Off-Peak Compute Skill

Core Insight: Cloud providers sell pooled, variable capacity. Your effective quota depends on infrastructure load. Running heavy tasks overnight maximizes throughput when GPU farms are underutilized.

What This Skill Does

• Provides a script template for queuing non-time-sensitive compute tasks
• Runs queued tasks automatically at 2 AM via cron
• Logs execution results for morning review

Security Model

Honest assessment of what runs:

Layer	Isolation	Privileges
Cron job	Separate process	Full user privileges
Agent session	New session (isolated from your current session)	Full access to your environment's credentials
Network calls	None	Whatever credentials the agent can access

What this means:

• Tasks run with your user privileges
• Each task spawns a new agent session (isolated from each other)
• Sessions can access your environment's credentials
• There is no sandboxing or credential scoping

Your responsibility:

• Inspect tasks before adding them
• Don't embed secrets directly in the script
• Test tasks manually before scheduling
• Review what network actions tasks perform

Setup (One-Time)

# Create directories
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace/scripts
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace/logs

# Copy the script template (see below)
# Path: ~/.openclaw/workspace/scripts/off-peak-compute.sh

# Make executable (owner only for security)
chmod 700 ~/.openclaw/workspace/scripts/off-peak-compute.sh

# Add cron job (runs at 2 AM daily)
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null | grep -v "off-peak-compute"; echo "0 2 * * * \$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/scripts/off-peak-compute.sh") | crontab -

# Verify
crontab -l | grep off-peak

Script Template

Create ~/.openclaw/workspace/scripts/off-peak-compute.sh:

#!/bin/bash
# off-peak-compute.sh
# 
# OFF-PEAK COMPUTE QUEUE
# Runs automatically at 2 AM via cron
# 
# SECURITY: Tasks run with your user privileges and can access
# your environment's credentials. Each task spawns a new agent
# session (isolated from each other). No sandboxing is provided.
# 
# REVIEW BEFORE ENABLING:
# - Remove sample tasks you don't want
# - Test tasks manually before scheduling
# - Be aware of credential scope for each task
# - Restrict permissions: chmod 700 this script
#
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOG_FILE="$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/logs/off-peak-compute.log"
SCRIPT_FILE="$HOME/.openclaw/workspace/scripts/off-peak-compute.sh"

log() {
    echo "[$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')] $1" >> "$LOG_FILE"
}

echo "" >> "$LOG_FILE"
echo "========================================" >> "$LOG_FILE"
log "Off-peak compute run starting"
echo "========================================" >> "$LOG_FILE"

# Count tasks
TASK_COUNT=$(grep -c "^# TASK:" "$SCRIPT_FILE" 2>/dev/null || echo "0")

if [ "$TASK_COUNT" -eq 0 ]; then
    log "No tasks queued. Exiting."
    exit 0
fi

log "Found $TASK_COUNT task(s) to process"

# TASK TEMPLATE
# Copy and modify for each task. Be aware of:
# - Credential scope (what can this task access?)
# - Network actions (what external services does it call?)
# - File writes (where does it save results?)
#
# # TASK: <description>
# # Added: <date>
# # Credential scope: <what credentials does this use?>
# # Network actions: <what external services?>
# openclaw agent --agent <agent-id> --message "Task instructions here"
# # END TASK
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

# TASKS BELOW THIS LINE
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------



# END OF TASKS
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

log "Run complete. Check log for results."
log "Remove completed tasks manually before next run."

Adding Tasks

Before adding a task, ask yourself:

1. What credentials does this task need?
2. What network actions will it perform?
3. Where will it write files?
4. Have I tested it manually?

Template:

# TASK: Research competitive landscape
# Added: 2026-03-10
# Credential scope: web search API (no secrets)
# Network actions: web search, file write
openclaw agent --agent main --message "Research competitive landscape for X. Save results to ~/notes/research/findings.md"
# END TASK

Checking Results

# View log
cat ~/.openclaw/workspace/logs/off-peak-compute.log

# Check for task output (wherever the task saves results)
ls -la ~/notes/research/

When to Use This

Good for off-peak:

• Deep research (can wait 12-24 hours)
• Document summarization batches
• Model-intensive analysis
• Batch processing jobs

NOT for off-peak:

• Time-sensitive requests (emails, calendar)
• Interactive tasks requiring follow-up
• Urgent matters

Cron Schedule

0 2 * * * $HOME/.openclaw/workspace/scripts/off-peak-compute.sh

Adjust timezone if needed.

Why This Matters

Cloud providers sell pooled capacity. Overnight = lower demand = more throughput per token. This skill lets you queue heavy work for when capacity is cheapest.

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Created: 2026-03-10 Updated: 2026-03-10 — Honest security model, clear credential scope guidance