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node-cron cron expression: every day at 2:00 AM
To run a node-cron job every day at 2:00 AM, use:
0 2 * * *At 02:00 UTC.
Your week at a glance
Upcoming runs
| # | Local | UTC | From now |
|---|
Copy-ready code
Why use this schedule
A quiet, low-traffic hour, popular for backups and heavy maintenance. Most user-facing systems are at their lightest around this time, so a slow job is less likely to be noticed.
- Full database backups
- Reindexing and vacuum jobs
- Dependency or image rebuilds
First runs, as an example
Starting from 1 January 2027, evaluated in UTC:
| # | Date and time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fri, 01 Jan 2027, 02:00:00 |
| 2 | Sat, 02 Jan 2027, 02:00:00 |
| 3 | Sun, 03 Jan 2027, 02:00:00 |
| 4 | Mon, 04 Jan 2027, 02:00:00 |
| 5 | Tue, 05 Jan 2027, 02:00:00 |
| 6 | Wed, 06 Jan 2027, 02:00:00 |
Every day at 2:00 AM in every dialect
| System | Expression |
|---|---|
| node-cron (this page) | 0 2 * * * |
| Quartz | 0 0 2 * * ? |
| Spring | 0 0 2 * * * |
| Crontab | 0 2 * * * |
| Kubernetes | 0 2 * * * |
| AWS EventBridge | 0 2 * * ? * |
| Jenkins | H 2 * * * |
| GitHub Actions | 0 2 * * * |
| Apache Airflow | 0 2 * * * |
| Azure Functions | 0 0 2 * * * |
| Google Cloud Scheduler | 0 2 * * * |
Need to translate a different expression? Use the cron converter.
Ready-to-use node-cron config
Drop this into your project. The expression is the one above.
import cron from 'node-cron';
cron.schedule('0 2 * * *', () => {
console.log('running a task');
}, { timezone: 'UTC' });The node-cron fields, in order: second (0-59), minute (0-59), hour (0-23), day-of-month (1-31), month (1-12), day-of-week (0-7, 0 and 7 = Sunday).
Things to watch out for in node-cron
- Five fields: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week. Add a leading seconds field for sub-minute schedules.
- node-cron uses the server time zone unless you pass { timezone: "Asia/Kolkata" }. Its documentation advises timezone: "UTC" for jobs that must not skip or repeat when clocks change.
The common mistake with this schedule
02:00 is a trap in daylight-saving zones: on the spring-forward night that hour does not exist, so the job may be skipped or run late. Run it in UTC or pick another time.
Frequently asked questions
How do I run a node-cron job every day at 2:00 AM?
Use 0 2 * * *. At 02:00 UTC.
What is the every day at 2:00 AM cron expression in other systems?
Quartz: 0 0 2 * * ?; Spring: 0 0 2 * * *; Crontab: 0 2 * * *. The table on this page lists every dialect.
Which time zone does node-cron use for this schedule?
node-cron uses the server time zone unless you pass { timezone: "Asia/Kolkata" }. Its documentation advises timezone: "UTC" for jobs that must not skip or repeat when clocks change.