Bug Description

Cron job delivery to WhatsApp fails intermittently with error: cron delivery target is missing

Environment

• Platform: Linux WSL2
• Gateway: Running as systemd service
• OpenClaw version: 2026.2.13

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a cron job with WhatsApp delivery config:

   {
     "delivery": {
       "channel": "whatsapp",
       "to": "+16504898955",
       "mode": "announce"
     }
   }

2. Wait for cron to run multiple times
3. Observe: ~20% of runs fail with cron delivery target is missing error

Expected Behavior

Cron job with proper delivery config should consistently deliver to WhatsApp

Actual Behavior

• Job runs successfully and generates summaries
• But delivery fails intermittently with cron delivery target is missing error
• Pattern: ~4 failures out of ~20 runs (~20% failure rate)

Workaround

Gateway restart temporarily resolves the issue

Additional Info

• Job ID: d2d92bb6-73f3-46fb-b1a5-8d21ab1cd015
• WhatsApp channel is configured correctly (test messages work)
• Same job config works sometimes, fails other times