Cron syntax
Coolify uses cron expressions to schedule tasks, backups, updates, Docker cleanup, and other recurring work. Most schedule fields accept a standard five-field expression. Some also accept Coolify's named schedules.
Five-field format
A cron expression contains five space-separated fields:
┌───────────── minute (0-59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0-23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1-31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1-12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0-7, Sunday is 0 or 7)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *Common operators
| Character | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
* | Every valid value | * * * * * runs every minute. |
, | A list of values | 0 8,16 * * * runs at 08:00 and 16:00. |
- | An inclusive range | 0 9 * * 1-5 runs at 09:00 Monday through Friday. |
/ | A step interval | */15 * * * * runs every 15 minutes. |
Field-specific values
| Value | Field | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
JAN-DEC | Month | A three-letter month name | 0 0 1 JAN * runs on January 1. |
SUN-SAT | Day of week | A three-letter weekday name | 0 9 * * MON-FRI runs at 09:00 on weekdays. |
? | Day of month or day of week | No specific value for that field | 0 9 ? * MON runs at 09:00 every Monday. |
L | Day of month | The last day of the month | 0 0 L * * runs at 00:00 on the last day of each month. |
W | Day of month | The weekday nearest the specified date | 0 9 15W * * runs at 09:00 on the weekday nearest the 15th. |
L | Day of week | The last specified weekday of the month | 0 9 * * 5L runs at 09:00 on the last Friday. |
# | Day of week | The numbered occurrence of a weekday in the month | 0 9 * * 5#2 runs at 09:00 on the second Friday. |
Named schedules
Coolify recognizes these exact values and translates them to five-field expressions:
| Named schedule | Equivalent expression | Runs |
|---|---|---|
every_minute | * * * * * | Every minute |
hourly or @hourly | 0 * * * * | At minute 0 of every hour |
daily, @daily, or @midnight | 0 0 * * * | Every day at 00:00 |
weekly or @weekly | 0 0 * * 0 | Every Sunday at 00:00 |
monthly or @monthly | 0 0 1 * * | On the first day of every month at 00:00 |
yearly, @yearly, or @annually | 0 0 1 1 * | Every January 1 at 00:00 |
@every_minute is not supported. Use every_minute or * * * * * instead.
Common examples
| Schedule | Expression |
|---|---|
| Every five minutes | */5 * * * * |
| Every day at 02:30 | 30 2 * * * |
| Monday through Friday at 09:00 | 0 9 * * 1-5 |
| Every Sunday at 03:00 | 0 3 * * 0 |
| First day of every month at 00:00 | 0 0 1 * * |
Timezone
The schedule runs in the timezone used by the feature that owns it.
Scheduled tasks use the timezone configured for the server that runs the application or service. Other scheduled features can use an instance or server timezone described on their own settings page.
When an exact local time matters, confirm the relevant timezone before saving the schedule.
Validate a schedule
Enter the expression in the schedule's Frequency field and save the setting. Coolify rejects values that its cron parser cannot evaluate.
For a scheduled task, use Execute Now to verify the command and container separately. Manual execution tests the command immediately; it does not prove that a different cron expression represents the time you intended.