Quickstart

This guide walks you through creating your first recurring cron using the CronAPI REST API.

Prerequisites

A CronAPI account — sign up at cronapi.dev
An API key — see Authentication

1. Get your API key

Log into the dashboard and navigate to the API Key page. Your API key is generated automatically on first visit. Copy it — you will only see the full key once.

2. Create a cron

Schedule a webhook that fires every 5 minutes:

curl -X POST https://app.cronapi.dev/api/v1/crons \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Health check",
    "cron": "*/5 * * * *",
    "url": "https://example.com/health",
    "method": "GET"
  }'

const response = await fetch("https://app.cronapi.dev/api/v1/crons", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer your_api_key_here",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: "Health check",
    cron: "*/5 * * * *",
    url: "https://example.com/health",
    method: "GET",
  }),
});

const cron = await response.json();
console.log(cron);

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://app.cronapi.dev/api/v1/crons",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer your_api_key_here"},
    json={
        "name": "Health check",
        "cron": "*/5 * * * *",
        "url": "https://example.com/health",
        "method": "GET",
    },
)

print(response.json())

You will receive a response like:

{
  "id": "{your_cron_id}",
  "name": "Health check",
  "cron": "*/5 * * * *",
  "url": "https://example.com/health",
  "method": "GET",
  "headers": {},
  "body": {},
  "paused": false,
  "next_run_at": "2026-04-15T14:35:00.000Z",
  "created_at": "2026-04-15T14:31:00.000Z"
}

3. Test it immediately

Trigger the cron manually without waiting for the next scheduled run:

curl -X POST https://app.cronapi.dev/api/v1/crons/{your_cron_id}/trigger \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here"

{
  "status_code": 200,
  "success": true,
  "response_time_ms": 145,
  "fired_at": "2026-04-15T14:31:30.123Z"
}

4. Check execution history

View the last runs for your cron:

curl https://app.cronapi.dev/api/v1/crons/{your_cron_id}/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here"

Getting started

Core concepts

Prerequisites

1. Get your API key

2. Create a cron

3. Test it immediately

4. Check execution history

Next steps

Schedule a one-time job

API reference

​Prerequisites

​1. Get your API key

​2. Create a cron

​3. Test it immediately

​4. Check execution history

​Next steps

Schedule a one-time job

API reference

Prerequisites

1. Get your API key

2. Create a cron

3. Test it immediately

4. Check execution history

Next steps