Cron vs Heartbeat: When to Use Each

Scope

This page is a placeholder generated from the official source file structure.

What to verify

• TODO: Add prerequisites and validation checklist.

Outline (from official headings)

• Quick Decision Guide
• Heartbeat: Periodic Awareness
• When to use heartbeat
• Heartbeat advantages
• Heartbeat example: HEARTBEAT.md checklist
• Configuring heartbeat
• Cron: Precise Scheduling
• When to use cron
• Cron advantages
• Cron example: Daily morning briefing
• Cron example: One-shot reminder
• Decision Flowchart
• Combining Both
• Example: Efficient automation setup
• Lobster: Deterministic workflows with approvals
• When Lobster fits
• How it pairs with heartbeat and cron
• Operational notes (from the code)
• Main Session vs Isolated Session
• When to use main session cron

Further reading

• Official source file: automation/cron-vs-heartbeat.md