 minutes, "0 9 * * *" for daily at 9am)
+• interval: Milliseconds between runs (e.g., "300000" for 5 minutes, "3600000" for 1 hour)
+• once: ISO 8601 timestamp (e.g., "2026-02-01T15:30:00.000Z"). Calculate this from current time.`,
         {
           prompt: z.string().describe('What the agent should do when the task runs'),
-          schedule_type: z.enum(['cron', 'interval', 'once']).describe('Type of schedule'),
+          schedule_type: z.enum(['cron', 'interval', 'once']).describe('cron=recurring at specific times, interval=recurring every N ms, once=run once at specific time'),
-          schedule_value: z.string().describe('Cron expression, interval in ms, or ISO timestamp'),
+          schedule_value: z.string().describe('cron: "*/5 * * * *" | interval: milliseconds like "300000" | once: ISO timestamp like "2026-02-01T15:30:00.000Z"'),
           target_group: z.string().optional().describe('Target group folder (main only, defaults to current group)')
         },
         async (args) => {

groups/global/CLAUDE.md

@@ -21,6 +21,15 @@ If a request requires significant work (research, multiple steps, file operation
 
 This keeps users informed instead of waiting in silence.
 
+## Scheduled Tasks
+
+When you run as a scheduled task (no direct user message), use `mcp__nanoclaw__send_message` if needed to communicate with the user. Your return value is only logged internally - it won't be sent to the user.
+
+Example: If your task is "Share the weather forecast", you should:
+1. Get the weather data
+2. Call `mcp__nanoclaw__send_message` with the formatted forecast
+3. Return a brief summary for the logs
+
 ## Your Workspace
 
 Files you create are saved in `/workspace/group/`. Use this for notes, research, or anything that should persist.

groups/main/CLAUDE.md

@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ Read `/workspace/project/data/registered_groups.json` and format it nicely.
 
 ## Global Memory
 
-You can read and write to `/workspace/project/groups/CLAUDE.md` for facts that should apply to all groups. Only update global memory when explicitly asked to "remember this globally" or similar.
+You can read and write to `/workspace/project/groups/global/CLAUDE.md` for facts that should apply to all groups. Only update global memory when explicitly asked to "remember this globally" or similar.
 
 ---
 

src/container-runner.ts

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export interface ContainerInput {
   groupFolder: string;
   chatJid: string;
   isMain: boolean;
+  isScheduledTask?: boolean;
 }
 
 export interface ContainerOutput {
@@ -68,12 +69,13 @@ function buildVolumeMounts(group: RegisteredGroup, isMain: boolean): VolumeMount
       readonly: false
     });
 
-    // Global CLAUDE.md (read-only for non-main)
+    // Global memory directory (read-only for non-main)
-    const globalClaudeMd = path.join(GROUPS_DIR, 'CLAUDE.md');
+    // Apple Container only supports directory mounts, not file mounts
-    if (fs.existsSync(globalClaudeMd)) {
+    const globalDir = path.join(GROUPS_DIR, 'global');
+    if (fs.existsSync(globalDir)) {
       mounts.push({
-        hostPath: globalClaudeMd,
+        hostPath: globalDir,
-        containerPath: '/workspace/global/CLAUDE.md',
+        containerPath: '/workspace/global',
         readonly: true
       });
     }

src/scheduler.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import pino from 'pino';
 import { CronExpressionParser } from 'cron-parser';
 import { getDueTasks, updateTaskAfterRun, logTaskRun, getTaskById, getAllTasks } from './db.js';
 import { ScheduledTask, RegisteredGroup } from './types.js';
-import { GROUPS_DIR, SCHEDULER_POLL_INTERVAL, DATA_DIR } from './config.js';
+import { GROUPS_DIR, SCHEDULER_POLL_INTERVAL, DATA_DIR, MAIN_GROUP_FOLDER } from './config.js';
 import { runContainerAgent, writeTasksSnapshot } from './container-runner.js';
 
 const logger = pino({
@@ -56,11 +56,13 @@ async function runTask(task: ScheduledTask, deps: SchedulerDependencies): Promis
   let error: string | null = null;
 
   try {
+    const isMain = task.group_folder === MAIN_GROUP_FOLDER;
     const output = await runContainerAgent(group, {
       prompt: task.prompt,
       groupFolder: task.group_folder,
       chatJid: task.chat_jid,
-      isMain: false // Scheduled tasks run in their group's context
+      isMain,
+      isScheduledTask: true
     });
 
     if (output.status === 'error') {