## Summary
The Coolify-based auto-deployment of a separate `cron` worker app after
every API deploy was never reliable. This PR removes the ~800 lines of
dead auto-deploy logic from `release_manager.php` while keeping the
underlying cron mechanism (`cron_worker.php`, `cron_scheduler.php`, the
docker-compose `cron-worker` service) intact.
## Changes
- **`release_manager.php`** (-818 lines)
- Removed 19 private methods: `deployCronWorker*`, `cronWorker*`,
`cronWorkerAutoprovision*`, etc.
- Removed 3 constants: `CRON_WORKER_APP`, `CRON_WORKER_START_COMMAND`,
`CRON_WORKER_DESIRED_COUNT`
- Kept `cronWorkerStatus()` but rewrote as a direct DB query (no Coolify
dependency)
- **`tests/Unit/ReleaseManager/ReleaseManagerTest.php`** (-208 lines,
removed 9 cron-worker tests)
- **`tests/Unit/Cron/CronWorkerWiringTest.php`** (rewritten — now
asserts removed wiring is GONE)
- **`docs/CRON_PLAN.md`** (new — comprehensive plan)
## What replaced the broken auto-deploy
- The cron worker runs as part of the main API docker-compose stack (the
`cron-worker` service is unchanged)
- New verification cron `1bb56ba8-2f3e-4bea-baa2-39801ea88ea8` runs
`/workspace/scripts/verify-api-cron.py` every 5 min
- Alerts to Slack #ai-daily (`C0AM3E43249`) if no fresh heartbeat in 10+
min
## Test results
- 4/4 cron tests pass
- 54/54 ReleaseManager tests pass
- Full Unit suite: **1279 passed** (same 7 pre-existing failures on
master, unchanged)
- `php -l` passes on all modified files
## Plan
See `docs/CRON_PLAN.md` for the full audit, plan, and acceptance
criteria.
🤖 Generated with [OpenClaw](https://docs.openclaw.ai)
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Co-authored-by: bugfix <bugfix@truckwash.local>
Co-authored-by: openhands <openhands@all-hands.dev>
