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GitHub Actions cron builder and explainer

Paste a cron expression for the schedule trigger and get a plain-English reading, warnings about GitHub's limits, and the next 10 run times in UTC and your local time zone.

minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week, for example 0 */6 * * *

At 05:30 UTC, Monday through Friday

#UTCLocal time
1Mon 2026-10-12 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
2Tue 2026-10-13 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
3Wed 2026-10-14 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
4Thu 2026-10-15 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
5Fri 2026-10-16 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
6Mon 2026-10-19 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
7Tue 2026-10-20 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
8Wed 2026-10-21 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
9Thu 2026-10-22 05:30 UTCshown in your browser
10Fri 2026-10-23 05:30 UTCshown in your browser

Workflow snippet

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "30 5 * * 1-5"

Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.

How to use it

  1. Edit the five fields: minute, hour, day of month, month, day of week.
  2. Read the explanation and any warnings about GitHub's scheduling rules.
  3. Check the next 10 runs, then paste the expression into your workflow under on: schedule: - cron.

Frequently asked questions

What time zone does GitHub Actions cron use?

Always UTC. There is no way to set a time zone on a schedule, so convert local times yourself; the table above does it for you.

What is the shortest interval GitHub allows?

Every 5 minutes. Faster schedules are not honored, and runs during busy periods can start several minutes late or be dropped.

Why did my scheduled workflow stop running?

GitHub disables scheduled workflows in public repositories after 60 days without repository activity. Any push or manual re-enable restores them.

How do day of month and day of week combine?

If both are restricted, the schedule runs when either one matches, as in standard cron. Use * in one of them to avoid surprises.

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