No Errors, and No Results
On Monday morning, the article slot that should have been filled before dawn was empty. It happened three times in a single week. At first I assumed the bot had misunderstood its instructions, so I rewrote the prompt. It changed nothing.
Opening the Log
The error log was spotless. It wasn't that there were no failure messages. There was no run record at all. The lines matching the early-morning schedule were simply blank.
This wasn't a failure, it was an absence. The bot didn't do a bad job, it was never called in.
The Culprit: Sleep Mode
Checking the Mac mini's power settings showed it dropping into system sleep around 11 PM every night. During hours the scheduler couldn't wake it, the bots were asleep right along with it. These commands show and change the current setting.
pmset -g
sudo pmset -a sleep 0
The second line turns system sleep off. The display can still go dark, but the machine stays awake.
The Result
In the two weeks after the change, there were 0 empty mornings. The same day I opened the power options on the Windows device too. Its sleep timer was also set short, so I extended it as well.
Today's Notes
• When there is no error and no result, first check **whether a run record exists**.
• Before rewriting a prompt, confirm the machine was actually awake.
• For always-on devices, check the power settings once at setup.
Before doubting the bot, check whether the machine was asleep. Small-team automation often stalls in exactly these quiet places.