Cron Reference

Every Minute

Q: How do I stop a every-minute cron job?

Remove or comment out the entry in crontab -e . Add # at the start of the line to disable without deleting.

Q: What is the most frequent cron can run?

Standard cron resolution is one minute — * * * * * . For sub-minute scheduling consider systemd timers, a persistent worker process, or a task queue.

Runs once per minute, every hour of every day.

Cron Expression

* * * * * Test in tool

Every minute

Expression Breakdown

Minute	Hour	Day	Month	Weekday
*	*	*	*	*
any	any	any	any	any

Next 5 Scheduled Runs

Saturday, June 13 2026 at 8:39 PM
Saturday, June 13 2026 at 8:40 PM
Saturday, June 13 2026 at 8:41 PM
Saturday, June 13 2026 at 8:42 PM
Saturday, June 13 2026 at 8:43 PM

Times are relative to the server's local clock at page load.

Common Use Cases

Watchdog / heartbeat monitors
Real-time metric collectors
Queue processors that need minimal latency

How to Install

Linux / macOS (crontab)

Run crontab -e and add this line:

* * * * * /path/to/your/script.sh

Python (APScheduler / cron-style)

scheduler.add_job(my_func, 'cron',
    minute='*',
    hour='*',
    day='*',
    month='*',
    day_of_week='*')

GitHub Actions (schedule)

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '* * * * *'

Frequently Asked Questions

Is running a cron job every minute safe?

Yes, as long as each run completes well within 60 seconds. If a job overlaps with the next trigger you can end up with duplicate processes. Use a lock file or a tool like flock to prevent overlapping runs.

How do I stop a every-minute cron job?

Remove or comment out the entry in crontab -e. Add # at the start of the line to disable without deleting.

What is the most frequent cron can run?

Standard cron resolution is one minute — * * * * *. For sub-minute scheduling consider systemd timers, a persistent worker process, or a task queue.