Tool Details
Cron Expression Explainer
LiveDevOps UtilitiesCron Expression Explainer is a free developer tool that turns cryptic cron syntax into human-readable schedules. Paste any standard 5-field cron expression to instantly see what it means in plain English, preview the next 10 scheduled run times, and explore a visual weekly heatmap of when jobs will fire. Supports all standard cron syntax including ranges, steps, lists, and special characters. Built for DevOps engineers, backend developers, and sysadmins who configure cron jobs daily. Everything runs client-side — no data leaves your browser.
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# Cron Expression Explainer
Fast writing and instant preview for production-ready content.Key Features
FAQs
What does the Cron Expression Explainer do?
It takes a standard 5-field cron expression (minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week) and converts it into a plain-English description. It also shows the next 10 scheduled run times and a visual weekly heatmap so you can see exactly when your cron job will execute.
What cron syntax does it support?
It supports all standard 5-field cron syntax: wildcards (*), specific values (5), lists (1,3,5), ranges (1-5), and step values (*/15 or 1-30/5). It covers the same syntax used by Linux crontab, GitHub Actions, AWS CloudWatch, and Kubernetes CronJobs.
Is my cron expression data safe?
Yes. All parsing and computation happens 100% in your browser. No cron expressions or schedule data is ever sent to a server or stored.
Can I use this for AWS, GitHub Actions, or Kubernetes cron expressions?
Yes. The tool supports standard 5-field cron expressions used across all major platforms. Note that some platforms use extended 6-field or 7-field syntax with seconds or year fields — this tool focuses on the standard 5-field format.
What is a cron expression?
A cron expression is a string of five fields separated by spaces that defines a recurring schedule. The fields represent: minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day of month (1-31), month (1-12), and day of week (0-6, where 0 is Sunday). For example, '0 9 * * 1-5' means 'at 9:00 AM every weekday'.
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