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BEAD

Cron Expression Builder & Explainer

Read any cron expression in plain English and preview the next few run times.

Developer
In English
Every 15 minutes, between 09:00 AM and 05:59 PM, Monday through Friday
Next 7 runs (UTC)
16/11/2026, 9:00:00 AMin 14h 51m
26/11/2026, 9:15:00 AMin 15h 6m
36/11/2026, 9:30:00 AMin 15h 21m
46/11/2026, 9:45:00 AMin 15h 36m
56/11/2026, 10:00:00 AMin 15h 51m
66/11/2026, 10:15:00 AMin 16h 6m
76/11/2026, 10:30:00 AMin 16h 21m
</>Use this tool programmaticallycurl · JavaScript · MCP

Same tool, callable from any HTTP client or from Claude (via MCP). Anonymous: 100 req/day per IP. Sign up for 1,000 req/day.

curl
curl https://api.b-e-a-d.com/tools/cron-explainer/run \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "expression": "*/5 * * * *",
  "use24Hour": false,
  "next": 7
}'
JavaScript (fetch)
const res = await fetch("https://api.b-e-a-d.com/tools/cron-explainer/run", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
  "expression": "*/5 * * * *",
  "use24Hour": false,
  "next": 7
}),
});
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data.result);
MCP (Claude Desktop / Claude Code)
# In Claude Desktop / Claude Code, add to your MCP config:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bead": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.b-e-a-d.com"]
    }
  }
}

# Then ask Claude to call:
mcp__bead__bead_cron_explainer

Full reference: developer docs · OpenAPI spec

Cron field cheatsheet

┌───────── minute (0–59)
│ ┌─────── hour (0–23)
│ │ ┌───── day of month (1–31)
│ │ │ ┌─── month (1–12 or JAN–DEC)
│ │ │ │ ┌─ day of week (0–6 or SUN–SAT, 7 = SUN)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *
  • */n — every n units
  • a-b — range a through b
  • a,b,c — list
  • a-b/n — every n within a range

English explanation comes from cronstrue. Next runs are computed locally in your browser, using your local timezone.

Frequently asked

▸What flavor of cron syntax is this?

Standard 5-field POSIX cron — minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week. It accepts ranges (1-5), lists (1,3,5), and steps (*/15). It does not parse 6-field (with seconds) Quartz syntax used by some Java schedulers.

▸What does * * * * * actually do?

Runs every minute. The first * is minute 0–59, the second is hour 0–23, and so on. The explainer translates to plain English so you don't have to memorize the columns.

▸Why does the next-run list sometimes skip dates?

When both day-of-month and day-of-week are restricted, POSIX cron says match if either fires. The next-run search applies this rule, so 0 0 1 * 1 fires on the 1st of every month OR on every Monday — that's intentional.

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