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openclaw - 💡(How to fix) Fix Feature: Configurable subagent notify policy for cron jobs [1 comments, 2 participants]

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openclaw/openclaw#73905•Fetched 2026-04-29 06:13:28
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arlen8411arlen8411
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arlen8411arlen8411clawsweeper[bot]clawsweeper[bot]
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commented ×1

Fix Action

Fix / Workaround

Modifying cron job prompts to avoid spawning subagents is a workaround but:

  • Adds complexity to every cron job prompt
  • Loses the benefits of parallel execution via subagents
  • Not scalable for multiple cron jobs

Code Example

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      subagents: {
        notifyPolicy: "silent" | "done_only" | "inherit_from_parent"
      }
    }
  }
}
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Problem

Cron jobs default to silent notify policy, but subagents spawned inside cron jobs default to done_only. This causes unexpected notifications when cron jobs delegate work to subagents.

Current behavior:

SourceDefault notify policy
Cron jobssilent
Subagent orchestrationdone_only

When a cron job spawns subagents for parallel work (e.g., news report searches), each subagent completion sends a notification to the user, even though the parent cron job itself is silent.

Proposed solution

Add configurable default notify policy for subagents:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      subagents: {
        notifyPolicy: "silent" | "done_only" | "inherit_from_parent"
      }
    }
  }
}

Options:

  • "silent": No notifications for subagent completions
  • "done_only": Current default behavior
  • "inherit_from_parent": Subagent inherits notify policy from parent session/cron job

Use case

  1. Cron jobs that spawn subagents should not spam the user with intermediate completion notifications
  2. Failures should be reported through the parent cron job's delivery mechanism, not as separate subagent notifications
  3. User can still check subagent status via openclaw tasks list --runtime subagent if needed

Alternative considered

Modifying cron job prompts to avoid spawning subagents is a workaround but:

  • Adds complexity to every cron job prompt
  • Loses the benefits of parallel execution via subagents
  • Not scalable for multiple cron jobs

Related

extent analysis

TL;DR

Implement a configurable default notify policy for subagents to prevent unexpected notifications when cron jobs delegate work to subagents.

Guidance

  • Introduce a new configuration option notifyPolicy for subagents with values "silent", "done_only", or "inherit_from_parent" to control notification behavior.
  • Set the default notifyPolicy for subagents to "inherit_from_parent" to align with the silent notify policy of parent cron jobs.
  • Update cron job configurations to utilize the new subagent notify policy configuration option.
  • Test the new configuration to ensure subagent notifications are suppressed as expected.

Example

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "subagents": {
        "notifyPolicy": "inherit_from_parent"
      }
    }
  }
}

Notes

This solution assumes that the proposed configuration option is feasible and aligns with the existing system architecture. Additional testing may be required to ensure compatibility with various cron job and subagent scenarios.

Recommendation

Apply workaround by introducing the configurable default notify policy for subagents, as it provides a flexible solution to control notification behavior without modifying existing cron job prompts or losing the benefits of parallel execution via subagents.

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