Human-readable cron expression converter with full Unix cron specification compliance and bidirectional support. Parse schedules like "every 30 minutes", "every day at 2pm", or "every monday at 9am" into Unix cron expressions and convert back to natural language. Supports complete cron syntax: lists (0,15,30,45), ranges (9-17), steps (*/15, 0-30/5), named values (MON-FRI, JAN-DEC), and mixed syntax. Features smart compaction, zero-allocation Span<T> parsing, NodaTime timezone handling with DST support, and comprehensive month selection.
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$ dotnet add package HumanCronReadme
HumanCron
Human-readable cron expression converter with bidirectional support and timezone awareness for .NET. Parse schedules like "every 30 minutes", "every day at 2pm", or "every monday at 9am" into Unix cron expressions or Quartz.NET schedules, and convert cron expressions back to natural language.
Features
- 🗣️ Natural Language Parsing - Human-friendly syntax instead of cryptic cron expressions
- ⏰ Timezone Aware - Proper DST handling using NodaTime
- 🔄 Bidirectional - Convert to/from cron expressions with full specification compliance
- 🔌 Multiple Integrations - Quartz.NET, Hangfire, and NCrontab support
- 📅 Month Support - Select specific months, ranges, or lists
- 🎯 Full Cron Spec Support - Complete Unix (5-field), NCrontab (6-field), and Quartz (6-7 field) cron syntax including lists, ranges, steps, named values, and Quartz-specific features (L, W, #)
- ⏱️ Seconds Precision - NCrontab and Hangfire support for second-level scheduling
- ✅ Well Tested - Comprehensive test coverage including edge cases, DST handling, and timezone conversions
- ⚡ High Performance - Zero-allocation Span parsing for minimal memory overhead
- 📦 Dependency Injection - First-class DI support
Installation
# Core library (Unix cron support)
dotnet add package HumanCron
# NCrontab 6-field cron support (optional - adds seconds precision)
dotnet add package HumanCron.NCrontab
# Quartz.NET integration (optional)
dotnet add package HumanCron.Quartz
# Hangfire integration (optional - includes NCrontab support)
dotnet add package HumanCron.Hangfire
Quick Start
Basic Unix Cron Conversion
using HumanCron.Converters.Unix;
var converter = UnixCronConverter.Create();
// Convert to cron
var result = converter.ToUnixCron("every 30 minutes");
// Returns: "*/30 * * * *"
result = converter.ToUnixCron("every day at 2pm");
// Returns: "0 14 * * *"
result = converter.ToUnixCron("every monday at 9am");
// Returns: "0 9 * * 1"
result = converter.ToUnixCron("every day in january at 9am");
// Returns: "0 9 * 1 *"
result = converter.ToUnixCron("every weekday in january,april,july,october at 9am");
// Returns: "0 9 * 1,4,7,10 1-5"
// Convert back to natural language
var reverseResult = converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 14 * * *");
// Returns: "every day at 2pm"
Dependency Injection
using HumanCron;
// In Program.cs or Startup.cs
builder.Services.AddHumanCron();
// In your service
public class MySchedulingService
{
private readonly IHumanCronConverter _converter;
public MySchedulingService(IHumanCronConverter converter)
{
_converter = converter;
}
public void ScheduleJob(string schedule)
{
var cronResult = _converter.ToUnixCron(schedule);
if (cronResult is ParseResult<string>.Success success)
{
// Use success.Value cron expression
}
}
}
NCrontab 6-Field Conversion
using HumanCron.NCrontab;
var converter = NCrontabConverter.Create();
// Convert to 6-field NCrontab (includes seconds)
var result = converter.ToNCrontab("every 30 seconds");
// Returns: "*/30 * * * * *"
result = converter.ToNCrontab("every 15 minutes");
// Returns: "0 */15 * * * *"
result = converter.ToNCrontab("every day at 2pm");
// Returns: "0 0 14 * * *"
result = converter.ToNCrontab("every weekday at 9am");
// Returns: "0 0 9 * * 1-5"
// Convert back to natural language
var reverseResult = converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 14 * * *");
// Returns: "every day at 2pm"
Hangfire Integration
using Hangfire;
using HumanCron.Hangfire.Extensions;
