# Cron jobs

PREREQUISITES

The cron.enabled configuration option should be set to true in the ./config/server.js file.

cron allows scheduling arbitrary functions for execution at specific dates, with optional recurrence rules. These functions are named cron jobs. cron only uses a single timer at any given time, rather than reevaluating upcoming jobs every second/minute.

This feature is powered by the node-schedule (opens new window) package.

The cron format consists of:


*    *    *    *    *    *
┬    ┬    ┬    ┬    ┬    ┬
│    │    │    │    │    |
│    │    │    │    │    └ day of week (0 - 7) (0 or 7 is Sun)
│    │    │    │    └───── month (1 - 12)
│    │    │    └────────── day of month (1 - 31)
│    │    └─────────────── hour (0 - 23)
│    └──────────────────── minute (0 - 59)
└───────────────────────── second (0 - 59, OPTIONAL)

To define cron jobs and have them run at the required times:

  1. Create the appropriate file.
  2. Enable the cron jobs in the server configuration file.

💡 TIP

Optionally, cron jobs can be directly created in the cron.tasks key of the server configuration file.

# Creating a cron job

To define a cron job, create a file with the following structure:

// path: ./config/cron-tasks.js

module.exports = {
  /**
   * Simple example.
   * Every monday at 1am.
   */

  '0 0 1 * * 1': ({ strapi }) => {
    // Add your own logic here (e.g. send a queue of email, create a database backup, etc.).
  },
};

If the cron job is required to run based on a specific timezone, configure it like the following:

module.exports = {
   /**
   * Cron job with timezone example.
   * Every Monday at 1am for Asia/Dhaka timezone.
   * List of valid timezones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones#List
   */

  '0 0 1 * * 1': {
    task: ({ strapi }) => { /* Add your own logic here */ },
    options: {
      tz: 'Asia/Dhaka',
    },
  },
};

# Enabling cron jobs

To enable cron jobs, set cron.enabled to true in the server configuration file and declare the jobs:

// path: ./config/server.js

const cronTasks = require("./cron-tasks");

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  host: env("HOST", "0.0.0.0"),
  port: env.int("PORT", 1337),
  cron: {
    enabled: true,
    tasks: cronTasks,
  },
});

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