Cron Parser CLI
A powerful and user-friendly CLI tool that parses, validates, generates, and explains cron expressions in human-readable language. Perfect for developers, DevOps engineers, and system administrators who work with scheduled tasks.
Features
- Parse & Validate: Validate cron expressions and get detailed field breakdowns
- Natural Language: Convert phrases like "every Monday at 9am" to cron syntax
- Next Execution: See upcoming run times with visual timeline
- Interactive Generator: Wizard-style cron expression builder
- Human-Readable: Explain any cron expression in plain English
- Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows
Installation
From PyPI (Recommended)
pip install cron-parser-cli
From Source
git clone https://7000pct.gitea.bloupla.net/7000pctAUTO/cron-parser-cli.git
cd cron-parser-cli
pip install -e ".[dev]"
Using pipx
pipx install cron-parser-cli
Quick Start
# Show help
cronparse --help
# Parse a cron expression
cronparse parse "0 9 * * *"
# Convert natural language to cron
cronparse from-text "every Monday at 9am"
# See next execution times
cronparse next "0 9 * * *"
# Generate cron interactively
cronparse generate
# Explain cron in plain English
cronparse explain "0 9 * * *"
Commands
parse
Validate and parse a cron expression, showing field breakdown.
cronparse parse "0 9 * * *"
Output:
Valid cron expression: 0 9 * * *
minute : 0
hour : 9
day : *
month : *
day_of_week : *
from-text
Convert natural language phrases to cron expressions.
# Various examples
cronparse from-text "every 5 minutes"
cronparse from-text "daily at 9am"
cronparse from-text "every Monday at 2:30pm"
cronparse from-text "on the 1st of every month at midnight"
next
Show next execution times for a cron expression.
# Show next 5 executions with timeline
cronparse next "0 9 * * *"
# Show 10 executions without timeline
cronparse next "0 9 * * *" --count 10 --no-timeline
generate
Interactive wizard to build cron expressions step by step.
cronparse generate
explain
Get human-readable description of a cron expression.
cronparse explain "0 9 * * *"
# Output: At 09:00 AM, every day
# Use 24-hour format
cronparse explain "0 14 * * *" --24h
# Output: At 14:00, every day
Natural Language Patterns
The tool supports various natural language patterns:
| Pattern | Cron |
|---|---|
| every 5 minutes | */5 * * * * |
| every hour | 0 * * * * |
| daily at 9am | 0 9 * * * |
| daily at 2:30pm | 30 14 * * * |
| every Monday at 9am | 0 9 * * 1 |
| on the 1st of every month at midnight | 0 0 1 * * |
| every 30 seconds (via cron workaround) | * * * * * |
Output Formats
All commands support JSON output for scripting:
cronparse parse "0 9 * * *" --json
cronparse next "0 9 * * *" --json
cronparse explain "0 9 * * *" --json
Cron Expression Format
Standard cron format with 5 fields:
┌───────────── minute (0 - 59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0 - 23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1 - 31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1 - 12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday = 0)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *
Development
Setup
# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate # Linux/macOS
# or
.\venv\Scripts\activate # Windows
# Install dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"
# Run tests
pytest tests/ -v
# Run linter
ruff check .
Project Structure
cron-parser-cli/
├── src/cronparse/
│ ├── __init__.py # Package init
│ ├── cli.py # Main CLI entry point
│ ├── parser.py # Cron parsing & validation
│ ├── nlp.py # Natural language conversion
│ ├── scheduler.py # Next execution calculations
│ ├── generator.py # Interactive wizard
│ └── describer.py # Human-readable descriptions
├── tests/
│ ├── test_parser.py
│ ├── test_nlp.py
│ ├── test_scheduler.py
│ ├── test_generator.py
│ ├── test_cli.py
│ └── test_describer.py
├── pyproject.toml
└── README.md
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.