// Option 1: Use natural language strings directly
RecurringJob.AddOrUpdate(
"my-job-id",
"every 30 seconds",
() => DoWork()
);
RecurringJob.AddOrUpdate(
"daily-job",
"every day at 2pm",
() => DailyTask()
);
// Option 2: Use fluent API with ScheduleBuilder
Schedule.Every(30).Seconds()
.AddOrUpdateHangfireJob("job-id", () => DoWork());
Schedule.Every(1).Day()
.At(new TimeOnly(14, 0))
.AddOrUpdateHangfireJob("daily-job", () => DailyTask());
Schedule.Every(1).Day()
.At(new TimeOnly(9, 0))
.OnWeekdays()
.AddOrUpdateHangfireJob("weekday-job", () => WeekdayTask());
// Option 3: Convert to NCrontab expression
var cronExpression = Schedule.Every(15).Minutes().ToNCrontabExpression();
// Returns: "0 */15 * * * *"
Quartz.NET Integration
using HumanCron.Quartz;
var converter = QuartzScheduleConverterFactory.Create();
// Convert to Quartz IScheduleBuilder
var result = converter.ToQuartzSchedule("every day at 2pm");
if (result is ParseResult<IScheduleBuilder>.Success success)
{
var trigger = TriggerBuilder.Create()
.WithSchedule(success.Value)
.Build();
}
// Multi-week patterns use CalendarIntervalScheduleBuilder
var triggerResult = converter.CreateTriggerBuilder("every 3 weeks on sunday at 12am");
if (triggerResult is ParseResult<TriggerBuilder>.Success triggerSuccess)
{
var trigger = triggerSuccess.Value
.WithIdentity("my-trigger")
.ForJob("my-job")
.Build();
}
Supported Syntax
Basic Intervals
All patterns must start with "every":
- Seconds:
every 30 seconds,every 45 seconds - Minutes:
every 15 minutes,every 30 minutes,every 45 minutes - Hours:
every hour,every 6 hours,every 12 hours - Days:
every day,every 7 days - Weeks:
every week,every 2 weeks,every 3 weeks - Months:
every month,every 3 months,every 6 months - Years:
every year,every 2 years
Time of Day
at 2pm,at 14:30,at 9am,at 3:30am
Day Constraints
- Specific Day:
every monday,every friday,on tuesday - Day Patterns:
every weekday,on weekends - Day Lists:
every monday,wednesday,friday,every mon,wed,fri(specific days) - Day Ranges:
between monday and friday,every tuesday-thursday(compact notation)
Month Selection
- Specific Month:
in january,in december - Month Ranges:
between january and march,between october and december - Month Lists:
in january,april,july,october(quarterly)
Advanced Features (Quartz Only)
- Day of Month:
on the 15th,on the 1st and 15th,between the 1st and 15th - Combined Month + Day:
on january 1st,on december 25th,on april 15th(more natural thanon the 15th in january) - Last Day:
on last day,on day before last,on 3rd to last day - Last Day of Week:
on last friday,on last monday - Nth Occurrence:
on 3rd friday,on 2nd tuesday(1st-5th) - Weekday Nearest:
on weekday nearest the 15th,on last weekday - Hour/Minute Lists:
at hours 9,12,15,18,at minutes 0,15,30,45 - Hour/Minute Ranges:
between hours 9 and 17,between minutes 0 and 30 - Range with Step:
every 5 minutes between 0 and 30 of each hour - Year Constraints:
in year 2025,in year 2024
Abbreviations
Both full names and abbreviations are accepted on input (output always uses full names):
- Days:
mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat,sun - Months:
jan,feb,mar,apr,may,jun,jul,aug,sep,oct,nov,dec
Examples
every 30 minutes → */30 * * * *
every hour → 0 * * * *
every day at 2pm → 0 14 * * *
every day at 14:30 → 30 14 * * *
every monday → 0 0 * * 1
every monday at 9am → 0 9 * * 1
every 2 weeks on friday at 5pm → (CalendarInterval schedule)
every weekday at 9am → 0 9 * * 1-5
every monday,wednesday,friday → 0 0 * * 1,3,5
every tuesday-thursday at 9am → 0 9 * * 2-4
every day in january → 0 0 * 1 *
every day in january at 9am → 0 9 * 1 *
every monday in january → 0 0 * 1 1
every day between january and march → 0 0 * 1-3 *
every day in january,april,july,october → 0 0 * 1,4,7,10 *
every weekday in january at 9am → 0 9 * 1 1-5
every month on the 15th → 0 0 15 * *
every month on january 15th → 0 0 15 1 *
every month on january 1st at 1am → 0 1 1 1 *
every month on the 15th in january,april → 0 0 15 1,4 *
every year → 0 0 1 1 *
# Advanced Quartz features (require Quartz converter)
every hour at minutes 0,15,30,45 → 0 0,15,30,45 * * * ?
