npm install friendly-cron
const friendlyCron = require('friendly-cron')
const pattern = friendlyCron('every 15 minutes')
// returns 0 */15 * * * *
friendly-cron exposes a single function that returns either a cron expression string or null if the input string isn't parseable.
It's a very simple matching function that looks for "second", "minute", "hour", "day", "month", or "year", optionally proceeded by a number.
Example valid strings:
- "every hour"
- "every 15 minutes"
- "10 days"
It's often the case that you want jobs to run at some interval, but you don't want everything running in batches at, say, the top of the hour.
To add a random offset to your cron pattern, you can add the { random: true } option, like so:
const pattern = friendlyCron('every 15 minutes', { random: true })
// returns something like 34 0-59/15 * * * *