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Cron Expression Explainer
Cron Expression Explainer
What is this tool?
A cron expression explainer for the classic crontab format: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week. It parses ranges, lists and step values, describes the schedule in words, and simulates the upcoming run times.
When to use it
- Sanity-checking a cron line before adding it to a crontab or CI config
- Understanding a schedule someone else wrote
- Confirming a job really runs on weekdays only, or on the 1st of the month
- Teaching or learning cron syntax with immediate feedback
- Picking a schedule and copying the expression into your scheduler
How to use it
- 1Type or paste a five-field cron expression, or pick a preset
- 2Read the plain-English description of what it means
- 3Check the list of the next five run times in your local time zone
- 4Adjust a field and watch the description and run times update
- 5Copy the expression into your crontab, GitHub Actions or other scheduler
Frequently asked questions
Which cron format is supported?
The standard five-field format (minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week). The non-standard seconds field, @-macros like @daily, and L/W/# qualifiers are not supported.
How are day-of-month and day-of-week combined?
As standard cron does: if both are restricted, the job runs when either matches; if one is '*', both must match.
What time zone are the run times in?
Your browser's local time zone, so they match what you'd expect to see on your own machine.
Is anything sent to a server?
No — parsing and the run-time simulation happen entirely in your browser.