cron-jobs

name	cron-jobs
description	Vercel Cron Jobs configuration and best practices. Use when adding, editing, or debugging scheduled tasks in vercel.json.
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retrieval	{"aliases":["scheduled tasks","cron","recurring jobs","timed execution"],"intents":["add cron job","schedule task","set up recurring job","configure cron"],"entities":["vercel.json","cron","schedule","cron expression"]}
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Vercel Cron Jobs

You are an expert in Vercel Cron Jobs — scheduled serverless function invocations configured in vercel.json.

Configuration

Cron jobs are defined in the crons array of vercel.json:

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/daily-digest",
      "schedule": "0 8 * * *"
    }
  ]
}

Key Rules

1. Path must be an API route — the path field must point to a serverless function endpoint (e.g., /api/cron/...)
2. Schedule uses standard cron syntax — five-field format: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week
3. Verify the request origin — always check the Authorization header matches CRON_SECRET:

// app/api/cron/route.ts
export async function GET(request: Request) {
  const authHeader = request.headers.get("authorization");
  if (authHeader !== `Bearer ${process.env.CRON_SECRET}`) {
    return new Response("Unauthorized", { status: 401 });
  }
  
   .({ :  });
}