feat: allow cron-entries to set a per-entry MAILTO

The `cron-entries` trigger is now passed `json` as a second argument, and plugins may print each task as a json object on its own line. A task that sets a `mailto` is written to the crontab under a `MAILTO` of its own, and its output is mailed to that address as well as appended to its log file, so plugins such as the datastore plugins can have the output of a specific scheduled task mailed to a specific person.

docs/development/plugin-triggers.md

@@ -688,8 +688,10 @@ APP="$1"; PROPERTY="$2"
 ### `cron-entries`
 
 - Description: Allows injecting cron tasks into the written out scheduled cron task list. Each entry is newline delimited, and individual tasks come in the form `$SCHEDULE;$FULL_COMMAND;$ARBITRARY_DATA`. Individual implementations of cron writing can decide whether and how to include these cron tasks. The `ARBITRARY_DATA` includes the log file path for the basic `docker-local` cron implementation.
-- Invoked by:
+
-- Arguments: `$DOKKU_SCHEDULER`
+    When `$CRON_ENTRY_FORMAT` is `json`, each entry may instead be printed as a json object on its own line, with the keys `schedule`, `command`, `log-file` and `mailto`. Only `schedule` and `command` are required. A task with a `mailto` value is written to the crontab under a `MAILTO` of its own rather than the global `MAILTO`, and its output is mailed to that address in addition to being appended to its `log-file`. Json entries and `;` delimited entries may be printed together. Older versions of Dokku do not pass `$CRON_ENTRY_FORMAT`, and fail to write the crontab if a json entry is printed, so a json entry should only be printed when the argument is `json`.
+- Invoked by: `dokku cron:list --global`, and when the `dokku` user crontab is written
+- Arguments: `$DOKKU_SCHEDULER $CRON_ENTRY_FORMAT`
 - Example:
 
 ```shell
@@ -699,8 +701,13 @@ set -eo pipefail; [[ $DOKKU_TRACE ]] && set -x
 source "$PLUGIN_CORE_AVAILABLE_PATH/common/functions"
 
 DOKKU_SCHEDULER="$1"
+CRON_ENTRY_FORMAT="$2"
 
-# TODO
+if [[ "$CRON_ENTRY_FORMAT" == "json" ]]; then
+  echo '{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/usr/local/bin/some-task","log-file":"/var/log/dokku/some-task.log","mailto":"ops@example.com"}'
+else
+  echo "@daily;/usr/local/bin/some-task;/var/log/dokku/some-task.log"
+fi
 ```
 
 ### `dependencies`

docs/processes/scheduled-cron-tasks.md

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ When running scheduled cron tasks, there are a few items to be aware of:
 - At this time, only the `PATH` and `SHELL` environment variables are specified in the cron template.
     - A `MAILTO` value can be set via the `cron:set` command.
     - A `MAILFROM` value can be set via the `cron:set` command.
+    - Tasks injected by plugins via the [`cron-entries` trigger](/docs/development/plugin-triggers.md#cron-entries) may set a `MAILTO` value of their own, which is used for that task instead of the global value. The output of such a task is mailed to that address as well as appended to the task's log file.
 - Each scheduled task is executed within a one-off `run` container, and thus inherit any docker-options specified for `run` containers. Resources are never shared between scheduled tasks.
 - Scheduled cron tasks are supported on a per-scheduler basis. Schedulers that use the host crontab - such as `docker-local` - have their `app.json` cron tasks written to the `dokku` user crontab, while schedulers that manage their own cron backend - such as `k3s` - schedule them natively.
 - Tasks for _all_ apps managed by a host-crontab scheduler such as `docker-local` are written to a single crontab file owned by the `dokku` user. The `dokku` user's crontab should be considered reserved for this purpose.

plugins/cron/cron.go

@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package cron
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
-	"strings"
 
 	appjson "github.com/dokku/dokku/plugins/app-json"
 	"github.com/dokku/dokku/plugins/common"
@@ -85,6 +84,9 @@ type CronTask struct {
 	// LogFile is the log file to write to
 	LogFile string `json:"-"`
 
+	// Mailto is the MAILTO value cron uses for this task instead of the global one
+	Mailto string `json:"mailto,omitempty"`
+
 	// AppInMaintenance is whether the app's cron is in maintenance mode
 	AppInMaintenance bool `json:"app-in-maintenance"`
 
