devkits-cron

Parse and explain cron expressions in plain English. See next run times.

Install

npm install -g devkits-cron

Usage

CLI

# Parse and explain a cron expression
cronparse "*/5 * * * *"
# Output: Every 5 minutes

# Show next run times
cronparse "0 9 * * 1-5" --next 10

# Common aliases work too
cronparse "@daily"
cronparse "@weekly" --next

# Show examples
cronparse --examples

Programmatic API

const { parse, getNextRuns, describe } = require('devkits-cron');

// Parse expression
const result = parse('0 9 * * 1-5');
console.log(result.description);  // "At 09:00, on Monday-Friday"

// Get next run times
const { runs } = getNextRuns('0 0 1 * *', 5);
runs.forEach(r => console.log(r));  // Array of Date objects

// Full description
describe('*/15 * * * *');  // { description: "Every 15 minutes" }

Cron Expression Format

┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12, JAN-DEC)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-6, SUN-SAT)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Special Characters

| Character | Meaning | Example | |-----------|---------|---------| | * | All values | * * * * * (every minute) | | , | List separator | 1,15,30 * * * * | | - | Range | 0 9-17 * * * (9 AM to 5 PM) | | / | Step values | */5 * * * * (every 5 min) |

Predefined Schedules

| Alias | Expression | Meaning | |-------|------------|---------| | @yearly | 0 0 1 1 * | Once a year | | @monthly | 0 0 1 * * | Once a month | | @weekly | 0 0 * * 0 | Once a week | | @daily | 0 0 * * * | Once a day | | @hourly | 0 * * * * | Once an hour |

Examples

# Every 5 minutes
$ cronparse "*/5 * * * *"
Every 5 minutes

# Weekdays at 9 AM
$ cronparse "0 9 * * 1-5"
At 09:00, on Monday-Friday

# First of every month at midnight
$ cronparse "0 0 1 * *" --next 3
Next 3 run times:
  1. Mon  2026-03-01  00:00
  2. Wed  2026-04-01  00:00
  3. Fri  2026-05-01  00:00

# Every 15 minutes on weekdays 9 AM - 5 PM
$ cronparse "*/15 9-17 * * 1-5"
At minute */15 between 09:00-17:00, on Monday-Friday

Use Cases

• Cron jobs — Verify scheduled task schedules
• GitHub Actions — Validate workflow schedules
• CI/CD pipelines — Plan build schedules
• System administration — Document crontab entries
• Kubernetes CronJobs — Design pod schedules

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See Also

• DevKits — All 82 free developer tools in one place
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• Color Converter — Convert HEX, RGB, HSL colors
• Regex Tester — Test and debug regular expressions

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License

MIT — DevKits Team