> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cronapi.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Crons

> Schedule recurring webhook calls using cron expressions

A **cron** is a recurring scheduled webhook. You define a cron expression (e.g., `*/5 * * * *` for every 5 minutes) and CronAPI fires an HTTP request to your URL on that schedule.

## Cron object

| Field         | Type           | Description                                     |
| ------------- | -------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| `id`          | string         | Unique identifier (UUID)                        |
| `name`        | string \| null | Optional display name                           |
| `cron`        | string         | Cron expression defining the schedule           |
| `url`         | string         | Webhook URL to call                             |
| `method`      | string         | HTTP method: `GET`, `POST`, or `DELETE`         |
| `headers`     | object         | Custom HTTP headers sent with the request       |
| `body`        | object         | JSON body sent with POST requests               |
| `paused`      | boolean        | Whether execution is paused                     |
| `next_run_at` | string         | ISO 8601 timestamp of the next scheduled run    |
| `last_run_at` | string \| null | ISO 8601 timestamp of the most recent execution |
| `created_at`  | string         | ISO 8601 timestamp of creation                  |

## Cron expressions

CronAPI uses standard 5-field cron syntax:

```
┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-7, 0 and 7 = Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *
```

**Examples:**

| Expression    | Schedule                             |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| `* * * * *`   | Every minute                         |
| `*/5 * * * *` | Every 5 minutes                      |
| `0 * * * *`   | Every hour                           |
| `0 9 * * *`   | Daily at 9:00 AM UTC                 |
| `0 9 * * 1`   | Every Monday at 9:00 AM UTC          |
| `0 0 1 * *`   | First day of every month at midnight |

Cron expressions are validated on creation and update. Invalid expressions return a `400` error.

## Pausing and resuming

You can pause a cron to temporarily stop execution without deleting it. Update the `paused` field to `true`:

```bash theme={null}
curl -X PATCH https://app.cronapi.dev/api/v1/crons/:id \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"paused": true}'
```

Set `paused` to `false` to resume. The `next_run_at` is recalculated automatically when you update the cron expression.

## Webhook execution

When a cron fires, CronAPI sends an HTTP request with:

* The configured **method** (GET, POST, or DELETE)
* Your custom **headers** merged with `Content-Type: application/json`
* The **body** serialized as JSON (for POST requests)
* A **30-second timeout** — requests that exceed this are terminated

Each execution is logged as a [run](/concepts/runs) with the status code, response time, and any error details.

## Manual trigger

You can fire a cron immediately using the [trigger endpoint](/api-reference/crons/trigger) without affecting the regular schedule.