cron-agent-patterns SKILL.md skillA
cron-agent-patterns from arcanada-one/datarim is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add arcanada-one/datarim/cron-agent-patterns@git:20261004.8dfccd1Pins git:20261004.8dfccd1 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- arcanada-one/datarim
- Path
skills/cron-agent-patterns/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20261004.8dfccd1, committed Oct 4, 2026
- Size
- 5,338 bytes
- Repository stars
- 16
- License
- MIT
Layered timeout defense for cron-orchestrated agents calling external APIs (LLM CLI, HTTP, subprocess) — nested tiers, anti-patterns, headroom.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Cron-Agent Patterns > **TL;DR:** A cron-orchestrated agent that makes external API calls (LLM CLI, > HTTP client, subprocess) can hang, drift past its window, or overlap the next > cron tick. Defend with **nested timeouts** — each tier strictly smaller than > the one enclosing it — plus symmetric deadline guards and explicit headroom > for the next fallback tier. ## When To Apply Load this skill when implementing or reviewing any agent that: - runs on a schedule (cron, systemd timer, `sleep`-loop) **and** - makes calls that can block indefinitely — LLM CLI subprocess, HTTP request, shell-out, DB query, or a provider fallback chain. The pattern is **stack-agnostic** — the tier names below map onto any runtime (Python `signal`/`subprocess`, Node timers/`AbortController`, Go `context`, shell `timeout`). ## The Layered Timeout Ladder Order the timeouts so each inner budget is strictly smaller than the budget enclosing it. Violating the strict-nesting invariant means an inner tier can never fire before the outer one preempts it — the inner guard becomes dead code. ``` (a) per-call timeout < (b) per-cycle deadline budget …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add arcanada-one/datarim/cron-agent-patterns@sha256:166d0292a46c76e1The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261004.8dfccd1, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_m5ulljrsobjyexh5)
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Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Oct 4, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (5338 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
arcanada-one/datarim · 16 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-29 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_m5ulljrsobjyexh5 GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=arcanada-one/datarim/cron-agent-patterns GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/166d0292a46c76e1103c2bffa875bf18ba5ea02c2836a7eeb91dc05b47f60809
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.