Systems Operational
AI Agent Integration

AI Agent Scheduling

Time-driven coordination for autonomous agents. CronSynth provides reliable webhook triggers for agents built with LangChain, AutoGPT, CrewAI, and custom frameworks.

Why AI Agents Need Scheduling

Autonomous AI agents are designed to operate without constant human intervention. They monitor markets, process data, execute strategies, and respond to events. But many agent tasks aren't event-driven — they're time-driven:

  • Check market conditions every 5 minutes
  • Rebalance portfolios daily at market open
  • Aggregate news feeds hourly
  • Generate reports at end of business day
  • Run maintenance routines weekly

Event-driven systems like webhooks and blockchain listeners handle the "when something happens" triggers. But for "do this at this time" triggers, agents need scheduling infrastructure.

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The Challenge: Serverless Agents Can't Watch Clocks

Most modern AI agents run on serverless infrastructure. It's economical (pay only for execution time), scalable (handle traffic spikes automatically), and simple (no servers to manage).

But serverless environments are ephemeral. When your agent's code finishes executing, the compute instance disappears. There's no persistent process to count down to the next scheduled task.

Traditional solutions don't fit:

Running a dedicated server — Expensive, requires maintenance, defeats the purpose of serverless architecture. Platform cron features — Limited functionality, no verification, platform lock-in. Human-triggered schedules — Not autonomous. Defeats the purpose of having an agent.

Agents need scheduling infrastructure that matches their serverless, autonomous nature.

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CronSynth: Scheduling for Autonomous Agents

CronSynth provides the time-awareness layer that serverless agents lack. You register a schedule, and CronSynth triggers your agent's webhook at the specified times.

Built for Agents, Not Humans:
  • API-first — No dashboards to click through. Register schedules programmatically.
  • Wallet authentication — Your agent's wallet is its identity. No API keys to manage.
  • Cryptographic verification — HMAC signatures prove triggers came from CronSynth.
  • On-chain attestation — Execution history logged to Base L2 for reputation building.
  • Pay-per-trigger — Economic model designed for machine-to-machine transactions.
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Integration Patterns

Pattern 1: Direct Webhook

The simplest integration. Your agent exposes a webhook endpoint, CronSynth calls it on schedule.

[CronSynth] → POST /webhook → [Your Agent] → Execute Task

Works with any framework that can handle HTTP requests.

Pattern 2: Queue-Based

For complex agents, use CronSynth to trigger a message to your agent's task queue.

[CronSynth] → POST /trigger → [Add to Queue] → [Agent Worker] → Execute Task

Decouples scheduling from execution. Useful when tasks take longer than the 5-second webhook timeout.

Pattern 3: Multi-Agent Coordination

Use CronSynth to synchronize multiple agents on the same schedule.

[CronSynth] → POST /coordinator → [Coordinator Agent]

├→ [Agent A]


├→ [Agent B]


└→ [Agent C]

One CronSynth schedule triggers a coordinator, which orchestrates multiple downstream agents.

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Framework Examples

LangChain Agent 
from langchain.agents import initialize_agent

from flask import Flask, request


app = Flask(__name__)


@app.route('/scheduled-task', methods=['POST'])


def scheduled_task():

    # Verify CronSynth signature

if not verify_signature(request):


return {'error': 'Invalid signature'}, 401

    # Initialize and run agent

agent = initialize_agent(tools, llm, agent="zero-shot-react-description")


result = agent.run("Check current market conditions and summarize")

    # Store result, send notification, etc.

save_result(result)


return {'ok': True, 'result': result}

CrewAI Crew 
from crewai import Crew, Agent, Task

@app.route('/run-crew', methods=['POST'])


def run_crew():


if not verify_cronsynth_signature(request):


return {'error': 'Unauthorized'}, 401


researcher = Agent(role='Researcher', ...)


writer = Agent(role='Writer', ...)


research_task = Task(description='Research latest developments', agent=researcher)


write_task = Task(description='Write summary report', agent=writer)


crew = Crew(agents=[researcher, writer], tasks=[research_task, write_task])


result = crew.kickoff()


return {'ok': True, 'output': result}

Custom Agent 
// Vercel/Next.js API route

export default async function handler(req, res) {


if (!verifyCronSynthSignature(req)) {


return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid signature' });


}


const { scheduleId, runNumber } = req.body;


