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Cron Expression Parser

Parse and explain cron expressions in plain English. See upcoming run times, validate syntax, and understand schedules for crontab, Kubernetes, and CI jobs.

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Cron Expression

Format: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week

How to Use Cron Expression Parser

  1. 1Enter a cron expression (e.g. "*/5 * * * *") into the input field.
  2. 2View the human-readable description of what the schedule means.
  3. 3Check the list of next scheduled run times to verify the schedule is correct.
  4. 4Click "Copy" to copy the expression or description to your clipboard.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of five (or six) fields separated by spaces that defines a time schedule. The fields represent minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. Cron expressions are used by Unix-like systems, CI/CD pipelines, and task schedulers to run jobs automatically at specified intervals.

How do I schedule a job every 5 minutes?

Use the expression "*/5 * * * *". The "*/5" in the minute field means "every 5th minute", and the asterisks in the remaining fields mean "every hour, every day of the month, every month, every day of the week".

What is the difference between * and ? in cron?

The asterisk (*) means "every possible value" for that field. The question mark (?) is used in some cron implementations (like Quartz) as a placeholder for "no specific value" in the day-of-month or day-of-week fields to avoid conflicts between the two. Standard Unix cron does not use "?".

Is this processed locally?

Yes. All parsing and schedule calculation happens entirely in your browser. Your cron expressions are never sent to any server.

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