What is a cron expression?

A cron expression is a string of 5 fields (minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week) that defines a repeating schedule for automated tasks such as server jobs or CI pipelines.

How do I read '0 9 * * 1-5'?

This means 'run at 09:00 on every weekday (Monday–Friday)'. Fields left to right: minute (0), hour (9), day of month (*=every), month (*=every), day of week (1-5=Mon–Fri).

What does */15 mean in a cron expression?

*/15 means 'every 15 units'. In the minute field, */15 runs at minutes 0, 15, 30 and 45 of every hour.

Can the cron translator show future run times?

Yes. After translating the expression, the tool shows the next several scheduled run times so you can verify the schedule is correct before deploying.

Cron Expression Translator