@@ -98,6 +100,10 @@ type CronTask struct {
 // DokkuRunCommand returns the dokku run command to execute for a given cron task
 func (t CronTask) DokkuRunCommand() string {
 	if t.AltCommand != "" {
+		if t.LogFile != "" && t.Mailto != "" {
+			// keep the output on stdout so cron mails it to the task's MAILTO
+			return fmt.Sprintf("%s 2>&1 | tee -a %s", t.AltCommand, t.LogFile)
+		}
 		if t.LogFile != "" {
 			return fmt.Sprintf("%s &>> %s", t.AltCommand, t.LogFile)
 		}
@@ -210,37 +216,17 @@ func FetchCronTasks(input FetchCronTasksInput) ([]CronTask, error) {
 // This function should only be used for the cron:list --global command
 // and not internally by the cron plugin
 func FetchGlobalCronTasks() ([]CronTask, error) {
-	tasks := []CronTask{}
 	response, _ := common.CallPlugnTrigger(common.PlugnTriggerInput{
 		Trigger: "cron-entries",
-		Args:    []string{"docker-local"},
+		Args:    []string{"docker-local", CronEntryFormat},
 	})
-	for _, line := range strings.Split(response.StdoutContents(), "\n") {
-		if strings.TrimSpace(line) == "" {
-			continue
-		}
 
-		parts := strings.Split(line, ";")
+	tasks, invalid := parseInjectedCronEntries(response.StdoutContents())
-		if len(parts) != 2 && len(parts) != 3 {
+	for _, line := range invalid {
-			common.LogWarn(fmt.Sprintf("Invalid injected cron task: %v", line))
+		common.LogWarn(fmt.Sprintf("Invalid injected cron task: %v", line))
-			continue
+	}
-		}
+	for i := range tasks {
-
+		tasks[i].Global = true
-		id := base36.EncodeToStringLc([]byte(strings.Join(parts, ";;;")))
-		task := CronTask{
-			ID:                id,
-			Schedule:          parts[0],
-			Command:           parts[1],
-			AltCommand:        parts[1],
-			Global:            true,
-			Maintenance:       false,
-			TaskInMaintenance: false,
-			AppInMaintenance:  false,
-		}
-		if len(parts) == 3 {
-			task.LogFile = parts[2]
-		}
-		tasks = append(tasks, task)
 	}
 	return tasks, nil
 }

plugins/cron/cron_test.go

@@ -101,6 +101,38 @@ func TestDokkuRunCommandAltCommandWithLogFile(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestDokkuRunCommandAltCommandWithMailto pins that an injected task with its
+// own MAILTO keeps its output on stdout, where cron mails it from, while still
+// appending it to the log file.
+func TestDokkuRunCommandAltCommandWithMailto(t *testing.T) {
+	task := CronTask{
+		ID:         "abc123",
+		AltCommand: "/usr/bin/some-internal-task",
+		LogFile:    "/var/log/dokku/internal-task.log",
+		Mailto:     "ops@example.com",
+	}
+
+	got := task.DokkuRunCommand()
+	want := "/usr/bin/some-internal-task 2>&1 | tee -a /var/log/dokku/internal-task.log"
+	if got != want {
+		t.Errorf("DokkuRunCommand() = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDokkuRunCommandAltCommandWithMailtoAndNoLogFile(t *testing.T) {
+	task := CronTask{
+		ID:         "abc123",
+		AltCommand: "/usr/bin/some-internal-task",
+		Mailto:     "ops@example.com",
+	}
+
+	got := task.DokkuRunCommand()
+	want := "/usr/bin/some-internal-task"
+	if got != want {
+		t.Errorf("DokkuRunCommand() = %q, want %q", got, want)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestDokkuRunCommandAppTaskIgnoresLogFile pins that LogFile is honored only
 // for internally injected tasks from the cron-entries trigger. App tasks never
 // interpolate a path into the crontab line - their output is shipped by the

plugins/cron/crontab.go

@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ package cron
 
 import (
 	_ "embed"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"maps"
 	"os"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"text/template"
 
@@ -50,36 +53,114 @@ func hostCronSchedulers(appSchedulers []string) map[string]bool {
 	return schedulers
 }
 
