What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of 5 fields (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week) used to schedule recurring tasks in Linux/Unix, GitHub Actions, AWS EventBridge, Kubernetes CronJobs, and many CI/CD systems.

What is the cron format?

The format is: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week. Minute is 0-59, hour is 0-23, day-of-month is 1-31, month is 1-12, day-of-week is 0-6 (Sunday=0, Saturday=6).

What are common cron schedules?

Every minute: * * * * *. Daily at midnight: 0 0 * * *. Weekdays at 9am: 0 9 * * 1-5. Every 15 minutes: */15 * * * *. First of every month: 0 0 1 * *.

Can I use this for GitHub Actions?

Yes. GitHub Actions uses standard cron syntax. Copy the generated expression into your workflow YAML file under schedule: - cron:.

Cron Expression Generator

Build cron expressions visually. No more memorizing cron syntax — pick your schedule and copy the result.

Your cron expression

* * * * *

Runs every minute

Minute (0-59)

Hour (0-23)

Day of month (1-31)

Month (1-12)

Day of week (0-6, 0=Sun)

Quick presets

Cron format reference

┌───── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───── day of week (0-6, Sunday=0)
* * * * *

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