# Cron Expression Explainer

> Cron Expression Explainer is a paid API for AI agents from bess-x402.onrender.com, paid per call via x402, $0.002/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-30).

Parses a cron expression into plain English and lists its next scheduled run times at any UTC offset

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://bess-x402.onrender.com/v1/dev/cron?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.002/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-30
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/cron-expression-explainer-bc255858
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_lD5uQm3tM4P3PWdaK6Npy

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-explainer-bc255858
```

Example prompt: Can you explain what the cron expression '0 9 * * mon-fri' means in plain English and list the next 5 run times in UTC+2?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to quickly validate or explain a cron expression in human-readable form before deploying a scheduled job, or when you need to preview upcoming run times in a specific timezone offset. Ideal for DevOps automation agents, CI/CD pipelines, or any workflow that involves cron-based scheduling verification without needing a full scheduling system.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid cron expression syntax returns an error
- Unsupported field count (e.g. 6-field cron with seconds) may not parse correctly
- count out of range (must be 1-20) returns validation error
- timezone_offset_hours outside valid range may return an error or unexpected results
- Service unavailable if Render cold-start delay occurs

## How this service works

Explain a cron expression (5 fields, names like mon-fri, or @daily) in plain English and list its next run times in any UTC offset. Use to check schedules before deploying jobs.

## Output

Returns a plain English explanation of the cron expression (e.g. 'Runs at 9:00 AM every weekday') along with a list of upcoming scheduled run times (up to 20) adjusted to the specified UTC offset.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET",
      "HEAD",
      "DELETE"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "expression"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "count": {
       "type": "integer",
       "description": "Next runs to list (1-20)"
      },
      "expression": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Cron expression"
      },
      "timezone_offset_hours": {
       "type": "number",
       "description": "UTC offset of the schedule, e.g. 4"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/cron-expression-explainer-bc255858/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from bess-x402.onrender.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/bess-x402.onrender.com/llms.txt)