Cron Expression Parser
Parse and explain cron expressions with next scheduled execution times.
Quick Presets
Format: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
Cron Parser translates cron expressions into plain-English descriptions and shows you the next several scheduled run times. Cron is the standard job-scheduling syntax used in Unix/Linux systems, CI/CD pipelines, serverless functions, and cloud schedulers to define recurring tasks.
Enter any cron expression (in the standard five-field or extended six-field format) and the tool immediately explains what it means in human-readable language and lists the upcoming execution times. You can also use the visual builder to compose an expression by selecting minutes, hours, days, and months from dropdowns.
Understanding cron syntax is essential for tasks like scheduled backups, periodic database cleanups, automated reports, and rate-limited API polling. Common expressions include `0 * * * *` (every hour), `0 0 * * *` (daily at midnight), and `0 9 * * 1-5` (weekdays at 9 AM).
Frequently Asked Questions
Code Implementation
from croniter import croniter
from datetime import datetime
# Parse and get next execution times
cron_expr = "0 9 * * 1-5" # 9 AM every weekday
base = datetime.now()
cron = croniter(cron_expr, base)
print("Next 5 execution times:")
for _ in range(5):
print(cron.get_next(datetime))
# Check if an expression is valid
def is_valid_cron(expr):
try:
croniter(expr)
return True
except (ValueError, KeyError):
return False
print(is_valid_cron("*/15 * * * *")) # True
print(is_valid_cron("60 * * * *")) # False
# Get previous execution time
cron2 = croniter("0 0 * * *", base)
print("Last midnight:", cron2.get_prev(datetime))Comments & Feedback
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