every day at hours 9,12,15,18 → 0 0 9,12,15,18 * * ?
every 5 minutes between 0 and 30 of each hour → 0 0-30/5 * * * ?
every month on last day → 0 0 L * ?
every month on 3rd friday → 0 0 ? * 6#3
every month on last friday → 0 0 ? * 6L
every month on weekday nearest the 15th → 0 0 15W * ?
every day at 12pm in year 2025 → 0 0 12 * * ? 2025
Cron Expression Support
HumanCron provides full specification compliance for both Unix and Quartz cron formats with bidirectional conversion.
Unix Cron (5-field format)
Format: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
Supported Syntax:
- Wildcards:
*(any value) - Specific Values:
5,15,MON,JAN - Lists:
0,15,30,45orMON,WED,FRIorJAN,APR,JUL,OCT - Ranges:
1-5,9-17,JAN-MAR,MON-FRI - Steps:
*/15,0-30/5,9-17/2 - Mixed Syntax:
0-4,8-12,20(combines ranges and individual values) - Named Values: Case-insensitive month (
JAN-DEC) and day (SUN-SAT) names
Smart Compaction: When building cron expressions, consecutive values are automatically compacted:
[1,2,3,5,7,8,9,10,11,12]→1-3,5,7-12(3+ consecutive values become ranges)
Examples:
*/30 * * * * → every 30 minutes
0 9-17 * * * → every hour between 9am and 5pm
0 9,12,15,18 * * * → at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, and 6pm
0 9-17/2 * * * → every 2 hours between 9am and 5pm
0 9 * * MON-FRI → every weekday at 9am
0 9 * JAN,APR * MON → every monday in january and april at 9am
0 0 1,15 * * → on the 1st and 15th of each month
0 0 1-15/3 * * → every 3 days between 1st and 15th
NCrontab Cron (6-field format)
Format: second minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
NCrontab extends Unix cron with a seconds field, enabling second-precision scheduling. Commonly used by Hangfire and Azure Functions.
Supported Syntax (all Unix features plus seconds):
- Wildcards:
*(any value) - Specific Values:
5,30,MON,JAN - Lists:
0,15,30,45orMON,WED,FRI - Ranges:
1-5,9-17,MON-FRI - Steps:
*/15,0-30/5,9-17/2 - Mixed Syntax:
0-4,8-12,20 - Named Values: Case-insensitive month and day names
Examples:
*/30 * * * * * → every 30 seconds
0 */15 * * * * → every 15 minutes
0 0 14 * * * → every day at 2pm
0 0 9 * * 1-5 → every weekday at 9am
0 0 9 * * MON → every monday at 9am
0 0 9 * 1 * → every day in january at 9am
0 0,15,30,45 * * * * → every 15 minutes
0 0-30/5 9-17 * * * → every 5 minutes in 0-30 range, 9am-5pm
Bidirectional Conversion:
// Natural language → NCrontab
converter.ToNCrontab("every 30 seconds") → "*/30 * * * * *"
converter.ToNCrontab("every 15 minutes") → "0 */15 * * * *"
converter.ToNCrontab("every weekday at 9am") → "0 0 9 * * 1-5"
// NCrontab → natural language
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("*/30 * * * * *") → "every 30 seconds"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 */15 * * * *") → "every 15 minutes"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 9 * * 1-5") → "every weekday at 9am"
Quartz Cron (6-7 field format)
Format: second minute hour day month day-of-week [year]
Supports all Unix cron features plus Quartz-specific advanced features:
Additional Quartz Features:
?(no specific value): Required when specifying day-of-week or day-of-monthL(last):- Day field:
L= last day of month - Day-of-week field:
6L= last Friday of month
- Day field:
W(weekday):15W= weekday nearest to the 15thLW= last weekday of month
#(nth occurrence):6#3= 3rd Friday of month (1-5 valid)L-N(offset from last):L-3= 3rd to last day of month- Year field: Optional 7th field (1970-2099):
0 0 12 * * ? 2025
Examples:
0 */30 * * * ? → every 30 minutes
0 0 14 * * ? → every day at 2pm
0 0 14 ? * MON → every monday at 2pm
0 0 9 ? * MON-FRI → every weekday at 9am
0 0 9 L * ? → last day of month at 9am
0 0 9 L-3 * ? → 3rd to last day of month at 9am
0 0 9 15W * ? → weekday nearest to 15th at 9am
