Fix timezone handling and message filtering

- Add TIMEZONE config using system timezone for cron expressions
- Filter bot messages by content prefix instead of is_from_me
  (user shares WhatsApp account with bot)
- Format messages as XML for cleaner agent parsing
- Update schedule_task tool to clarify local time usage

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

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

@@ -80,14 +80,14 @@ If unsure which mode to use, ask the user. Examples:
 - "Follow up on my request" → group (needs to know what was requested)
 - "Generate a daily report" → isolated (just needs instructions in prompt)
 
-SCHEDULE VALUE FORMAT:
+SCHEDULE VALUE FORMAT (all times are LOCAL timezone):
-• cron: Standard cron expression (e.g., "*/5 * * * *" for every 5 minutes, "0 9 * * *" for daily at 9am)
+• cron: Standard cron expression (e.g., "*/5 * * * *" for every 5 minutes, "0 9 * * *" for daily at 9am LOCAL time)
 • 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.`,
+• once: Local time WITHOUT "Z" suffix (e.g., "2026-02-01T15:30:00"). Do NOT use UTC/Z suffix.`,
         {
           prompt: z.string().describe('What the agent should do when the task runs. For isolated mode, include all necessary context here.'),
           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: "*/5 * * * *" | interval: milliseconds like "300000" | once: ISO timestamp like "2026-02-01T15:30:00.000Z"'),
+          schedule_value: z.string().describe('cron: "*/5 * * * *" | interval: milliseconds like "300000" | once: local timestamp like "2026-02-01T15:30:00" (no Z suffix!)'),
           context_mode: z.enum(['group', 'isolated']).default('group').describe('group=runs with chat history and memory, isolated=fresh session (include context in prompt)'),
           target_group: z.string().optional().describe('Target group folder (main only, defaults to current group)')
         },

src/config.ts

@@ -16,3 +16,7 @@ export const CONTAINER_TIMEOUT = parseInt(process.env.CONTAINER_TIMEOUT || '3000
 export const IPC_POLL_INTERVAL = 1000;
 
 export const TRIGGER_PATTERN = new RegExp(`^@${ASSISTANT_NAME}\\b`, 'i');
+
+// Timezone for scheduled tasks (cron expressions, etc.)
+// Uses system timezone by default
+export const TIMEZONE = process.env.TZ || Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;

src/db.ts

@@ -162,18 +162,19 @@ export function storeMessage(msg: proto.IWebMessageInfo, chatJid: string, isFrom
     .run(msgId, chatJid, sender, senderName, content, timestamp, isFromMe ? 1 : 0);
 }
 
-export function getNewMessages(jids: string[], lastTimestamp: string): { messages: NewMessage[]; newTimestamp: string } {
+export function getNewMessages(jids: string[], lastTimestamp: string, botPrefix: string): { messages: NewMessage[]; newTimestamp: string } {
   if (jids.length === 0) return { messages: [], newTimestamp: lastTimestamp };
 
   const placeholders = jids.map(() => '?').join(',');
+  // Filter out bot's own messages by checking content prefix (not is_from_me, since user shares the account)
   const sql = `
     SELECT id, chat_jid, sender, sender_name, content, timestamp
     FROM messages
-    WHERE timestamp > ? AND chat_jid IN (${placeholders})
+    WHERE timestamp > ? AND chat_jid IN (${placeholders}) AND content NOT LIKE ?
     ORDER BY timestamp
   `;
 
-  const rows = db.prepare(sql).all(lastTimestamp, ...jids) as NewMessage[];
+  const rows = db.prepare(sql).all(lastTimestamp, ...jids, `${botPrefix}:%`) as NewMessage[];
 
   let newTimestamp = lastTimestamp;
   for (const row of rows) {
@@ -183,14 +184,15 @@ export function getNewMessages(jids: string[], lastTimestamp: string): { message
   return { messages: rows, newTimestamp };
 }
 
