Lesson 4 of 4
Customize, Format & Go Further
Estimated time: 5 minutes
Customize, Format & Go Further
Your morning briefing is up and running with real data. In this final lesson, you'll refine the output format, add variations, and learn patterns for taking it further.
Formatting Tips
The quality of your briefing comes down to the prompt. Here are proven prompt patterns:
Control the length
Too long? Add constraints to your prompt:
Keep the entire briefing under 300 words.
Use bullet points, not paragraphs.
No more than 3 news headlines.
Skip any section that has no data (e.g., no calendar events = skip the section).
Too short? Ask for more detail:
For each calendar event, include the time, title, and any meeting links.
For weather, include hourly forecast for the morning and afternoon.
For tasks, include the project name and priority level.
Customize the tone
The AI adapts to whatever voice you request:
Format this as a professional executive briefing. Use a formal tone, no emoji. Lead with the most important items.
Best for: work Slack channels, team briefings, executive summaries.
Use a smarter model for better output
For a richer briefing, override the model on your cron job:
openclaw cron edit <job-id> --model "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6"Or for the deepest analysis (good for weekly summaries):
openclaw cron edit <job-id> --model "opus" --thinking highCost vs. quality tradeoff
A daily briefing with Sonnet costs fractions of a cent per run. Even Opus is typically under $0.05 per briefing. For something you read every day, it's worth using a good model.
Variations
Use these templates to create briefing variations for different contexts.
Create a separate weekend briefing with different content:
openclaw cron add \
--name "Weekend Briefing" \
--cron "0 9 * * 0,6" \
--tz "America/New_York" \
--session isolated \
--message "Weekend morning briefing. Include:
- Weather forecast for today and tomorrow (good for planning outdoor activities)
- Any calendar events today
- 3 interesting or fun news stories (skip business/politics, focus on science, culture, lifestyle)
- One suggestion for a weekend activity based on the weather
Keep it relaxed and short. Weekend vibes." \
--announce \
--channel telegram \
--to "CHAT_ID"
Send a team-wide briefing to a Slack channel every weekday morning:
openclaw cron add \
--name "Team Morning Brief" \
--cron "0 8 * * 1-5" \
--tz "America/New_York" \
--session isolated \
--message "Create a team morning briefing for today. Include:
- Today's date and a one-line motivational opener
- 3 top industry news headlines relevant to our team
- A 'this day in history' tech fact
Format for Slack: use bold headers and bullet points." \
--announce \
--channel slack \
--to "channel:C1234567890"
Add a second daily job to review how the day went:
openclaw cron add \
--name "Evening Recap" \
--cron "0 18 * * 1-5" \
--tz "America/New_York" \
--session isolated \
--message "Give me an end-of-day recap. Include:
- Tomorrow's weather outlook
- Tomorrow's calendar events (so I can prepare)
- Any remaining tasks due today that I should be aware of
- One thing to look forward to tomorrow
Keep it brief and encouraging." \
--announce \
--channel telegram \
--to "CHAT_ID"
Managing Your Cron Jobs
Useful commands for managing your briefings:
openclaw cron listopenclaw cron statusopenclaw cron edit <job-id> --enabled falseopenclaw cron edit <job-id> --enabled trueopenclaw cron remove <job-id>openclaw cron run <job-id>What's Next?
Now that you have a morning briefing running, consider these related automations:
- Email Inbox Zero — Triage your inbox automatically and include a summary in your briefing
- Calendar & Tasks — Manage your calendar and tasks via natural language in chat
- Personal CRM — Track contacts and get follow-up reminders
You did it!
You've built a fully automated morning briefing — from installation to real-time data to custom formatting. It will run every morning without any intervention. Welcome to the world of AI automation with OpenClaw.
Which model is recommended for a daily briefing to balance cost and quality?
Configuring Reliable Cron Jobs in OpenClaw
# Reliable Cron Jobs Cron jobs allow you to automate recurring tasks. Here is how to set them up effectively. ## 🛠 Basic Setup Add a new cron job using the CLI: ```bash openclaw cron add --name "...