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Cron Expression Builder

Build cron job schedules visually and get a plain-English description of any cron expression.

Every minute
*
Minute
*
Hour
*
Day
*
Month
*
Weekday
Visual Builder
Common Presets

Frequently Asked Questions

A cron expression is a string of 5 fields that defines a recurring schedule. Fields are: minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12), day of week (0–6, 0=Sunday). Special characters: * (any), , (list), - (range), / (step).

The asterisk (*) means "every possible value" for that unit. For example, * in the minute field means every minute. The expression * * * * * runs every minute of every day.

The slash (/) defines a step. For example, */15 in the minutes field means "every 15 minutes" (0, 15, 30, 45). The expression 0 */6 * * * runs every 6 hours at minute 0.

Cron is the daemon that runs scheduled tasks on Unix/Linux systems. Crontab (cron table) is the configuration file where jobs are defined. Use crontab -e to edit it and crontab -l to list current jobs.

Cron Expression Builder — Overview

The Cron Expression Builder helps you create, decode, and understand cron job schedule strings without memorizing the arcane five-field syntax. A cron expression like 0 9 * * 1-5 means "run at 9:00 AM every weekday," but reading or writing these strings by hand is unintuitive and error-prone. This tool provides a structured visual interface for each field — minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week — where you choose values using dropdowns and checkboxes rather than writing raw numbers and wildcards. A plain-English explanation of the schedule updates live as you build the expression, and a list of upcoming scheduled run times shows you exactly when the job will fire. Going the other direction, you can paste an existing cron expression and the tool decodes it into readable form.

Common Use Cases

How to Use This Tool

Use the visual controls to set when you want your job to run — select specific minutes, hours, days, or use wildcards for "every." The cron expression and human-readable description update instantly. Copy the expression to use directly in your crontab, YAML workflow file, or cloud scheduler configuration.

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