- name
- crontab-wizard
- description
- Explain, generate, validate, and preview crontab expressions. Use when a user needs to understand what a cron expression means, create a new cron schedule, check if a cron expression is valid, or see when a cron job will run next. Supports standard 5-field cron syntax and shortcuts like @daily, @hourly, @weekly. No dependencies required.
Crontab Wizard
Decode, generate, validate, and preview cron schedules from the command line. Zero dependencies.
Quick Start
# Explain what a cron expression does
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py explain "*/5 * * * *"
# Generate an expression from options
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py generate --every 5m
# Check if an expression is valid
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py validate "0 9 * * 1-5"
# See when it runs next
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py next "0 9 * * 1-5" --count 10Commands
explain — Decode cron to plain English
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py explain "30 2 * * 0"
# → At 02:30, on Sunday
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py explain "@daily"
# → At 00:00
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py explain "0 */6 * * *"
# → At minute 0, every 6 hoursvalidate — Check for errors
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py validate "0 9 * * 1-5"
# → VALID: 0 9 * * 1-5
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py validate "0 25 * * *"
# → INVALID: hour: 25 out of range (0-23)next — Preview upcoming runs
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py next "0 9 * * 1-5" --count 5
# Shows next 5 weekday 9 AM runs with datesgenerate — Build expressions from options
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py generate --every 5m
# → */5 * * * *
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py generate --every daily --at 09:00
# → 0 9 * * *
python3 scripts/cronwiz.py generate --every week --at 14:30 --on friday
# → 30 14 * * 5Generate options
| Flag | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
--every | 5m, 2h, daily, weekly, monthly | Interval |
--at | HH:MM | Time of day |
--on | mon–sun, weekdays, weekends | Day of week |
Supported Shortcuts
@yearly, @annually, @monthly, @weekly, @daily, @midnight, @hourly
Dependencies
None — pure Python, no pip installs required.