-export function getMessagesSince(chatJid: string, sinceTimestamp: string): NewMessage[] {
+export function getMessagesSince(chatJid: string, sinceTimestamp: string, botPrefix: string): NewMessage[] {
+  // Filter out bot's own messages by checking content prefix
   const sql = `
     SELECT id, chat_jid, sender, sender_name, content, timestamp
     FROM messages
-    WHERE chat_jid = ? AND timestamp > ?
+    WHERE chat_jid = ? AND timestamp > ? AND content NOT LIKE ?
     ORDER BY timestamp
   `;
-  return db.prepare(sql).all(chatJid, sinceTimestamp) as NewMessage[];
+  return db.prepare(sql).all(chatJid, sinceTimestamp, `${botPrefix}:%`) as NewMessage[];
 }
 
 export function createTask(task: Omit<ScheduledTask, 'last_run' | 'last_result'>): void {

src/index.ts

@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ import {
   DATA_DIR,
   TRIGGER_PATTERN,
   MAIN_GROUP_FOLDER,
-  IPC_POLL_INTERVAL
+  IPC_POLL_INTERVAL,
+  TIMEZONE
 } from './config.js';
 import { RegisteredGroup, Session, NewMessage } from './types.js';
 import { initDatabase, storeMessage, storeChatMetadata, getNewMessages, getMessagesSince, getAllTasks, getTaskById, updateChatName, getAllChats, getLastGroupSync, setLastGroupSync } from './db.js';
@@ -128,15 +129,18 @@ async function processMessage(msg: NewMessage): Promise<void> {
 
   // Get all messages since last agent interaction so the session has full context
   const sinceTimestamp = lastAgentTimestamp[msg.chat_jid] || '';
-  const missedMessages = getMessagesSince(msg.chat_jid, sinceTimestamp);
+  const missedMessages = getMessagesSince(msg.chat_jid, sinceTimestamp, ASSISTANT_NAME);
 
   const lines = missedMessages.map(m => {
-    const d = new Date(m.timestamp);
+    // Escape XML special characters in content
-    const date = d.toLocaleDateString('en-US', { month: 'short', day: 'numeric' });
+    const escapeXml = (s: string) => s
-    const time = d.toLocaleTimeString('en-US', { hour: '2-digit', minute: '2-digit' });
+      .replace(/&/g, '&amp;')
-    return `[${date} ${time}] ${m.sender_name}: ${m.content}`;
+      .replace(/</g, '&lt;')
+      .replace(/>/g, '&gt;')
+      .replace(/"/g, '&quot;');
+    return `<message sender="${escapeXml(m.sender_name)}" time="${m.timestamp}">${escapeXml(m.content)}</message>`;
   });
-  const prompt = lines.join('\n');
+  const prompt = `<messages>\n${lines.join('\n')}\n</messages>`;
 
   if (!prompt) return;
 
@@ -335,7 +339,7 @@ async function processTaskIpc(
         let nextRun: string | null = null;
         if (scheduleType === 'cron') {
           try {
-            const interval = CronExpressionParser.parse(data.schedule_value);
+            const interval = CronExpressionParser.parse(data.schedule_value, { tz: TIMEZONE });
             nextRun = interval.next().toISOString();
           } catch {
             logger.warn({ scheduleValue: data.schedule_value }, 'Invalid cron expression');
@@ -512,7 +516,7 @@ async function startMessageLoop(): Promise<void> {
   while (true) {
     try {
       const jids = Object.keys(registeredGroups);
-      const { messages } = getNewMessages(jids, lastTimestamp);
+      const { messages } = getNewMessages(jids, lastTimestamp, ASSISTANT_NAME);
 
       if (messages.length > 0) logger.info({ count: messages.length }, 'New messages');
       for (const msg of messages) {

src/task-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, MAIN_GROUP_FOLDER } from './config.js';
+import { GROUPS_DIR, SCHEDULER_POLL_INTERVAL, DATA_DIR, MAIN_GROUP_FOLDER, TIMEZONE } from './config.js';
 import { runContainerAgent, writeTasksSnapshot } from './container-runner.js';
 
 const logger = pino({
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ async function runTask(task: ScheduledTask, deps: SchedulerDependencies): Promis
 
   let nextRun: string | null = null;
   if (task.schedule_type === 'cron') {
-    const interval = CronExpressionParser.parse(task.schedule_value);
+    const interval = CronExpressionParser.parse(task.schedule_value, { tz: TIMEZONE });
     nextRun = interval.next().toISOString();
   } else if (task.schedule_type === 'interval') {
     const ms = parseInt(task.schedule_value, 10);