Bug type

Regression (worked before, now fails)

Summary

Cron jobs with sessionTarget=isolated timeout even when task is simple (regression)

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a cron job with sessionTarget: "isolated" and payload.kind: "agentTurn"
2. Set a simple task (e.g., proactive check that takes ~20s)
3. Wait for cron to trigger
4. Observe: job times out even with timeoutSeconds set to 120s

Expected behavior

Cron job should complete successfully within the timeout period. Same task runs in ~26s via sessions_spawn but times out when triggered by cron.

Actual behavior

Job times out with "cron: job execution timed out" error. Duration shows 60-121s even though the same task completes in ~26s when run via sessions_spawn.

OpenClaw version

2026.3.8 (3caab92)

Operating system

Linux 6.17.0-14-generic (x64)

Install method

No response

Model

minimax/MiniMax-M2.5

Provider / routing chain

minimax (direct)

Config file / key location

No response

Additional provider/model setup details

No response

Logs, screenshots, and evidence

Impact and severity

Affected: Users with cron jobs using isolated session target
Severity: High (blocks critical scheduled tasks)
Frequency: 100% repro since ~16:00 GMT+8 on 2026-03-12
Consequence: proactive-check and heartbeat-alert-check jobs fail to deliver reports

Additional information

Investigation Details

Key Findings

• Same task runs in ~26s via sessions_spawn but times out in cron isolated session
• Both proactive-check and heartbeat-alert-check jobs affected
• Gateway status shows normal (running, 155 active sessions)

Timeline (GMT+8)

• 16:04 - proactive-check first timeout (60s)
• 16:05 - proactive-check second timeout (60s)
• 16:08 - proactive-check third timeout (121s, timeout already increased to 120s)
• 16:15 - Manual sessions_spawn test -> Success (26s)
• 16:16 - heartbeat-alert-check manual trigger -> Timeout (60s)

Possibly Related

• GitHub Issue [Bug]: Cron jobs enqueued but never execute — lane never dispatches, runningAtMs written on enqueue causes permanent stale marker loop #42960: Cron jobs not running on schedule
• GitHub Issue cron run (manual trigger) enqueues but never executes #42997: Cron job timeout handling

Workaround

Use sessions_spawn from main session instead of cron agentTurn payload for scheduled tasks.