cron-explain-cli

A zero-bloat CLI for explaining, validating, building, and scheduling cron expressions.

Install

npm install -g @asdsadw12312dwd2112xz/cron-explain-cli

Commands

parse <expression>

Explain a cron expression in plain English.

cron-explain parse "0 9-17 * * 1-5"
# Every hour, from hour 9:00 AM through 5:00 PM, from Monday through Friday.

next <expression> [--count N]

Show the next N execution times (default: 5).

cron-explain next "*/15 * * * *" --count 3

validate <expression>

Check whether a cron expression is syntactically valid.

cron-explain validate "0 0 32 * *"

build [flags]

Build a cron expression from individual field flags.

cron-explain build --minute 0 --hour 9 --weekday 1-5
# 0 9 * * 1-5

cron-explain build --second 0 --minute "*/5" --hour "*" --six
# 0 */5 * * * *

Flags: --second, --minute, --hour, --day, --month, --weekday, --six (6-field)

examples

Display 20 common cron patterns with explanations.

cron-explain examples

between <expression> <start> <end>

Count how many times a cron fires between two dates.

cron-explain between "0 9 * * 1-5" 2024-01-01T00:00:00 2024-12-31T23:59:59

Cron Format

Supports both 5-field and 6-field (with seconds) expressions:

| Field | 5-field | 6-field | Range | |----------|---------|---------|-------| | Second | — | 1st | 0–59 | | Minute | 1st | 2nd | 0–59 | | Hour | 2nd | 3rd | 0–23 | | Day/Month| 3rd | 4th | 1–31 | | Month | 4th | 5th | 1–12 | | Weekday | 5th | 6th | 0–7 |

Special characters: * (any), , (list), - (range), / (step), ? (any)

Named months: jan–dec. Named weekdays: sun–sat.

License

MIT