Instant parsing
Type or paste and see results immediately — no button click needed. Supports 5-field Vixie cron, 6-field Quartz cron, and @-shorthand. Shows human-readable descriptions with color-coded field tags.
Cron Expression Parser
Parse, generate, and convert cron expressions for Linux, OpenClaw, Quartz, and more. Supports @-shorthand, 5-field cron, and 6-field Quartz. All local, instant.
Cron Expression Parser
Paste a cron expression — get a human-readable description, field breakdown, format conversion, and next 5 run times instantly.
Field Breakdown
Quartz (6-field) Equivalent
Next 5 Run Times
How to use the Cron Expression Parser
Paste a cron expression, pick a preset, or type manually — results update instantly.
- Paste or type a cron expression in the input area. Supports 3 formats: 5-field Vixie cron (Linux crontab), 6-field Quartz cron (Java/Spring), and @-shorthand like
@daily. Results update automatically as you type. - Read the human-readable description to understand when the job runs. The field breakdown uses color-coded tags — one for each field: second, minute, hour, day-of-month, month, and day-of-week.
- Click a quick preset button to fill the expression instantly — every minute, every hour, weekdays at 9:00, and more. Eight common patterns ready to go.
- Use the converted formats in your projects. Standard cron works directly with OpenClaw, Linux crontab, Claude Code, Cline, and Cursor. Quartz 6-field format is compatible with all Java/Spring schedulers.
Features
A lightweight cron expression tool built for developers, DevOps engineers, and AI coding tool users.
Fully local
All parsing and computation happens in your browser. No data is uploaded, no signup required. Compatible with OpenClaw, Linux crontab, Claude Code, Cline, Cursor, and Java Quartz schedulers.
Format conversion
Automatically convert between Vixie cron (5-field), Quartz cron (6-field), and @-shorthand. Plus, see the next 5 execution times so you know exactly when your jobs will run.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about cron expressions and how this tool works.
What is a cron expression?
A cron expression is a string that defines a schedule for recurring tasks, originally from Unix/Linux crontab. A standard cron expression has 5 fields (minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week). For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 means "every weekday at 09:00". Java Quartz extends this to 6 fields (adding seconds), and modern AI coding tools like OpenClaw also use cron expressions for scheduling automated tasks.
What's the difference between 5-field and 6-field cron?
Vixie cron (Linux crontab standard) uses 5 fields: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week. Quartz cron (Java/Spring scheduler) adds a sixth field at the beginning for seconds, and supports the ? wildcard for mutual exclusion between day-of-month and day-of-week. For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 in Vixie becomes 0 0 9 ? * MON-FRI in Quartz. This tool converts between the two automatically.
What do @daily, @hourly, and other @-shorthands mean?
These are shorthand notations for common cron schedules: @hourly runs at the start of every hour (0 * * * *), @daily runs at midnight (0 0 * * *), @weekly runs Sundays at midnight, @monthly runs on the 1st at midnight, and @yearly / @annually runs on January 1st at midnight. The tool also detects equivalent @-shorthands when you enter a 5-field expression.
Is this tool compatible with OpenClaw, Claude Code, Cline, and Cursor?
Yes. OpenClaw uses standard cron syntax (via the Croner library) for scheduling tasks, supporting 5-field cron and @-shorthand. Claude Code, Cline, and Cursor also use standard 5-field cron expressions for scheduled checks and automations. The standard cron format this tool generates works directly in all of these tools. Quartz 6-field format is compatible with all Java/Spring scheduling scenarios.
What special characters are supported?
All standard cron special characters are supported: * (any value), , (list multiple values), - (range), and / (step, e.g. */5 for every 5 units). Quartz format also supports ? (no specific value) and English day/month abbreviations (MON, TUE, JAN, FEB, etc.). Day-of-week values 0 and 7 both represent Sunday. Expressions are validated in real-time — if your input is invalid, the tool shows a specific error message indicating which field is wrong.