Cron Expression Explainer
Understand what a crontab schedule means and when it will next run.
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Cron expression
0
Minute
9
Hour
*
Day (month)
*
Month
1-5
Day (week)
Next runs (your time zone)
Standard 5-field cron as used by Linux crontab, GitHub Actions and most schedulers. Servers usually run cron in UTC (India is UTC+5:30), so convert times if needed.
How to use Cron Expression Explainer
- Type a cron expression or pick an example.
- Read the plain-English description.
- Check the upcoming run times.
Frequently asked questions
What do the five fields mean?
Minute (0–59), hour (0–23), day of month (1–31), month (1–12) and day of week (0–6, Sunday = 0).
Why does my job run at the wrong time?
Servers and services like GitHub Actions usually run cron in UTC. 9 AM IST is 3:30 AM UTC, so the expression would be 30 3 * * *.
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