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Quick Start Guide

Create your first scheduled job and start monitoring executions.

Note: This guide is for using Cronicorn as a hosted service. If you're self-hosting, see the Self-Hosting Documentation.

1. Sign Up​

  1. Visit https://cronicorn.com
  2. Click Sign in with GitHub
  3. Authorize the application

2. Create Your First Job​

Jobs group related endpoints together. Let's create one for API monitoring:

  1. Click Create Job
  2. Fill in the details:
    • Name: API Health Checks
    • Description: Monitor our API endpoints
  3. Click Create

3. Add an Endpoint​

Now let's add an HTTP endpoint to monitor:

  1. Click on your newly created job

  2. Click Add Endpoint

  3. Fill in:

    • Name: Main API Health
    • URL: https://api.yourapp.com/health
    • Method: GET
    • Baseline Schedule: Choose either:
      • Cron: */5 * * * * (every 5 minutes)
      • Interval: 300000 (milliseconds = 5 minutes)

  4. (Optional but recommended) Add a description to guide AI behavior:

    • Description: Monitors API health. Poll more frequently when status shows errors or latency is high. Return to baseline when metrics normalize.

  5. (Optional) Add safety constraints:

    • Min Interval: 30000 (30 seconds - prevents over-polling)
    • Max Interval: 900000 (15 minutes - ensures regular checks)

  6. Click Add Endpoint

Tip: The description tells the AI when to adapt. Without a description, AI uses only response data and execution history. With a good description, you can express specific adaptation rules in natural language.

4. View Execution History​

Your endpoint will start executing automatically. To monitor it:

  1. Click on the endpoint name
  2. View the Runs tab to see:
    • Execution timestamps
    • Success/failure status
    • Response time
    • Error messages (if any)

5. Enable AI Adaptation (Optional)​

Want AI to optimize your schedule automatically?

  1. Navigate to Settings in the top navigation
  2. Find the AI Features section
  3. Toggle Enable AI Scheduling
  4. Your endpoints will now adapt based on performance patterns

How AI helps:

  • Increases frequency when errors detected
  • Backs off when everything is stable
  • Always respects your min/max constraints
  • All hints expire automatically (TTL)

Common Patterns​

API Health Check​

Monitor an API endpoint with adaptive frequency:

Name: API Health Check
URL: https://api.example.com/health
Method: GET
Baseline: Every 5 minutes (300000ms)
Min Interval: 30 seconds (prevents rate limit issues)
Max Interval: 15 minutes (ensures timely detection)

With AI enabled:

  • Normal state: Runs every 5 minutes
  • Errors detected: Increases to every 30 seconds
  • All healthy: Backs off to every 15 minutes

Data Sync​

Synchronize data between systems:

Name: User Sync
URL: https://api.example.com/sync/users
Method: POST
Body: {"lastSyncTime": "{{lastRunAt}}"}
Baseline: Every hour (3600000ms)
Max Interval: 2 hours (ensures freshness)

Daily Cleanup​

Run maintenance tasks on a schedule:

Name: Database Cleanup
URL: https://api.example.com/admin/cleanup
Method: POST
Baseline: Daily at 2am (cron: "0 2 * * *")
Timeout: 300000ms (5 minutes)

Using API Keys​

For programmatic access, create API keys:

  1. Go to Settings → API Keys
  2. Click Create API Key
  3. Give it a name and copy the key (shown only once!)
  4. Use in your requests:
curl -X GET https://cronicorn.com/api/jobs \
  -H "x-api-key: cron_abc123..."

See the API Reference for all available endpoints.

Using with AI Assistants​

Cronicorn provides an MCP server for AI assistants like Claude:

Installation​

npm install -g @cronicorn/mcp-server

Configuration​

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cronicorn": {
      "command": "cronicorn-mcp"
    }
  }
}

First Run​

The MCP server will:

  1. Display a device code
  2. Open your browser to approve access
  3. Store credentials securely

Then ask Claude to manage your jobs:

  • "Create a health check endpoint for api.example.com"
  • "Show me the run history for my API health check"
  • "Pause all endpoints for the next hour"

Troubleshooting​

Endpoint Not Running​

Check the endpoint status:

  1. Open the endpoint details
  2. Look for Status field
  3. If "Paused", click Resume

Check execution history:

  1. View the Runs tab
  2. Look for error messages
  3. Check if the URL is accessible

Authentication Errors​

For HTTPS endpoints with auth:

  1. Add authentication headers in the endpoint configuration
  2. Common headers:
    • Authorization: Bearer <token>
    • x-api-key: <key>

Timeout Errors​

If requests are timing out:

  1. Edit the endpoint
  2. Increase Timeout (default is 30 seconds)
  3. Consider if your API needs optimization

Rate Limit Errors​

If you're hitting rate limits:

  1. Increase Min Interval (e.g., from 30s to 60s)
  2. Adjust Baseline Schedule to be less frequent
  3. Let AI adapt (it will back off automatically)

See Also​