-// injectedCronTasks parses the tasks injected via the cron-entries trigger for a
+// CronEntryFormat is passed to the cron-entries trigger to signal that each
-// given scheduler. Each entry is newline delimited in the form
+// entry may be printed as a json object on its own line. Implementations that
-// $SCHEDULE;$COMMAND[;$LOGFILE].
+// do not know it keep printing $SCHEDULE;$COMMAND[;$LOGFILE] lines, which are
-func injectedCronTasks(scheduler string) ([]CronTask, error) {
+// still read.
+const CronEntryFormat = "json"
+
+// injectedCronEntry is a task printed as a json line by the cron-entries trigger
+type injectedCronEntry struct {
+	// Schedule is the cron schedule
+	Schedule string `json:"schedule"`
+
+	// Command is the command to run
+	Command string `json:"command"`
+
+	// LogFile is the log file the command's output is appended to
+	LogFile string `json:"log-file"`
+
+	// Mailto is the MAILTO value cron uses for the task instead of the global one
+	Mailto string `json:"mailto"`
+}
+
+// parseInjectedCronEntry parses a single line printed by the cron-entries
+// trigger, either a json object or in the form $SCHEDULE;$COMMAND[;$LOGFILE].
+// The fields the task id is generated from are returned alongside the task.
+func parseInjectedCronEntry(line string) (injectedCronEntry, []string, bool) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(line), "{") {
+		entry := injectedCronEntry{}
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(line), &entry); err != nil {
+			return injectedCronEntry{}, nil, false
+		}
+		if entry.Schedule == "" || entry.Command == "" {
+			return injectedCronEntry{}, nil, false
+		}
+
+		// json can encode a newline, which would add a line to the crontab
+		fields := []string{entry.Schedule, entry.Command, entry.LogFile, entry.Mailto}
+		for _, field := range fields {
+			if strings.ContainsAny(field, "\r\n") {
+				return injectedCronEntry{}, nil, false
+			}
+		}
+
+		fields = []string{entry.Schedule, entry.Command}
+		if entry.LogFile != "" {
+			fields = append(fields, entry.LogFile)
+		}
+		if entry.Mailto != "" {
+			fields = append(fields, entry.Mailto)
+		}
+		return entry, fields, true
+	}
+
+	parts := strings.Split(line, ";")
+	if len(parts) != 2 && len(parts) != 3 {
+		return injectedCronEntry{}, nil, false
+	}
+
+	entry := injectedCronEntry{
+		Schedule: parts[0],
+		Command:  parts[1],
+	}
+	if len(parts) == 3 {
+		entry.LogFile = parts[2]
+	}
+	return entry, parts, true
+}
+
+// parseInjectedCronEntries parses the newline delimited output of the
+// cron-entries trigger, returning the tasks and any lines that are not valid
+// entries
+func parseInjectedCronEntries(output string) ([]CronTask, []string) {
 	tasks := []CronTask{}
+	invalid := []string{}
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(output, "\n") {
+		if strings.TrimSpace(line) == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		entry, fields, ok := parseInjectedCronEntry(line)
+		if !ok {
+			invalid = append(invalid, line)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		tasks = append(tasks, CronTask{
+			ID:          base36.EncodeToStringLc([]byte(strings.Join(fields, ";;;"))),
+			Schedule:    entry.Schedule,
+			Command:     entry.Command,
+			AltCommand:  entry.Command,
+			LogFile:     entry.LogFile,
+			Mailto:      entry.Mailto,
+			Maintenance: false,
+		})
+	}
+	return tasks, invalid
+}
+
+// injectedCronTasks parses the tasks injected via the cron-entries trigger for a
+// given scheduler
+func injectedCronTasks(scheduler string) ([]CronTask, error) {
 	response, _ := common.CallPlugnTrigger(common.PlugnTriggerInput{
 		Trigger: "cron-entries",
-		Args:    []string{scheduler},
+		Args:    []string{scheduler, CronEntryFormat},
 	})
-	for _, line := range strings.Split(response.StdoutContents(), "\n") {
-		if strings.TrimSpace(line) == "" {
-			return []CronTask{}, nil
-		}
 
