# Cron Expression Describer & Next-Run Calculator

> Cron Expression Describer & Next-Run Calculator is a paid API for AI agents from dt0ur.online, paid per call via x402, $0.01/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-02).

Translates a standard cron expression into a human-readable description and computes its next N scheduled run times.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://dt0ur.online/api/utility/cron-describe?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.01/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-02
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/cron-expression-describer-next-run-calculator-f8d56160
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_fjEe27l17AaX29W2S7LU2

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability cron-expression-describer-next-run-calculator-f8d56160 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you explain what the cron expression '0 9 * * 1-5' means in plain English and show me the next 5 times it will run?

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need to explain a cron expression to a non-technical user, verify that a scheduled task fires at the expected times, or debug a cron schedule without running it. It is ideal for automation pipelines, documentation generators, and onboarding flows where cron syntax needs to be made human-readable quickly and cheaply at $0.01 per call.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid or malformed cron expression returns a 400-level error with a description of the parse failure
- Count parameter outside 1–10 range is rejected with a validation error
- 5-field vs 6-field cron ambiguity may cause misinterpretation if format is not standard
- Network timeout or service unavailability returns a 5xx error

## How this service works

Translates a cron expression into a human-readable description and computes its next scheduled run times.

## Output

Returns a human-readable description of the cron expression (e.g. 'Every weekday at 9:00 AM') along with an array of upcoming scheduled run timestamps, up to the requested count (1–10, default 3).

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "count": {
   "type": "integer",
   "default": 3,
   "maximum": 10,
   "minimum": 1,
   "description": "Number of upcoming run times to return"
  },
  "expression": {
   "type": "string",
   "description": "Standard 5 or 6-field cron expression"
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/cron-expression-describer-next-run-calculator-f8d56160/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from dt0ur.online](https://www.zero.xyz/host/dt0ur.online/llms.txt)