Curated cron expression
Every 10 Minutes Cron Expression: */10 * * * *
Learn */10 * * * * — fires at :00, :10, :20 through :50 each hour — with platform conversions and next-run preview.
Meaning at a glance
*/10 * * * *
Run every ten minutes
Six times per hour, 144 runs per day.
Next-run example: At 10:07, next runs are 10:10, 10:20, 10:30, 10:40.
How */10 * * * * works
The */10 step in the minute field selects every tenth minute starting at 0.
This cadence is common for health checks and queue polling where five minutes is too aggressive but fifteen feels too slow.
| Field | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Minute | */10 | Configured as */10 |
| Hour | * | Every value |
| Day of month | * | Every value |
| Month | * | Every value |
| Day of week | * | Every value |
Good use cases
- Health probes
- Metrics sampling
- Queue depth checks
Timezone and daylight-saving behavior
Interval is timezone-neutral; labels depend on scheduler timezone.
Sub-hour cadence continues across DST; use UTC keys for deduplication.
The expression does not contain a timezone. The scheduler supplies that context. Use the next-run preview above in the same IANA timezone as production, then confirm the target platform's own timezone rules.
Platform compatibility and converted expressions
The source expression is five-field Unix cron. Use the exact equivalent below rather than adding or removing fields by sight.
| Platform | Status | Expression | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unix crontab | Ready | */10 * * * * | Use directly in a normal five-field user crontab. |
| Kubernetes CronJob | Ready | */10 * * * * | Use as spec.schedule; set spec.timeZone when local wall-clock behavior matters. |
| GitHub Actions | Ready | */10 * * * * | Use under on.schedule; UTC is the default and an IANA timezone may be specified. |
| Vercel Cron Jobs | Plan / behavior limit | */10 * * * * | The expression is valid, but Vercel always uses UTC and Hobby schedules run at most once per day. |
| AWS EventBridge Scheduler | Convert | cron(*/10 * ? * ? *) | Convert to AWS minute-first cron(...), add the required year, and use ? in one day field. |
| Spring @Scheduled | Convert | 0 */10 * * * * | Use Spring’s six fields by prepending seconds and set zone explicitly when needed. |
| systemd timer | Convert | */10 * * * * | Use OnCalendar syntax and validate it with systemd-analyze calendar on the target host. |
Edge cases to check before deployment
- Jobs longer than 10 minutes can overlap.
- Thundering herd at :00 and :30 boundaries.
Frequently asked questions
What does the cron expression */10 * * * * mean?
*/10 * * * * means “run every ten minutes.” Six times per hour, 144 runs per day.
What are the next run times for */10 * * * *?
At 10:07, next runs are 10:10, 10:20, 10:30, 10:40. Exact timestamps depend on the scheduler timezone and the current time.
What timezone does */10 * * * * use?
Interval is timezone-neutral; labels depend on scheduler timezone.
Can I use */10 * * * * on every scheduling platform?
No. It is a five-field Unix expression. Some platforms accept it directly, while AWS EventBridge Scheduler, Spring, and systemd require the converted form shown in the compatibility table.