Skip to content
Recuro Docs

Creating a Cron Schedule

This guide walks you through creating a cron schedule — a recurring HTTP request that fires on a cron expression.

Via the dashboard

  1. Navigate to Crons in the sidebar
  2. Click New Cron
  3. Fill in the form:
    • Name: A descriptive name (e.g., “API Health Check”)
    • URL: The endpoint to call (e.g., https://api.yourapp.com/health)
    • Method: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE
    • Cron Expression: A standard 5-field expression (e.g., */5 * * * * for every 5 minutes)
  4. Optionally configure:
    • Headers: Key-value pairs sent with the request
    • Payload: Raw string body (for POST/PUT/PATCH)
    • Callback URL: A URL to receive a POST after each execution
    • Timeout: 1-300 seconds (default: 30)
    • Alert Threshold: 1, 2, or 3 consecutive failures before alerting
    • Success Assertions: Conditions the response must satisfy
    • Active: Whether the cron starts firing immediately
  5. Click Create

The cron starts firing on the next scheduled time.

Via the API

curl

Terminal window
curl -X POST https://app.recurohq.com/api/crons \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "API Health Check",
    "url": "https://api.yourapp.com/health",
    "method": "GET",
    "cron_expression": "*/5 * * * *",
    "timeout_seconds": 30,
    "alert_threshold": 3,
    "success_assertions": [
      { "type": "status_code_equals", "value": "200" },
      { "type": "response_time_under_ms", "value": "5000" }
    ]
  }'

PHP

$response = Http::withToken('YOUR_API_TOKEN')
    ->post('https://app.recurohq.com/api/crons', [
        'name' => 'API Health Check',
        'url' => 'https://api.yourapp.com/health',
        'method' => 'GET',
        'cron_expression' => '*/5 * * * *',
        'timeout_seconds' => 30,
        'alert_threshold' => 3,
        'success_assertions' => [
            ['type' => 'status_code_equals', 'value' => '200'],
            ['type' => 'response_time_under_ms', 'value' => '5000'],
        ],
    ]);


$cron = $response->json();
echo "Created cron {$cron['id']}, next run at {$cron['next_run_at']}";

Node.js

const response = await fetch('https://app.recurohq.com/api/crons', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: 'API Health Check',
    url: 'https://api.yourapp.com/health',
    method: 'GET',
    cron_expression: '*/5 * * * *',
    timeout_seconds: 30,
    alert_threshold: 3,
    success_assertions: [
      { type: 'status_code_equals', value: '200' },
      { type: 'response_time_under_ms', value: '5000' },
    ],
  }),
});


const cron = await response.json();
console.log(`Created cron ${cron.id}, next run at ${cron.next_run_at}`);

Python

import requests


response = requests.post(
    'https://app.recurohq.com/api/crons',
    headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN'},
    json={
        'name': 'API Health Check',
        'url': 'https://api.yourapp.com/health',
        'method': 'GET',
        'cron_expression': '*/5 * * * *',
        'timeout_seconds': 30,
        'alert_threshold': 3,
        'success_assertions': [
            {'type': 'status_code_equals', 'value': '200'},
            {'type': 'response_time_under_ms', 'value': '5000'},
        ],
    },
)


cron = response.json()
print(f"Created cron {cron['id']}, next run at {cron['next_run_at']}")

See the full API reference for all parameters and response details.

Choosing the right cron expression

GoalExpression
Every minute* * * * *
Every 5 minutes*/5 * * * *
Every hour at minute 00 * * * *
Daily at midnight0 0 * * *
Daily at 9 AM0 9 * * *
Weekdays at 9 AM0 9 * * 1-5
Every Monday at midnight0 0 * * 1
First day of the month at midnight0 0 1 * *
Every 15 minutes during business hours*/15 9-17 * * 1-5

Setting up assertions

Assertions verify that your endpoint’s response meets your expectations. If any assertion fails, the execution is marked as failed.

Example: Check that your health endpoint returns 200 with a body containing “ok” in under 5 seconds:

{
  "success_assertions": [
    { "type": "status_code_equals", "value": "200" },
    { "type": "body_contains", "value": "ok" },
    { "type": "response_time_under_ms", "value": "5000" }
  ]
}

See Cron Schedules > Success assertions for all assertion types.

Configuring headers and payload

Custom headers

Add authentication or custom headers:

{
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer your-endpoint-token",
    "X-Source": "recuro",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  }
}

Request body

The payload field is a raw string. For JSON payloads, serialize as a JSON string:

{
  "payload": "{\"action\":\"sync\",\"source\":\"recuro\"}"
}

Next steps