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Cron jobs

☑️ Prerequisites

The cron.enabled configuration option should be set to true in the ./config/server.js (or ./config/server.ts for TypeScript projects) 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 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​

A cron job can be created using the object format or key format.

Using the object format​

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

./config/cron-tasks.js
module.exports = {
  /**
   * Simple example.
   * Every monday at 1am.
   */

  myJob: {
    task: ({ strapi }) => {
      // Add your own logic here (e.g. send a queue of email, create a database backup, etc.).
    },
    options: {
      rule: "0 0 1 * * 1",
    },
  },
};
Advanced example #1: Timezones

The following cron job runs on a specific timezone:

./config/cron-tasks.js
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
   */

  myJob: {
    task: ({ strapi }) => {
      /* Add your own logic here */
    },
    options: {
      rule: "0 0 1 * * 1",
      tz: "Asia/Dhaka",
    },
  },
};
Advanced example #2: One-off cron jobs
The following cron job is run only once at a given time:
./config/cron-tasks.js
module.exports = {
  myJob: {
    task: ({ strapi }) => {
      /* Add your own logic here */
    },
    // only run once after 10 seconds
    options: new Date(Date.now() + 10000),
  },
};
Advanced example #3: Start and end times

The following cron job uses start and end times:

./config/cron-tasks.js
module.exports = {
  myJob: {
    task: ({ strapi }) => {
      /* Add your own logic here */
    },
    options: {
      rule: "* * * * * *",
      // start 10 seconds from now
      start: new Date(Date.now() + 10000),
      // end 20 seconds from now
      end: new Date(Date.now() + 20000),
    },
  },
};

Using the key format​

⚠️ Warning

Using the key format creates an anonymous cron job which may cause issues when trying to disable the cron job or with some plugins. It is recommended to use the object format.

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

./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.).
  },
};

Enabling cron jobs​

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

./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,
  },
});
💡 Tip

To learn more about using CRON jobs in your code, please refer to the corresponding guide.