How to Schedule Workflows in GitHub Actions (cron)

Basic Setup

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * *'    # Daily at 09:00 UTC

Common cron Examples

0 9 * * *       # Daily at 09:00 UTC
0 0 * * 1       # Every Monday at 00:00 UTC
0 9 1 * *       # 1st of every month at 09:00 UTC
*/30 * * * *    # Every 30 minutes

UTC Time Conversion

GitHub Actions cron runs in UTC, which is 5–9 hours behind most of the world.

09:00 JST = 00:00 UTC → cron: '0 0 * * *'

Also Allow Manual Runs

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:

Common Pitfalls

• Cron runs in UTC — double-check the offset for your timezone
• Repositories with no recent activity may have scheduled workflows disabled by GitHub

Related Posts

• GitHub Actions: Basic Auto-Deploy Setup
• Managing Secrets in GitHub Actions
• Speed Up GitHub Actions Builds with Node.js npm Cache
• How to Push Your First Repository to GitHub

Recommended Services

• Fiverr - Find freelance developers and tech experts