scheduler

Fresh

Source: BIBLE.md (Phase 5 Scheduling section), bible/campaigns.md (spread strategies)

core/scheduler.mjs is the universal scheduler. 6 job types, 3 spread strategies, autopilot mode.

Job types

Type	What
ctr	CTR campaign rounds (search, click, dwell)
warmup	Account warming (generic searches plus organic clicks)
cookie-refresh	Re-login to keep cookies fresh, with proxy pool fallback
rank-check	Track SERP position for target keywords
phase-run	Advance accounts through lifecycle phases
cascade	Deploy one article to 9 platforms

Spread strategies

How runs are distributed across the day.

natural (recommended)

Gaussian curve centered on midday. Most clicks happen early to mid afternoon. Looks like real human search patterns.

 8am  ▏
 9am  ▎
10am  ▍▍
11am  ▍▍▍▍
12pm  ▍▍▍▍▍▍
 1pm  ▍▍▍▍▍▍▍▍
 2pm  ▍▍▍▍▍▍▍
 3pm  ▍▍▍▍▍▍
 4pm  ▍▍▍▍
 5pm  ▍▍▍
 6pm  ▍▍
 7pm  ▍

even

Evenly spaced with 40% random jitter. Predictable coverage, slight randomness.

burst

3 to 5 runs clustered together, then 30 to 90 minute gap. Mimics someone doing research.

Schedule fields

Field	Values	Default
jobType	ctr, warmup, rank-check, cascade, cookie-refresh, phase-run	required
campaignId	string	optional
runsPerDay	number	50
startHour	0-23	8
endHour	0-23	22
spreadStrategy	natural / even / burst	natural
daysOfWeek	array of 0-6	[1,2,3,4,5]
timezone	tz string	America/Chicago
jobConfig	object	{}

Persistence

Schedules auto-save to data/ghost-engine/schedules/. Loaded on server boot.

SIGINT handler saves scheduler state before shutdown.

Autopilot mode

Engage 3 default daemon schedules with one command:

curl -X POST http://localhost:4700/schedules/autopilot \
  -H "x-api-key: ghost-engine-key"

Creates:

1. Warmup schedule: runs account warmup batches
2. Cookie refresh schedule: keeps cookies alive
3. Phase runs schedule: advances accounts through phases

Disengage:

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:4700/schedules/autopilot \
  -H "x-api-key: ghost-engine-key"

API routes

Method	Route	What
POST	/schedules	Create schedule
GET	/schedules	List all
GET	/schedules/:id	One schedule
DELETE	/schedules/:id	Delete
POST	/schedules/:id/pause	Pause (keeps config)
POST	/schedules/:id/resume	Resume
POST	/schedules/autopilot	Engage 3 daemons
DELETE	/schedules/autopilot	Disengage

Example: schedule daily CTR

curl -X POST http://localhost:4700/schedules \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: ghost-engine-key" \
  -d '{
    "jobType": "ctr",
    "campaignId": "dallas-junk-removal",
    "runsPerDay": 50,
    "startHour": 8,
    "endHour": 22,
    "spreadStrategy": "natural",
    "daysOfWeek": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    "timezone": "America/Chicago"
  }'

Daily click budget enforcement

The scheduler respects daily click budgets. If runsPerDay = 50, it stops at 50 even if the day is not over.

Dispatch flow

flowchart TD
  T[Tick: 60s interval] --> CH[Check all schedules]
  CH --> D{Due for run?}
  D -- no --> SK[Skip]
  D -- yes --> R[dispatchJob jobType, jobConfig]
  R --> CTR[CTR plugin]
  R --> WU[Warmup plugin]
  R --> CR[Cookie refresh plugin]
  R --> RC[Rank tracker]
  R --> PR[Phase runner]
  R --> CS[Cascade runner]

dispatchJob() in server.mjs routes jobs to the correct plugin.

Related

• campaign-manager plugin
• ctr-engine plugin
• Schedules API