⏱️ Cron Expression Parser & Explainer

Using Cron Expression Parser & Explainer

Check what a cron schedule really means, and when it will next run, before you put it in a crontab, GitHub Actions workflow or cloud scheduler.

How to use it

1. Type a five-field expression: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week. Or click a preset such as Mon-Fri at 9 AM.
2. Read the Human-Readable Meaning to confirm it says what you intended.
3. Check Upcoming Next 5 Executions, which are shown in your browser's local time.
4. Copy the expression once the upcoming runs match what you expect.

Worked example

Input and settings

30 9 * * 1-5

Expected result

At 09:30, Monday through Friday.

Limits and common mistakes

• Your server may run in UTC, not your local time; many hosted schedulers, GitHub Actions included, use UTC.
• When both day-of-month and day-of-week are set, standard cron runs on days matching either, not both.
• Quartz and some cloud schedulers use six or seven fields with seconds; this parser expects the standard five.
• Daylight-saving changes can skip or repeat a run at 01:00–03:00 local time.

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