fix: cron backup should preserve pre-edit snapshot (#35195) (#35234)

* fix(cron): avoid overwriting .bak during normalization

Fixes openclaw/openclaw#35195

* test(cron): preserve pre-edit bak snapshot in normalization path

---------

Co-authored-by: 0xsline <sline@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Tak Hoffman <781889+Takhoffman@users.noreply.github.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Agents/tool-result truncation: preserve important tail diagnostics by using head+tail truncation for oversized tool results while keeping configurable truncation options. (#20076) thanks @jlwestsr.
 - Telegram/topic agent routing: support per-topic `agentId` overrides in forum groups and DM topics so topics can route to dedicated agents with isolated sessions. (#33647; based on #31513) Thanks @kesor and @Sid-Qin.
 - Slack/DM typing feedback: add `channels.slack.typingReaction` so Socket Mode DMs can show reaction-based processing status even when Slack native assistant typing is unavailable. (#19816) Thanks @dalefrieswthat.
+- Cron/job snapshot persistence: skip backup during normalization persistence in `ensureLoaded` so `jobs.json.bak` keeps the pre-edit snapshot for recovery, while preserving backup creation on explicit user-driven writes. (#35234) Thanks @0xsline.
 
 ### Fixes
 

src/cron/service.issue-35195-backup-timing.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { writeCronStoreSnapshot } from "./service.issue-regressions.test-helpers.js";
+import { CronService } from "./service.js";
+import { createCronStoreHarness, createNoopLogger } from "./service.test-harness.js";
+
+const noopLogger = createNoopLogger();
+const { makeStorePath } = createCronStoreHarness({ prefix: "openclaw-cron-issue-35195-" });
+
+describe("cron backup timing for edit", () => {
+  it("keeps .bak as the pre-edit store even after later normalization persists", async () => {
+    const store = await makeStorePath();
+    const base = Date.now();
+
+    await fs.mkdir(path.dirname(store.storePath), { recursive: true });
+    await writeCronStoreSnapshot(store.storePath, [
+      {
+        id: "job-35195",
+        name: "job-35195",
+        enabled: true,
+        createdAtMs: base,
+        updatedAtMs: base,
+        schedule: { kind: "every", everyMs: 60_000, anchorMs: base },
+        sessionTarget: "main",
+        wakeMode: "next-heartbeat",
+        payload: { kind: "systemEvent", text: "hello" },
+        state: {},
+      },
+    ]);
+
+    const service = new CronService({
+      storePath: store.storePath,
+      cronEnabled: true,
+      log: noopLogger,
+      enqueueSystemEvent: vi.fn(),
+      requestHeartbeatNow: vi.fn(),
+      runIsolatedAgentJob: vi.fn(async () => ({ status: "ok" as const })),
+    });
+
+    await service.start();
+
+    const beforeEditRaw = await fs.readFile(store.storePath, "utf-8");
+
+    await service.update("job-35195", {
+      payload: { kind: "systemEvent", text: "edited" },
+    });
+
+    const backupRaw = await fs.readFile(`${store.storePath}.bak`, "utf-8");
+    expect(JSON.parse(backupRaw)).toEqual(JSON.parse(beforeEditRaw));
+
+    const diskAfterEdit = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(store.storePath, "utf-8"));
+    const normalizedJob = {
+      ...diskAfterEdit.jobs[0],
+      payload: {
+        ...diskAfterEdit.jobs[0].payload,
+        channel: "telegram",
+      },
+    };
+
+    await writeCronStoreSnapshot(store.storePath, [normalizedJob]);
+
+    service.stop();
+    const service2 = new CronService({
+      storePath: store.storePath,
+      cronEnabled: true,
+      log: noopLogger,
+      enqueueSystemEvent: vi.fn(),
+      requestHeartbeatNow: vi.fn(),
+      runIsolatedAgentJob: vi.fn(async () => ({ status: "ok" as const })),
+    });
+
+    await service2.start();
+
+    const backupAfterNormalize = await fs.readFile(`${store.storePath}.bak`, "utf-8");
+    expect(JSON.parse(backupAfterNormalize)).toEqual(JSON.parse(beforeEditRaw));
+
+    service2.stop();
+    await store.cleanup();
+  });
+});

src/cron/service/store.ts

@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ export async function ensureLoaded(
   }
 
   if (mutated) {
-    await persist(state);
+    await persist(state, { skipBackup: true });
   }
 }
 
@@ -561,11 +561,11 @@ export function warnIfDisabled(state: CronServiceState, action: string) {
   );
 }
 
-export async function persist(state: CronServiceState) {
+export async function persist(state: CronServiceState, opts?: { skipBackup?: boolean }) {
   if (!state.store) {
     return;
   }
-  await saveCronStore(state.deps.storePath, state.store);
+  await saveCronStore(state.deps.storePath, state.store, opts);
   // Update file mtime after save to prevent immediate reload
   state.storeFileMtimeMs = await getFileMtimeMs(state.deps.storePath);
 }

src/cron/store.ts

@@ -52,7 +52,15 @@ export async function loadCronStore(storePath: string): Promise<CronStoreFile> {
   }
 }
 
-export async function saveCronStore(storePath: string, store: CronStoreFile) {
+type SaveCronStoreOptions = {
+  skipBackup?: boolean;
+};
+
+export async function saveCronStore(
+  storePath: string,
+  store: CronStoreFile,
+  opts?: SaveCronStoreOptions,
+) {
   await fs.promises.mkdir(path.dirname(storePath), { recursive: true });
   const json = JSON.stringify(store, null, 2);
   const cached = serializedStoreCache.get(storePath);
@@ -76,7 +84,7 @@ export async function saveCronStore(storePath: string, store: CronStoreFile) {
   }
   const tmp = `${storePath}.${process.pid}.${randomBytes(8).toString("hex")}.tmp`;
   await fs.promises.writeFile(tmp, json, "utf-8");
-  if (previous !== null) {
+  if (previous !== null && !opts?.skipBackup) {
     try {
       await fs.promises.copyFile(storePath, `${storePath}.bak`);
     } catch {