# Cron Expression Parser & Explainer

> Cron Expression Parser & Explainer is a paid API for AI agents from netintel-production-440c.up.railway.app, paid per call via x402, $0.001/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Parses a cron expression into a human-readable explanation, validates its syntax, computes the next N scheduled run times, and identifies common scheduling patterns.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://netintel-production-440c.up.railway.app/cron-parser/explain
- Price: $0.001/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/netintel-production-440c-up-railway-app-82949f43
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_Ur2Egan-1DQX3NGbyLeOF

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 netintel-production-440c-up-railway-app-82949f43
```

Example prompt: Can you explain what the cron expression '0 9 * * 1-5' means in plain English, check if it's valid, and show me the next 10 times it will run in the America/New_York timezone?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when an agent needs to interpret, validate, or debug a cron expression without implementing its own parser. Ideal for automation workflows that need to display schedule information to end users, enforce valid cron syntax, or predict upcoming job execution times. Prefer this over generic LLM interpretation when precision and structured output (next run timestamps, field breakdown) are required.

## Known failure modes

- Missing or malformed cron expression returns a validation error with is_valid=false
- Invalid IANA timezone string causes a parsing error
- Cron expression with unsupported field count (not 5 or 6 fields) fails validation
- Count parameter exceeding 20 may be capped or rejected
- Network timeout on the Railway-hosted service

## How this service works

Parse any cron expression into a human-readable explanation, validate its syntax, compute the next 5 scheduled run times, and detect common patterns (daily, weekly, monthly, hourly) — so agents can understand, validate, and work with cron schedules without implementing their own cron parser.

## Output

Returns a human-readable explanation of the cron expression, a validity flag, a grade and score, individual field breakdowns, an array of next scheduled run timestamps (up to 20), a detected pattern name (e.g. 'weekdays', 'daily', 'hourly'), and any warnings about unusual or potentially erroneous syntax.

## Example request

```json
{
 "input": {
  "type": "http",
  "method": "GET",
  "queryParams": {
   "count": 10,
   "timezone": "America/New_York",
   "expression": "0 9 * * 1-5"
  }
 }
}
```

## 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": [
      "expression"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "count": {
       "type": "number",
       "description": "Number of next run times to return (default: 5, max: 20)"
      },
      "expression": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Cron expression, 5 or 6 space-separated fields; month/day names accepted (e.g. 0 9 * * MON-FRI)"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
      "grade": {
       "type": "string"
      },
      "score": {
       "type": "number"
      },
      "fields": {
       "type": "object"
      },
      "findings": {
       "type": "array"
      },
      "is_valid": {
       "type": "boolean"
      },
      "warnings": {
       "type": "array"
      },
      "next_runs": {
       "type": "array"
      },
      "expression": {
       "type": "string"
      },
      "explanation": {
       "type": "string"
      },
      "pattern_name": {
       "type": "string"
      }
     }
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "grade": "A",
  "score": 100,
  "fields": {
   "hour": "9",
   "month": "*",
   "minute": "0",
   "day_of_week": "1-5",
   "day_of_month": "*"
  },
  "findings": [],
  "is_valid": true,
  "warnings": [],
  "next_runs": [
   "2024-03-11T09:00:00Z"
  ],
  "expression": "0 9 * * 1-5",
  "explanation": "At 9:00 AM, Monday through Friday",
  "pattern_name": "Weekdays at 9:00 AM"
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/netintel-production-440c-up-railway-app-82949f43/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from netintel-production-440c.up.railway.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/netintel-production-440c.up.railway.app/llms.txt)