Crontab Generator

Turn a plain-language schedule into a cron expression, or explain an existing one, with the next run times.

Pay by wallet (x402) AI-generated crontab-generate

Example

Input

{
  "description": "This is a test input for automated capability testing."
}

Answer

{
  "next_5_runs": [],
  "timezone_note": "Cannot calculate without a valid cron expression or schedule details",
  "human_readable": "No valid schedule information provided in the description",
  "cron_expression": "Unable to determine - no schedule specified",
  "input_description": "This is a test input for automated capability testing."
}

Inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`description`	string	Yes	Schedule in natural language or cron expression

Output fields

How reliably each field appears in a successful answer.

Field	Type	Appears
`next_5_runs`	array	Always (present in every successful answer)
`human_readable`	string	Always (present in every successful answer)
`cron_expression`	string	Always (present in every successful answer)

How to call it

The same tool through each route. MCP clients reach it through Strale’s server at https://api.strale.io/mcp; the call below is what the agent sends.

# Needs an API key. max_price_cents caps what this call may cost.
curl -X POST https://api.strale.io/v1/do \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STRALE_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "capability_slug": "crontab-generate",
    "inputs": {
      "description": "This is a test input for automated capability testing."
    },
    "max_price_cents": 5
  }'

{
  "tool": "strale_execute",
  "arguments": {
    "slug": "crontab-generate",
    "inputs": {
      "description": "This is a test input for automated capability testing."
    },
    "max_price_cents": 5
  }
}

import { Strale } from "straleio";

const strale = new Strale({ apiKey: process.env.STRALE_API_KEY! });
const result = await strale.do({
  capability_slug: "crontab-generate",
  inputs: {
    "description": "This is a test input for automated capability testing."
  },
  max_price_cents: 5,
});

import os
from straleio import Strale, DoRequest

strale = Strale(api_key=os.environ["STRALE_API_KEY"])
result = strale.do(DoRequest(
    capability_slug="crontab-generate",
    inputs={
        "description": "This is a test input for automated capability testing.",
    },
    max_price_cents=5,
))

# No account. The first request answers 402 with the price in USDC;
# an x402 client pays it from your wallet and repeats the request.
curl -i 'https://api.strale.io/x402/v2/crontab-generate?description=This+is+a+test+input+for+automated+capability+testing.'

Limitations

Cron extensions may not work in every scheduler
Generates standard cron expressions — non-standard extensions (e.g., seconds field, @reboot) may not be supported by all schedulers
What to do instead: Verify the generated expression against your specific cron implementation (e.g., systemd vs crontab vs cloud scheduler)