-		parts := strings.Split(line, ";")
+	tasks, invalid := parseInjectedCronEntries(response.StdoutContents())
-		if len(parts) != 2 && len(parts) != 3 {
+	if len(invalid) > 0 {
-			return []CronTask{}, fmt.Errorf("Invalid injected cron task: %v", line)
+		return []CronTask{}, fmt.Errorf("Invalid injected cron task: %v", invalid[0])
-		}
-
-		id := base36.EncodeToStringLc([]byte(strings.Join(parts, ";;;")))
-		task := CronTask{
-			ID:          id,
-			Schedule:    parts[0],
-			AltCommand:  parts[1],
-			Maintenance: false,
-		}
-		if len(parts) == 3 {
-			task.LogFile = parts[2]
-		}
-		tasks = append(tasks, task)
 	}
 	return tasks, nil
 }
@@ -179,12 +260,7 @@ func writeCronTab() error {
 
 	mailfrom := common.PropertyGetDefault("cron", "--global", "mailfrom", DefaultProperties["mailfrom"])
 	mailto := common.PropertyGetDefault("cron", "--global", "mailto", DefaultProperties["mailto"])
-
+	data := cronTemplateData(tasks, mailfrom, mailto)
-	data := map[string]interface{}{
-		"Tasks":    tasks,
-		"Mailfrom": mailfrom,
-		"Mailto":   mailto,
-	}
 
 	t, err := getCronTemplate()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -219,6 +295,46 @@ func writeCronTab() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// cronMailtoGroup is the set of tasks written to the crontab under a MAILTO of
+// their own
+type cronMailtoGroup struct {
+	// Mailto is the MAILTO value the tasks are written under
+	Mailto string
+
+	// Tasks are the tasks written under the MAILTO value
+	Tasks []CronTask
+}
+
+// cronTemplateData builds the data the cron template is executed with. Tasks
+// that set their own MAILTO are grouped by it and written after every other
+// task, so the global MAILTO applies to all of the tasks before them.
+func cronTemplateData(tasks []CronTask, mailfrom string, mailto string) map[string]interface{} {
+	globalTasks := []CronTask{}
+	groups := map[string][]CronTask{}
+	for _, task := range tasks {
+		if task.Mailto == "" {
+			globalTasks = append(globalTasks, task)
+			continue
+		}
+		groups[task.Mailto] = append(groups[task.Mailto], task)
+	}
+
+	mailtoGroups := []cronMailtoGroup{}
+	for _, groupMailto := range slices.Sorted(maps.Keys(groups)) {
+		mailtoGroups = append(mailtoGroups, cronMailtoGroup{
+			Mailto: groupMailto,
+			Tasks:  groups[groupMailto],
+		})
+	}
+
+	return map[string]interface{}{
+		"Tasks":        globalTasks,
+		"MailtoGroups": mailtoGroups,
+		"Mailfrom":     mailfrom,
+		"Mailto":       mailto,
+	}
+}
+
 // deleteCrontab removes the dokku user crontab
 func deleteCrontab() error {
 	result, err := common.CallExecCommand(common.ExecCommandInput{

