Cron Expression Generator & Explainer: What It Does
Builds, parses, and explains standard 5-part and 6-part cron expressions in plain language. It calculates upcoming trigger schedules, supports special shortcuts like @daily, and flags invalid syntax.
Example
0 0 * * 1-5At 12:00 AM, Monday through FridayTranslates minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week fields into English.
How to Use
- Paste an existing cron string or select intervals using the visual schedule picker.
- Read the plain-English translation and verify upcoming execution dates.
- Copy the validated cron expression to your crontab, GitHub Action, or scheduler.
Limitations
- Standard Unix crontab uses 5 fields; schedulers like Quartz or AWS EventBridge use 6 or 7 fields.
- Day-of-week index 0 can mean Sunday or Monday depending on the target daemon.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between asterisk (*) and question mark (?) in cron?
An asterisk means every value. In systems like Quartz or AWS cron, the question mark specifies 'no specific value' to avoid conflicts between day-of-month and day-of-week.
Does crontab support step values like */15?
Yes. A slash denotes step values, so */15 in the minute position executes at minutes 0, 15, 30, and 45.
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