// Your custom agent logic


const marketData = await fetchMarketData();


const analysis = await analyzeWithLLM(marketData);


const action = await decideAction(analysis);


if (action.shouldTrade) {


await executeTrade(action.trade);


}


await logExecution(scheduleId, runNumber, action);


return res.status(200).json({ ok: true, action });


}

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Common Use Cases

Portfolio Management Agent 
Schedule: "0 9 * * 1-5" (9 AM weekdays)

Task: Check portfolio allocation, rebalance if drifted >5%

News Aggregation Agent 
Schedule: "0 * * * *" (every hour)

Task: Fetch RSS feeds, summarize with LLM, store highlights

Monitoring Agent 
Schedule: "*/5 * * * *" (every 5 minutes)

Task: Check system health, alert if anomalies detected

DeFi Yield Optimizer 
Schedule: "0 0 * * *" (daily at midnight)

Task: Harvest yields, compound rewards, optimize positions

Social Media Agent 
Schedule: "0 8,12,18 * * *" (8 AM, noon, 6 PM)

Task: Generate content, schedule posts, engage with mentions

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Building Reputation Through Attestation

One unique feature of CronSynth is on-chain attestation. Every trigger can be logged to Base L2:

event ScheduleTriggered(bytes32 indexed scheduleId, uint256 indexed timestamp);

This creates a verifiable execution history for your agent. Other agents, users, or services can query the blockchain to see:

  • How long has this agent been running?
  • How consistently does it execute its schedules?
  • What's its track record?

In the emerging agent economy, reputation matters. Agents that can prove their reliability have an advantage.

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Best Practices for Agent Scheduling

1. Acknowledge Fast, Process Async

CronSynth waits 5 seconds for a response. If your agent's task takes longer, acknowledge immediately and process in the background:

export default async function handler(req, res) {

// Verify signature


if (!verifySignature(req)) {


return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid' });


}


// Acknowledge immediately


res.status(200).json({ ok: true, queued: true });


// Process async (after response sent)


setImmediate(async () => {


await runLongAgentTask(req.body);


});


}

2. Make Tasks Idempotent

Network issues might cause duplicate triggers. Design your agent to handle being called twice for the same scheduled time:

const { scheduleId, runNumber } = req.body;

// Check if already processed


const lastRun = await db.getLastRun(scheduleId);


if (lastRun >= runNumber) {


return res.status(200).json({ ok: true, skipped: true });


}


// Process and record


await processTask();


await db.setLastRun(scheduleId, runNumber);

3. Handle Failures Gracefully

Return 200 OK for successful processing, even if the underlying task "failed" in a business sense. Reserve 4xx/5xx for actual errors that warrant retries:

try {

const result = await agentTask();


return res.status(200).json({ ok: true, result });


} catch (error) {


// Log but still return 200 - this task is "done" for scheduling purposes


console.error('Task failed:', error);


return res.status(200).json({ ok: false, error: error.message });


}

4. Use Labels for Debugging

When registering schedules, include descriptive labels:

{

"webhookUrl": "https://my-agent.com/tasks/rebalance",


"cron": "0 9 * * 1-5",


"label": "portfolio-rebalancer-prod"


}

Makes it easier to track schedules when you have many.

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Getting Started

1. Set Up Your Agent's Webhook

Create an HTTPS endpoint that:

  • Verifies HMAC signatures
  • Performs your scheduled task
  • Returns quickly (< 5 seconds)
2. Create a Payment Session

Create an x402 payment session. Free tier available.

3. Register Your Schedule 
curl -X POST https://cronsynth.xyz/api/schedule \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-402-Session: your-session" \
  -d '{

"webhookUrl": "https://your-agent.com/scheduled-task",


"cron": "*/5 * * * *",


"label": "my-agent-task"


}'

4. Save Your Webhook Secret

Store the returned webhookSecret securely for signature verification.

5. Deploy and Monitor

Your agent will now receive triggers on schedule. Monitor via GET /api/schedules or Vercel logs.

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Learn More

  • [User Guide](/docs/guide) — Complete integration walkthrough
  • [Cron Expressions](/docs/cron-expressions) — How to write schedules
  • [Use Cases: Trading Bots](/use-cases/trading-bots)
  • [Use Cases: DeFi Automation](/use-cases/defi-automation)