NaturalCron 0.2.1

.NET 8.0 This package targets .NET 8.0. The package is compatible with this framework or higher. .NET Standard 2.0 This package targets .NET Standard 2.0. The package is compatible with this framework or higher. 
dotnet add package NaturalCron --version 0.2.1
                    


                    

                
NuGet\Install-Package NaturalCron -Version 0.2.1
This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package. 
<PackageReference Include="NaturalCron" Version="0.2.1" />
For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package. 
<PackageVersion Include="NaturalCron" Version="0.2.1" />
                    


                            Directory.Packages.props
                        

                    

                
<PackageReference Include="NaturalCron" />
                    


                            Project file
For projects that support Central Package Management (CPM), copy this XML node into the solution Directory.Packages.props file to version the package. 
paket add NaturalCron --version 0.2.1
                    


                    

                
#r "nuget: NaturalCron, 0.2.1"
#r directive can be used in F# Interactive and Polyglot Notebooks. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package. 
#:package NaturalCron@0.2.1
#:package directive can be used in C# file-based apps starting in .NET 10 preview 4. Copy this into a .cs file before any lines of code to reference the package. 
#addin nuget:?package=NaturalCron&version=0.2.1
                    


                            Install as a Cake Addin
                        

                    

                
#tool nuget:?package=NaturalCron&version=0.2.1
                    


                            Install as a Cake Tool

NaturalCron

License: MIT

NaturalCron is a human-readable scheduling engine for .NET. It lets you write schedules in a clear and intuitive way instead of memorizing cryptic cron strings.

Why? Because memorizing 0 18 * * 1-5 is harder than understanding every day between monday and friday at 6:00pm.

Readable schedules reduce mistakes, write expressions that you can understand at a glance.

Note: NaturalCron is not a cron converter. It’s a new expressive syntax for better readability.

💡 Why use NaturalCron?

  • Readable syntax: every 30 minutes in [jan, jun] between 09:00 and 18:00
  • Fluent Builder API: Strongly typed for .NET developers.
  • No online generators needed.
  • Features:
    • Ranges
    • Weekday list
    • Closest weekday, first/last day handling
    • Time zone support with IANA TZ names

🚀 Quick Start

Using an Expression

using System;
using NaturalCron;

// Define an advanced expression
string expression = "every 30 minutes in [jan, jun] between 09:00 and 18:00";

// Parse and calculate next occurrence (local time)
NaturalCronExpr schedule = NaturalCronExpr.Parse(expression);
DateTime next = schedule.GetNextOccurrence(DateTime.Now);

Console.WriteLine($"Next occurrence: {next}");

Using Fluent Builder

using System;
using NaturalCron;
using NaturalCron.Builder;

NaturalCronExpr schedule = NaturalCronBuilder
.Every(30).Minutes()
.In(NaturalCronMonth.Jan)
.Between("09:00", "18:00")
.Build();

DateTime next = schedule.GetNextOccurrenceInUtc(DateTime.UtcNow);

Console.WriteLine($"Next occurrence in UTC: {next}");

⚡ Try it online: Run on .NET Fiddle

🆚 Cron vs NaturalCron

Task Cron Expression NaturalCron Expression
Every 5 minutes */5 * * * * every 5 minutes
Every weekday at 6 PM 0 18 * * 1-5 every day between mon and fri at 18:00
Every 30 min in Jan and Jun (9:00-18:00) (Complex in cron) every 30 minutes in [jan, jun] between 09:00 and 18:00

📝 Syntax Overview

Examples:

every 5 minutes
every day at 18:00
every 30 minutes in [jan, jun] between 09:00 and 18:00
every day at 10:00 on [monday, wednesday, friday]

📖 Documentation

Product Compatible and additional computed target framework versions.
.NET net5.0 was computed.  net5.0-windows was computed.  net6.0 was computed.  net6.0-android was computed.  net6.0-ios was computed.  net6.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net6.0-macos was computed.  net6.0-tvos was computed.  net6.0-windows was computed.  net7.0 was computed.  net7.0-android was computed.  net7.0-ios was computed.  net7.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net7.0-macos was computed.  net7.0-tvos was computed.  net7.0-windows was computed.  net8.0 is compatible.  net8.0-android was computed.  net8.0-browser was computed.  net8.0-ios was computed.  net8.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net8.0-macos was computed.  net8.0-tvos was computed.  net8.0-windows was computed.  net9.0 was computed.  net9.0-android was computed.  net9.0-browser was computed.  net9.0-ios was computed.  net9.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net9.0-macos was computed.  net9.0-tvos was computed.  net9.0-windows was computed.  net10.0 was computed.  net10.0-android was computed.  net10.0-browser was computed.  net10.0-ios was computed.  net10.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net10.0-macos was computed.  net10.0-tvos was computed.  net10.0-windows was computed. 
.NET Core netcoreapp2.0 was computed.  netcoreapp2.1 was computed.  netcoreapp2.2 was computed.  netcoreapp3.0 was computed.  netcoreapp3.1 was computed. 
.NET Standard netstandard2.0 is compatible.  netstandard2.1 was computed. 
.NET Framework net461 was computed.  net462 was computed.  net463 was computed.  net47 was computed.  net471 was computed.  net472 was computed.  net48 was computed.  net481 was computed. 
MonoAndroid monoandroid was computed. 
MonoMac monomac was computed. 
MonoTouch monotouch was computed. 
Tizen tizen40 was computed.  tizen60 was computed. 
Xamarin.iOS xamarinios was computed. 
Xamarin.Mac xamarinmac was computed. 
Xamarin.TVOS xamarintvos was computed. 
Xamarin.WatchOS xamarinwatchos was computed. 
Compatible target framework(s)
Included target framework(s) (in package)
Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.

NuGet packages (1)

Showing the top 1 NuGet packages that depend on NaturalCron:

Package Downloads
NaturalCron.Quartz

Quartz.NET trigger extension for natural language scheduling. Schedule jobs with phrases like "every Monday at 9am" or "every 5 seconds".

GitHub repositories

This package is not used by any popular GitHub repositories.

Version Downloads Last Updated
0.2.1 121 9/10/2025
0.2.0 135 7/28/2025
0.1.0 327 7/20/2025

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