Cron next runs

Parse a 5-field cron expression and return the next N run times (UTC). Send POST /api/cron-next with the required field expr and pay $0.001 per call over x402 or MPP, or call it free by solving a proof-of-work challenge. It returns a JSON object with expr and next.

Category: Time & scheduling · Tags: cron schedule time

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Parameters

Example request

curl -i -X POST https://agent402.tools/api/cron-next \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"expr":"*/15 9-17 * * 1-5","count":5}'

Without payment this returns HTTP 402 Payment Required with the exact price for cron-next; any x402 v2 or MPP client pays it and retries.

Example response

{
  "expr": "*/15 9-17 * * 1-5",
  "next": [
    "2026-06-11T09:00:00.000Z"
  ]
}

From an MCP client

catalog.call {
  "slug": "cron-next",
  "params": {
    "expr": "*/15 9-17 * * 1-5",
    "count": 5
  }
}

On the hosted connector at https://agent402.tools/mcp, catalog.call runs cron-next free (rate-limited, no wallet). Local install: npx -y agent402-mcp.

Errors and behavior

• expr is required. An input the tool rejects returns an HTTP 4xx whose body carries error, tool, expected, required and example, so the caller can correct it.
• A paid call that ends in any status of 400 or above is not charged over x402, MPP or a prepaid credits key: settlement is cancelled when the tool fails. The exception is a Tempo push credential, a transfer the buyer sent before the call: it settles before the tool runs, so if the tool then fails the payment is recorded as a refund owed to the paying wallet.
• Free tier: no outbound network call leaves the server for this tool, so proof-of-work (16 leading zero bits of sha256) pays for it.
• A GET or HEAD to /api/cron-next returns the same 402 quote, so the price can be read without a body.
• An Idempotency-Key header makes a retried paid call replay the first 200 instead of charging again (an answer larger than 1 MB is not replayed).

Paid call (JavaScript agent)

import { wrapFetchWithPayment } from "@x402/fetch";
import { x402Client } from "@x402/core/client";
import { registerExactEvmScheme } from "@x402/evm/exact/client";
import { privateKeyToAccount } from "viem/accounts";

const client = new x402Client();
client.setSpendControls?.(false); // keep your own spending ceiling in code
registerExactEvmScheme(client, { signer: privateKeyToAccount(KEY) });
const payFetch = wrapFetchWithPayment(fetch, client);

const res = await payFetch("https://agent402.tools/api/cron-next", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "expr": "*/15 9-17 * * 1-5",
    "count": 5
  }),
});

No wallet? Pay with compute

Fetch a challenge, solve the sha256 puzzle (16 leading zero bits, a fraction of a second of CPU), and resend with the X-Pow-Solution header:

import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
const lz = (b) => { let t = 0; for (const x of b) { if (!x) { t += 8; continue; } t += Math.clz32(x) - 24; break; } return t; };
const c = await (await fetch("https://agent402.tools/api/pow/challenge?slug=cron-next")).json();
let n = 0;
while (lz(createHash("sha256").update(c.challenge + ":" + n).digest()) < c.difficulty) n++;
await fetch("https://agent402.tools/api/cron-next", { method: "POST", headers: { "X-Pow-Solution": c.token + ":" + n, "Content-Type": "application/json" }, body: JSON.stringify({"expr":"*/15 9-17 * * 1-5","count":5}) });

Part of these workflows

Cron next runs is one step in this skill pack, each sold as a single call:

• Timezone planner - Time zone conversion, business day calculation, and cron schedule preview - scheduling in one pass.

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