0 0 9 LW * ? → last weekday of month at 9am
0 0 9 ? * 6#3 → 3rd friday of month at 9am
0 0 9 ? * 6L → last friday of month at 9am
0 0 12 * * ? 2025 → every day at noon in 2025 only
0 0 9-17/2 * * ? → every 2 hours between 9am-5pm
0 0,15,30,45 * * * ? → every 15 minutes
0 0-30/5 9-17 * * ? → every 5 minutes in 0-30 range, 9am-5pm
Bidirectional Conversion
Both parsers support complete round-trip conversion with smart compaction and verbose natural language output:
// Unix cron → natural language (basic examples)
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("*/30 * * * *") → "every 30 minutes"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 14 * * *") → "every day at 2pm"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 9 * * 1-5") → "every weekday at 9am"
// Lists with smart compaction (3+ consecutive values become ranges)
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0,15,30,45 * * * *") → "every hour at minutes 0,15,30,45"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 9,12,15,18 * * *") → "every day at hours 9,12,15,18"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 1,2,3,4,8,9,10 * *") → "every month on the 1st-4th,8th-10th"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0-30/5 * * * *") → "every 5 minutes between 0 and 30 of each hour"
// Ranges
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0-30 * * * *") → "every hour between minutes 0 and 30"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 9-17 * * *") → "every day between hours 9 and 17"
converter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 1-15 * *") → "every month between the 1st and 15th"
// Quartz cron → natural language (advanced features)
quartzConverter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 9 L * ?") → "every month on last day at 9am"
quartzConverter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 9 L-3 * ?") → "every month on 3rd to last day at 9am"
quartzConverter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 9 L-1 * ?") → "every month on day before last at 9am"
quartzConverter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 9 15W * ?") → "every month on weekday nearest the 15th at 9am"
quartzConverter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 9 LW * ?") → "every month on last weekday at 9am"
quartzConverter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 9 ? * 6#3") → "every month on 3rd friday at 9am"
quartzConverter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 9 ? * 6L") → "every month on last friday at 9am"
quartzConverter.ToNaturalLanguage("0 0 12 * * ? 2025") → "every day at 12pm in year 2025"
// Natural language → cron → natural language (preserves meaning)
var cron = converter.ToUnixCron("every weekday at 9am"); // "0 9 * * 1-5"
var back = converter.ToNaturalLanguage(cron); // "every weekday at 9am"
// Combined month+day syntax (more natural phrasing)
var cron1 = converter.ToUnixCron("every month on january 1st at 1am"); // "0 1 1 1 *"
var back1 = converter.ToNaturalLanguage(cron1); // "every month on january 1st at 1am"
// Complex patterns with multiple constraints
var cron2 = converter.ToUnixCron("every day at hours 9,12,15,18 in january"); // "0 9,12,15,18 * 1 *"
var back2 = converter.ToNaturalLanguage(cron2); // "every day at hours 9,12,15,18 in january"
Smart Compaction: The natural language formatter automatically compacts consecutive sequences:
[0,1,2,3,4]→"0-4"(5 consecutive values)[0,1,2,8,9,10]→"0-2,8-10"(two sequences of 3+)[0,15,30,45]→"0,15,30,45"(non-consecutive, keep as list)
Documentation
- Architecture - Design philosophy and implementation details
- DSL Specification - Complete grammar and validation rules
- Integration Guide - Usage patterns, timezone handling, testing
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.