Skip to content

Cron Expression Builder

Build, parse, and test cron expressions visually with next execution preview




Build Your Cron Expression



to



to



to



to



to

Parse Cron Expression



Format Examples:
5-field: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
6-field: second minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week

Systems using 5-field: Linux crontab, GitHub Actions
Systems using 6-field: AWS EventBridge, Jenkins, Kubernetes CronJob

Live Preview

* * * * *
Every minute

Next 10 Executions

Quick Start Presets












Platform-Specific Output





# Add this line to your crontab (crontab -e)
* * * * * /path/to/your/command

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
name: your-cronjob
spec:
schedule: “* * * * *”
jobTemplate:
spec:
template:
spec:
containers:
– name: your-container
image: your-image
command:
– /bin/sh
– -c
– your-command
restartPolicy: OnFailure

name: Scheduled Workflow
on:
schedule:
– cron: ‘* * * * *’
workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
scheduled-job:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
– uses: actions/checkout@v4
– name: Run scheduled task
run: echo “Your scheduled task here”

{
“Rules”: [
{
“Name”: “YourScheduledRule”,
“ScheduleExpression”: “cron(* * * * ? *)”,
“State”: “ENABLED”,
“Targets”: [
{
“Id”: “1”,
“Arn”: “arn:aws:lambda:region:account-id:function:your-function”
}
]
}
]
}

pipeline {
agent any
triggers {
cron(‘* * * * *’)
}
stages {
stage(‘Scheduled Task’) {
steps {
echo ‘Your scheduled task here’
}
}
}
}

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a time-based job scheduler format used in Unix-like systems. It consists of 5 or 6 fields representing minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week, and optionally seconds. Each field can contain specific values, ranges, intervals, or wildcards to define when a job should run.

What’s the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?

5-field cron (standard Unix crontab) uses minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week. 6-field cron adds seconds as the first field, commonly used in systems like AWS EventBridge, Jenkins, and some job schedulers. The 6-field format provides more precise timing control.

How do I run a cron job every 5 minutes?

Use the expression */5 * * * * which means “every 5 minutes of every hour of every day”. The */5 syntax means “every 5th value” starting from 0.

What does the asterisk (*) mean in cron?

The asterisk (*) is a wildcard that matches any value for that field. For example, * * * * * means “every minute of every hour of every day of every month of every day of the week” – essentially every minute.

How do I schedule a cron job for weekdays only?

Use the day of week field with value 1-5 (Monday through Friday). For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 runs every weekday at 9:00 AM. You can also use MON-FRI in some systems that support named days.

🛠️ More Developer Utilities

Browse all 14 free tools in the Developer Utilities collection — CIDR calculator, chmod helper, cron builder, K8s resource planner, CI cost estimator, and more.

</> Embed Cron Expression Builder

Copy this iframe snippet to embed this tool on your website. The tool runs client-side and includes a "Powered by ReleaseRun" attribution.

Preview: Open embed view