About CronWave
What it is, how it works, and where its limits are.
What CronWave is
CronWave is a set of free tools for writing and checking cron schedules. There is a generator, a parser, a validator, an explainer, a plain-language translator and a list of examples, plus a small Assistant.
One engine
All of the tools use the same cron engine. It turns an expression into a platform-neutral description of the schedule, formats that description for each platform, and calculates the next runs in the time zone you choose. Anything the generator or Assistant produces is parsed again by the engine before it is shown, so the sentence, the expression and the run times cannot drift apart.
Platforms and sources
CronWave follows the documented rules of Linux cron, Kubernetes CronJobs, GitHub Actions, AWS EventBridge, Vercel cron jobs and Quartz. Platforms change, and some behaviour differs between versions or implementations, so treat CronWave as a strong check, not as the authority. The platform's own documentation is.
Known limits
- Next-run times are calculated from the rules, not by asking the real scheduler. Delays and missed runs on a live platform will not show up.
- Time zones use your browser's time zone database. Daylight saving transitions are handled, but rare edge cases around a skipped or repeated hour can differ between schedulers.
- The plain-English input understands a fixed set of phrasings. When it does not understand a sentence it says so.
- Only cron-style schedules are covered. Systemd timers, rate expressions and similar formats are not.
Cost and ads
The tools are free to use and need no account.
