> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.script.it/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Schedule triggers

> Schedule triggers fire your script automatically at a fixed cadence — choose a common interval or write a custom cron expression with timezone support.

A schedule trigger fires your script on a recurring basis without any manual action. You define when it should run — daily, weekly, monthly, or on a custom cadence — and Script.it creates a new session and runs the script each time the schedule fires. Schedule triggers are well-suited for reports, digests, data syncs, and any routine task that belongs on a fixed cadence.

## Setting up a schedule trigger

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Triggers tab">
    Open the script you want to schedule. Click the **Triggers** tab, then click **Add Trigger**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name the trigger and choose Schedule">
    Enter a name for the trigger — something descriptive like "Daily sales report". In the **Trigger Type** dropdown, select **Schedule**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a frequency">
    Use the **How often?** dropdown to pick a preset or write a custom cron expression:

    * **Every 30 minutes** — runs twice an hour
    * **Every hour** — runs at the start of each hour
    * **Every few hours** — choose an interval of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12 hours
    * **Every day at…** — runs once a day at the time you select
    * **Every weekday at…** — runs Monday through Friday at the time you select
    * **Every week on…** — runs once a week on the day and time you select
    * **Every month on…** — runs once a month on the day (1–28) and time you select
    * **Advanced (custom cron)** — enter a cron expression directly

    The UI shows a plain-English summary of your schedule as you build it (for example, "At 9:00 AM, every day").

    <Note>
      The minimum allowed interval is every 30 minutes. Schedules that would fire more frequently than that are not accepted.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the timezone">
    Use the **Timezone** picker to choose the timezone your schedule should be interpreted in. By default, this is set to your browser's timezone. If you share a trigger with a team member in another timezone, make sure the timezone is set explicitly so the schedule fires when you expect.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the script">
    Pick the script to run, and fill in any inputs it needs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create the trigger">
    Click **Create Trigger**. The trigger activates immediately and will fire at its next scheduled time.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  You can skip the form entirely and describe the schedule in chat: *"Run this every weekday morning at 8 AM."* The agent sets it up for you.
</Tip>

## Cron expression format

When you select **Advanced (custom cron)**, you write a standard five-field cron expression:

```text theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
minute  hour  day-of-month  month  day-of-week
```

Each field accepts a specific set of values:

| Field        | Allowed values   | Special characters |
| ------------ | ---------------- | ------------------ |
| Minute       | 0–59             | `*` `,` `/`        |
| Hour         | 0–23             | `*` `,` `/`        |
| Day of month | 1–31             | `*` `,` `/`        |
| Month        | 1–12             | `*` `,` `/`        |
| Day of week  | 0–6 (0 = Sunday) | `*` `,` `/` `-`    |

### Common examples

| Cron expression | When it runs                       |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| `0 9 * * *`     | Every day at 9:00 AM               |
| `0 9 * * 1`     | Every Monday at 9:00 AM            |
| `0 9 * * 1-5`   | Every weekday (Mon–Fri) at 9:00 AM |
| `0 */6 * * *`   | Every 6 hours                      |
| `0 9 1 * *`     | The 1st of every month at 9:00 AM  |
| `*/30 * * * *`  | Every 30 minutes                   |

<Note>
  All cron expressions are evaluated in the timezone you selected. `0 9 * * 1` means Monday at 9:00 AM in your chosen timezone, not UTC — unless you explicitly choose UTC as the timezone.
</Note>

## What happens when a schedule fires

When a scheduled trigger fires, Script.it runs your script. The run appears in your session history like any other, and if the script produces output files they're available there.

If a scheduled run fails — because the script has an error, say — the trigger stays active and tries again at the next scheduled time. If it fails five times in a row, Script.it pauses it and lets you know. See [Managing triggers](/triggers/managing).

## Turning a schedule off

Use the switch on the trigger in your script to stop it firing without losing its settings, and the same switch to start it again.

Deleting a trigger removes it for everyone in the workspace who had enabled it — see [Managing triggers](/triggers/managing) before you delete a schedule on a shared script.