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Instantly decode, parse, explain, and preview cron schedules. Perfect for developers and sysadmins.

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🤯 WhatTheCron

Ever stared at a cron expression like */15 9-17 * * MON-FRI and whispered to yourself:

What the CRON is this supposed to do?

Yeah, same.

WhatTheCron is a clean, modern, mildly dramatic visualizer + explainer for your cryptic cron schedules.
No BS. Just type it in, and instantly see what’s going on.

🚀 Try it live


🧠 Wait, what does this do?

Paste in a cron string, and you'll get:

  • 🔍 A human-readable explanation (you won’t need a second monitor and Stack Overflow)
  • 🕒 A list of upcoming run times
  • 💡 A breakdown of each field with smart highlights
  • 🎨 A slick UI that doesn't look like it's from 2006
  • 🌘 Dark mode. Obviously.

🖼 Screenshot

“Show me the goods.”

(Add a screenshot here once you’ve got one. Or don’t. I’m not your boss.)


🧪 Can I break it?

Yes. Go ahead. Type * * * * walrus and see what happens.

You’ll get helpful error messages, because even bad cron deserves love.


🧰 Tech Stuff (aka How the sausage is made)

  • Next.js – Because pages are nice
  • TailwindCSS – So I never touch a stylesheet again

🧩 Features I might add if I don’t get lazy

  • English → Cron (Reverse mode. Magic stuff.)
  • Export to .ics, bash, or a tattoo
  • Save your favorite crons like a Spotify playlist
  • Widget/embed mode for Notion, Docs, etc.

🛠 Local Dev (if you're nosy)

git clone https://github.com/de7ign/whatthecron.git
cd whatthecron
npm install
npm run dev

Then go to http://localhost:3000 and break stuff responsibly.


🙃 Who made this?

Hi. I’m Nihal. I built this mostly to make cron jobs suck less. If it helped you, drop a ⭐. Or don’t. I’ll live.


🪪 License

MIT. Because sharing is caring.

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Instantly decode, parse, explain, and preview cron schedules. Perfect for developers and sysadmins.

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