Prompt Scheduler for Claude Code

Schedule recurring Claude Code CLI prompts on Linux, macOS, or Windows, managed from a panel in VS Code. Each job is registered with your operating system's own scheduler — cron on Linux/macOS, Windows Task Scheduler on Windows — so it keeps running on schedule even when VS Code is closed. The extension is a GUI on top of your OS scheduler, not a replacement that only works while VS Code is open.

Features

• Add, edit, enable/disable, and delete scheduled prompts from a tree view in the Activity Bar.
• Each job has its own prompt, working directory, schedule, and output file.
• Schedule presets (daily, weekdays, hourly, every N minutes) with a live preview of the next few run times, or a raw cron expression on Linux/macOS.
• "Run Now" to try a job immediately without waiting for its schedule.
• Auto-detects the claude CLI even when it's only on your login shell's PATH (e.g. installed via nvm) on Linux/macOS, or on PATH via where on Windows.
• Only ever touches the entries it created — every other crontab line or scheduled task on your system is left untouched.
• The tree view reflects the outcome of every real run — including ones triggered by the OS scheduler while VS Code was closed — not just manual "Run Now" clicks.
• Overlapping runs of the same job are skipped rather than left to race on the same output file, and a run that hangs (e.g. stuck on a permission prompt with no terminal to answer it) is terminated after a configurable timeout instead of blocking every later run indefinitely.

Requirements

• The Claude Code CLI installed and already authenticated (claude should work from your terminal) — required on every OS. If it's missing, the extension offers an Install Claude CLI button (in the Jobs view, the job form, and any "CLI not found" notification) that runs the official installer for you in a terminal.
• Each job's working directory needs to have been opened with claude at least once, so its one-time "do you trust the files in this folder?" prompt has already been accepted — a scheduled run has no terminal to answer that prompt with and will otherwise hang until it times out. Use the Verify Setup button next to the working directory field in the job form to check this (and accept the trust prompt, if it comes up) before saving.
• Linux: the crontab command available (installed by default on almost every distro).
• macOS: the crontab command (built in). Modern macOS runs cron under the system's privacy protections — if a job's working directory or output file lives under a protected folder (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, iCloud Drive), grant Full Disk Access to /usr/sbin/cron in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, or the job may silently fail to read/write there.
• Windows: PowerShell (installed by default) and the Task Scheduler service running (enabled by default). Only the built-in schedule presets are supported — see Limitations. If claude was installed via npm install -g, the extension prefers its claude.ps1 shim over claude.cmd so prompts aren't re-parsed by cmd.exe (which would mangle any %...% text).

Usage

1. Open the Claude Code Scheduler icon in the Activity Bar.
2. Click Add Job and fill in a name, prompt, working directory, schedule, and output file.
3. Click Verify Setup next to the working directory field — it opens a terminal that confirms the CLI is installed and, if this is the first time Claude Code has seen that folder, lets you accept its trust prompt right there instead of finding out from a failed scheduled run later.
4. Save — the extension writes a runner script and registers it with your OS scheduler automatically.
5. Use the job's inline actions to run it immediately, edit it, enable/disable it, view its last output, open its prompt file, or delete it.

How it works

For each job, the extension writes a prompt.txt and a runner script under its data directory (default ~/.claude-code-scheduler/scripts/<job-id>/), then registers that script with the OS scheduler.

Every run — scheduled or manual — takes out a lock for that job (so a second overlapping run backs off instead of racing it), is killed if it exceeds claudeCodeScheduler.jobTimeoutMinutes, and finishes by writing a status.json with its timestamp and exit code. The tree view reads that file to show real run status, and a small sentinel file at the root of the data directory is touched afterwards so VS Code notices and refreshes even if it was open when the run happened elsewhere.

On Linux/macOS, one line is added per job inside a managed block in your crontab:

# >>> claude-code-scheduler managed jobs (do not edit manually) >>>
0 7 * * * /bin/bash "/home/you/.claude-code-scheduler/scripts/<job-id>/run.sh" # claude-code-scheduler:<job-id>
# <<< claude-code-scheduler managed jobs <<<

Editing a job regenerates its script and re-syncs this block; everything outside the markers in your crontab is left exactly as it was.

On Windows, each job becomes its own Scheduled Task, grouped under a Claude Code Scheduler folder in Task Scheduler, running:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -WindowStyle Hidden -File "C:\Users\you\.claude-code-scheduler\scripts\<job-id>\run.ps1"

with a native DAILY/WEEKLY/HOURLY/MINUTE trigger matching the preset you picked. Disabling or deleting a job removes its task; nothing else in Task Scheduler is touched.

Settings

Limitations

• Cron's/Task Scheduler's scheduling granularity is one minute — sub-minute schedules aren't supported.
• Windows only supports the built-in presets (daily, weekdays, hourly, every N minutes). Windows Task Scheduler's native triggers can't represent arbitrary cron syntax, so raw "Custom cron expression" schedules aren't available there — the job form will warn you and block saving if you pick one on Windows.
• macOS may require granting cron Full Disk Access for jobs that read/write protected folders — see Requirements.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.