plugins/cron/crontab_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,224 @@
+package cron
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	base36 "github.com/multiformats/go-base36"
+)
+
+func TestParseInjectedCronEntries(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		name        string
+		output      string
+		wantTasks   []CronTask
+		wantInvalid []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:   "text entry without a log file",
+			output: "@daily;/bin/true",
+			wantTasks: []CronTask{
+				{Schedule: "@daily", Command: "/bin/true", AltCommand: "/bin/true"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "text entry with a log file",
+			output: "@daily;/bin/true;/var/log/dokku/log.log",
+			wantTasks: []CronTask{
+				{Schedule: "@daily", Command: "/bin/true", AltCommand: "/bin/true", LogFile: "/var/log/dokku/log.log"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "json entry without a log file or mailto",
+			output: `{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true"}`,
+			wantTasks: []CronTask{
+				{Schedule: "@daily", Command: "/bin/true", AltCommand: "/bin/true"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "json entry with a log file and mailto",
+			output: `{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true","log-file":"/var/log/dokku/log.log","mailto":"ops@example.com"}`,
+			wantTasks: []CronTask{
+				{Schedule: "@daily", Command: "/bin/true", AltCommand: "/bin/true", LogFile: "/var/log/dokku/log.log", Mailto: "ops@example.com"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "json entry whose command holds a semicolon",
+			output: `{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true; /bin/false"}`,
+			wantTasks: []CronTask{
+				{Schedule: "@daily", Command: "/bin/true; /bin/false", AltCommand: "/bin/true; /bin/false"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:   "json and text entries printed together, with blank lines",
+			output: "@daily;/bin/true\n\n" + `{"schedule":"@hourly","command":"/bin/false","mailto":"ops@example.com"}` + "\n",
+			wantTasks: []CronTask{
+				{Schedule: "@daily", Command: "/bin/true", AltCommand: "/bin/true"},
+				{Schedule: "@hourly", Command: "/bin/false", AltCommand: "/bin/false", Mailto: "ops@example.com"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "text entry with too many fields",
+			output:      "@daily;/bin/true;/var/log/dokku/log.log;ops@example.com",
+			wantTasks:   []CronTask{},
+			wantInvalid: []string{"@daily;/bin/true;/var/log/dokku/log.log;ops@example.com"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "text entry with too few fields",
+			output:      "@daily",
+			wantTasks:   []CronTask{},
+			wantInvalid: []string{"@daily"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "json entry that does not decode",
+			output:      `{"schedule":"@daily",`,
+			wantTasks:   []CronTask{},
+			wantInvalid: []string{`{"schedule":"@daily",`},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "json entry without a schedule",
+			output:      `{"command":"/bin/true"}`,
+			wantTasks:   []CronTask{},
+			wantInvalid: []string{`{"command":"/bin/true"}`},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "json entry without a command",
+			output:      `{"schedule":"@daily"}`,
+			wantTasks:   []CronTask{},
+			wantInvalid: []string{`{"schedule":"@daily"}`},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "json entry whose mailto holds a newline",
+			output:      `{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true","mailto":"ops@example.com\n* * * * * /bin/evil"}`,
+			wantTasks:   []CronTask{},
+			wantInvalid: []string{`{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true","mailto":"ops@example.com\n* * * * * /bin/evil"}`},
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "json entry whose command holds a carriage return",
+			output:      `{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true\r/bin/evil"}`,
+			wantTasks:   []CronTask{},
+			wantInvalid: []string{`{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true\r/bin/evil"}`},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			tasks, invalid := parseInjectedCronEntries(tc.output)
+			for i := range tasks {
+				if tasks[i].ID == "" {
+					t.Errorf("task %d has no id", i)
+				}
+				tasks[i].ID = ""
+			}
+
+			if !reflect.DeepEqual(tasks, tc.wantTasks) {
+				t.Errorf("parseInjectedCronEntries() tasks = %#v, want %#v", tasks, tc.wantTasks)
+			}
+
+			wantInvalid := tc.wantInvalid
+			if wantInvalid == nil {
+				wantInvalid = []string{}
+			}
+			if !reflect.DeepEqual(invalid, wantInvalid) {
+				t.Errorf("parseInjectedCronEntries() invalid = %#v, want %#v", invalid, wantInvalid)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// TestParseInjectedCronEntriesKeepsTextIDs pins that the id of a text entry is
+// generated as it was before json entries were read, and that a json entry
+// without a mailto gets the same id as the text entry it replaces.
+func TestParseInjectedCronEntriesKeepsTextIDs(t *testing.T) {
+	want := base36.EncodeToStringLc([]byte("@daily;;;/bin/true;;;/var/log/dokku/log.log"))
+
+	for _, output := range []string{
+		"@daily;/bin/true;/var/log/dokku/log.log",
+		`{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true","log-file":"/var/log/dokku/log.log"}`,
+	} {
+		tasks, _ := parseInjectedCronEntries(output)
+		if len(tasks) != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("parseInjectedCronEntries(%q) returned %d tasks, want 1", output, len(tasks))
+		}
+		if tasks[0].ID != want {
+			t.Errorf("parseInjectedCronEntries(%q) id = %q, want %q", output, tasks[0].ID, want)
+		}
+	}
+
+	withMailto, _ := parseInjectedCronEntries(`{"schedule":"@daily","command":"/bin/true","log-file":"/var/log/dokku/log.log","mailto":"ops@example.com"}`)
+	if len(withMailto) != 1 || withMailto[0].ID == want {
+		t.Errorf("a json entry with a mailto should not share the id of the entry without one")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestCronTemplateGroupsTasksByMailto pins that tasks with their own MAILTO are
+// written after every task that uses the global MAILTO, grouped under a MAILTO
+// line per recipient.
+func TestCronTemplateGroupsTasksByMailto(t *testing.T) {
+	tasks := []CronTask{
+		{Schedule: "@daily", AltCommand: "/bin/zeta", LogFile: "/var/log/dokku/zeta.log", Mailto: "zeta@example.com"},
+		{Schedule: "@daily", AltCommand: "/bin/true", LogFile: "/var/log/dokku/log.log"},
+		{Schedule: "@hourly", AltCommand: "/bin/alpha", LogFile: "/var/log/dokku/alpha.log", Mailto: "alpha@example.com"},
+		{Schedule: "@weekly", AltCommand: "/bin/zeta-weekly", Mailto: "zeta@example.com"},
+	}
+
+	tmpl, err := getCronTemplate()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("getCronTemplate() returned an error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var got bytes.Buffer
+	if err := tmpl.Execute(&got, cronTemplateData(tasks, "", "global@example.com")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Execute() returned an error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	want := strings.Join([]string{
+		"MAILTO=global@example.com",
+		"PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin",
+		"SHELL=/bin/bash",
+		"",
+		"@daily /bin/true &>> /var/log/dokku/log.log",
+		"",
+		"MAILTO=alpha@example.com",
+		"@hourly /bin/alpha 2>&1 | tee -a /var/log/dokku/alpha.log",
+		"",
+		"MAILTO=zeta@example.com",
+		"@daily /bin/zeta 2>&1 | tee -a /var/log/dokku/zeta.log",
+		"@weekly /bin/zeta-weekly",
+		"",
+	}, "\n")
+	if got.String() != want {
+		t.Errorf("rendered crontab =\n%s\nwant\n%s", got.String(), want)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestCronTemplateWithoutMailtoGroups pins that a crontab without tasks that set
+// their own MAILTO renders as it did before per-task MAILTO values existed.
+func TestCronTemplateWithoutMailtoGroups(t *testing.T) {
+	tasks := []CronTask{
+		{Schedule: "@daily", AltCommand: "/bin/true", LogFile: "/var/log/dokku/log.log"},
+	}
+
+	tmpl, err := getCronTemplate()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("getCronTemplate() returned an error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var got bytes.Buffer
+	if err := tmpl.Execute(&got, cronTemplateData(tasks, "", "")); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Execute() returned an error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	want := strings.Join([]string{
+		"PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin",
+		"SHELL=/bin/bash",
+		"",
+		"@daily /bin/true &>> /var/log/dokku/log.log",
+		"",
+	}, "\n")
+	if got.String() != want {
+		t.Errorf("rendered crontab =\n%s\nwant\n%s", got.String(), want)
+	}
+}

