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Cron#

The Cron node is useful to schedule the workflows to run periodically at fixed dates, times, or intervals. This works in a similar way to the cron software utility in Unix-like systems. This core node is a Trigger node.

Keep in mind

  1. If a workflow is using the Cron node as a trigger, make sure that you save and activate the workflow.
  2. Make sure that the timezone is set correctly for the n8n instance (or the workflow).

Node Reference#

You can configure the node by clicking on the Add Cron Time button under the Trigger Times section. There are a couple of different options available for the Mode field in the form of a dropdownlist.

  • Mode
    • Every Minute
    • Every Hour
    • Every Day
    • Every Week
    • Every Month
    • Every X
    • Custom

The 'Every X' option allows you to specify the workflow to be triggered every x minutes or hours. You can specify x by entering a number in the Value field. The 'Custom' option allows you to enter a custom cron expression in the Cron Expression field.

FAQs#

How to generate a custom Cron expression?#

To generate a Cron expression, you can use crontab guru. Paste the Cron expression that you generated using crontab guru in the Cron Expression field in n8n.

Why there are six asterisks (*) in the Cron Expression?#

The sixth asterisk in the Cron Expression represents seconds. Setting this is optional. The node will execute even if you don't set the value for seconds.

* * * * * *
second minute hour day week month

If you want to trigger your workflow, for example, every day at 04:08:30, enter the following in the Cron Expression field. 

1
30 8 4 * * *

If you want to trigger your workflow, for example, every day at 04:08, enter the following in the Cron Expression field. 

1
8 4 * * *