# Cron Expression Explainer & Next Run Times

> Cron Expression Explainer & Next Run Times is a paid API for AI agents from api.aventtech.com, paid per call via x402, $0.01/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-10).

Converts a 5-field cron expression into a human-readable description and returns the next N upcoming run times in UTC.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://api.aventtech.com/explain/cron?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.01/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-10
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/cron-expression-explainer-next-run-times-653d366a
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_IHHsh8Y1BbDjhOcv_L6Ie

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-next-run-times-653d366a
```

Example prompt: Can you explain what the cron expression '0 8 * * 1-5' means in plain English and show me the next 5 times it will run in UTC?

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need to explain or audit a standard 5-field cron expression to a human, verify a schedule before deploying, or compute upcoming execution times without running a local cron library. It is ideal for developer tools, chatbots, and scheduling UIs where a quick, authoritative human-readable explanation is needed without any server-side job management.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid or malformed cron expression returns an error explaining the syntax issue
- Count parameter exceeding 10 is clamped or rejected
- Missing 'expr' query parameter returns a 400-style error
- 6-field or non-standard cron syntax (e.g. with seconds) may not be supported and returns an error

## How this service works

Cron expression explainer: human-readable description plus the next run times (UTC) for standard 5-field cron syntax including ranges, lists and steps.

## Output

Returns a human-readable English description of the cron expression (e.g. 'Every weekday at 9:00 AM') plus an ordered list of the next N upcoming UTC run timestamps (default 5, max 10), computed from the current time.

## 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"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "expr"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "expr": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "5-field cron expression"
      },
      "count": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "How many next runs to return (max 10, default 5)"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "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-next-run-times-653d366a/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from api.aventtech.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/api.aventtech.com/llms.txt)