Tool description

CRON Parser is a cronjob parser and validator that helps you understand and validate CRON expressions used for scheduling tasks and jobs. This cron expression analyzer parses your CRON expression and displays the next and previous execution times, along with converting the cron expression to text with a human-readable explanation of when the scheduled task will run.

Features

  • CRON Expression Parsing: Parse and validate CRON expressions in standard format with our cronjob validator
  • Next/Previous Execution Times: See when the task will run next and when it last ran
  • Cron Expression to Text: Convert CRON syntax into plain English description with human-readable explanations
  • Timezone Support: View execution times in any timezone with searchable timezone selector
  • Real-Time Validation: Instant cronjob validator feedback on whether your CRON expression is valid
  • Copy Results: Easily copy execution times and explanations

Use Cases

  • Task Scheduling: Verify that your scheduled jobs will run at the expected times using our cron expression analyzer
  • Cronjob Debugging: Use the cronjob validator to understand why a cron job might not be running as expected
  • Documentation: Generate human-readable cron expression to text descriptions for documentation
  • Timezone Conversion: Check execution times across different timezones for distributed systems
  • Learning CRON: Understand cron format explained through real-time examples and explanations

What is CRON?

CRON is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like operating systems. Understanding the cron format explained below is essential for effective task scheduling. A CRON expression is a string consisting of five or six fields separated by spaces that define a schedule:

* * * * *
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─── Day of week (0-7, Sunday = 0 or 7)
│ │ │ └───── Month (1-12)
│ │ └─────── Day of month (1-31)
│ └───────── Hour (0-23)
└─────────── Minute (0-59)

Common Examples:

  • 0 * * * * - Every hour at minute 0
  • */15 * * * * - Every 15 minutes
  • 0 9 * * 1-5 - At 9:00 AM on weekdays (Monday-Friday)
  • 0 0 1 * * - At midnight on the first day of every month
  • 30 14 * * 0 - At 2:30 PM every Sunday