plugins/cron/templates/cron.tmpl

@@ -10,3 +10,9 @@ SHELL=/bin/bash
 {{ range $task := .Tasks -}}
 {{ $task.Schedule }} {{ $task.DokkuRunCommand }}
 {{ end -}}
+{{ range $group := .MailtoGroups }}
+MAILTO={{ $group.Mailto }}
+{{ range $task := $group.Tasks -}}
+{{ $task.Schedule }} {{ $task.DokkuRunCommand }}
+{{ end -}}
+{{ end -}}

tests/unit/cron-3.bats

@@ -104,6 +104,46 @@ teardown() {
   assert_failure
 }
 
+@test "(cron) injected json entries" {
+  cat >/var/lib/dokku/plugins/enabled/cron-entries/cron-entries <<'EOF'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+[[ "$2" == "json" ]] || exit 0
+echo '@daily;/bin/true'
+echo '{"schedule":"@hourly","command":"/bin/false","log-file":"/var/log/dokku/log.log","mailto":"ops@example.com"}'
+EOF
+  chmod +x /var/lib/dokku/plugins/enabled/cron-entries/cron-entries
+
+  run /bin/bash -c "dokku cron:set --global mailto global@example.com"
+  echo "output: $output"
+  echo "status: $status"
+  assert_success
+
+  run /bin/bash -c "dokku plugin:trigger scheduler-cron-write"
+  echo "output: $output"
+  echo "status: $status"
+  assert_success
+
+  run /bin/bash -c "cat /var/spool/cron/crontabs/dokku"
+  echo "output: $output"
+  echo "status: $status"
+  assert_success
+  assert_output_contains "MAILTO=global@example.com"
+  assert_output_contains "@daily /bin/true"
+  assert_output_contains "MAILTO=ops@example.com"
+  assert_output_contains "@hourly /bin/false 2>&1 | tee -a /var/log/dokku/log.log"
+
+  run /bin/bash -c "dokku cron:list --global --format json | jq -r '.[] | select(.schedule == \"@hourly\") | .mailto'"
+  echo "output: $output"
+  echo "status: $status"
+  assert_success
+  assert_output "ops@example.com"
+
+  run /bin/bash -c "dokku cron:set --global mailto"
+  echo "output: $output"
+  echo "status: $status"
+  assert_success
+}
+
 @test "(cron) invalid [command]" {
   run deploy_app python dokku@$DOKKU_DOMAIN:$TEST_APP template_cron_file_injection
   echo "output: $output"