Cron Expression Describer — label cron fields

Describe Cron API

What it does

Cron Expression Describer breaks a cron expression into labelled fields so you can inspect schedule logic without parsing it yourself. Send an expression string and get the same expression back alongside a fields object with human-readable values for minute, hour, day_of_month, month, and day_of_week.

Use it when you need to explain a schedule in logs, admin panels, job editors, or support tools. Instead of showing a raw cron string, you can present each field by name and make it easier for developers and operators to verify when a task will run.

The response is intentionally small and predictable: a top-level expression plus a fields object with the five cron components. That makes it useful for validation flows, schedule previews, and any UI where you want to display the meaning of a cron string alongside the original value.

If your product accepts user-defined schedules, Cron Expression Describer helps you turn an opaque expression into a readable breakdown before you save or execute it.

What you'll get back

Returns a JSON object with:

fields (object): a breakdown of the cron expression parts

hour (string)
month (string)
minute (string)
day_of_week (string)
day_of_month (string)

expression (string): the cron expression you sent

{
  "fields": {
    "hour": "*/5",
    "month": "*",
    "minute": "*",
    "day_of_week": "*",
    "day_of_month": "*"
  },
  "expression": "*/5 * * * *"
}

About this endpoint

What it does

Describes a cron expression by breaking it into labeled field descriptions. It accepts the cron expression as a query parameter and returns a JSON object containing the original expression and a fields object with descriptions for the individual cron parts.

Query Parameter(s)

Attribute	Type	Mandatory	Description
expression	String	Yes	Cron expression to describe.

Response

Returns a JSON object with an expression string field and a fields object field. The fields object contains string descriptions for the cron components: hour, month, minute, day_of_week, and day_of_month.

Parameter	Type	Mandatory	Description
expression	String	No	The cron expression that was described.
fields	Object	No	Labeled descriptions for cron fields.
fields.hour	String	No	Description of the hour field.
fields.month	String	No	Description of the month field.
fields.minute	String	No	Description of the minute field.
fields.day_of_week	String	No	Description of the day-of-week field.
fields.day_of_month	String	No	Description of the day-of-month field.

Query parameters

Name

Type

Description

expressionREQUIRED

string

—

Describe Cron API

What it does

Quickstart

What you'll get back

About this endpoint

What it does

Query Parameter(s)

Response

Query parameters

Errors any endpoint can return