crnd

Pronounced "crowned" — Cron daemon built for agents. Text-first output, no prompts, real OS processes.

Install

``sh


global install

bun i -g crnd
npm i -g crnd

or run directly

bunx crnd
npx crnd

or homebrew

brew install ysm-dev/crnd/crnd
`

Agent Skill

Install the crnd skill for your coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, etc.):

`sh
npx skills add ysm-dev/crnd
`

This teaches your agent how to schedule and manage cron jobs using crnd.

30 seconds to your first job

`sh


start daemon (happens automatically, but let's be explicit)

crnd daemon start

schedule a backup at 2am UTC daily

crnd schedule -n backup -s "0 2 *" -- rsync -a ~/docs ~/backup

schedule a one-time job in 5 minutes

crnd schedule -n reminder -i 5m -- say "Time to stretch!"

run it now

crnd run-once -n backup

check status

crnd status -n backup
`

That's it. Job definitions live in ~/.config/crnd/jobs.toml - edit it directly and the daemon picks up changes.

Why crnd

Most cron tools are built for humans clicking around. crnd is built for scripts and agents that need to:

- Schedule jobs without interactive prompts
- Parse structured output (crnd list --json)
- Stream logs from running processes
- Kill/stop jobs by name
- Trust that jobs run as real OS processes (not some container abstraction)

Everything runs locally. No cloud, no Docker, no account, no network calls.

Commands

`sh
crnd schedule -n NAME -s "CRON" -- command args # create/update job
crnd schedule -n NAME -a "ISO_TIMESTAMP" -- cmd # one-time job (absolute)
crnd schedule -n NAME -i "5m" -- cmd # one-time job (relative)
crnd list # all jobs
crnd status -n NAME # job details
crnd runs -n NAME # run history
crnd logs -n NAME -s # stream stdout/stderr
crnd run-once -n NAME # trigger now
crnd pause -n NAME # pause scheduling
crnd resume -n NAME # resume
crnd stop -n NAME # graceful stop (SIGTERM)
crnd kill -n NAME # hard kill (SIGKILL)
crnd delete -n NAME -f # remove job
crnd export # dump jobs.toml
crnd import -f jobs.toml # load jobs
crnd daemon install # autostart on login
crnd doctor # check setup
crnd upgrade # update to latest version
crnd upgrade --check # check for updates
`

All commands default to text output; use --json for machine-readable output.

jobs.toml

`toml
[jobs.backup]
command = ["rsync", "-a", "/src", "/dst"]
schedule = "0 2 *"
timezone = "UTC"
timeout_ms = 600000

[jobs.deploy]
command = ["./deploy.sh"]
run_at = "2026-02-01T10:00:00Z"
`

Edit this file directly. The daemon watches it and syncs automatically.

Paths:
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/crnd/
- Linux: ~/.config/crnd/
- Windows: %APPDATA%\crnd\

How it works

- Each job spawns a real OS process via Bun.spawn
- State lives in SQLite, job definitions in TOML
- Daemon runs per-user, binds to 127.0.0.1
- Autostart via launchd (macOS), systemd user (Linux), or Task Scheduler (Windows)
- Stdout/stderr saved per-run in state/runs//.out|.err
- Auto-updates like Homebrew (checks every 24hrs, updates before commands)

Auto-Update

crnd checks for updates automatically (like Homebrew). To disable:

`sh
export CRND_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1
`

Or configure the check interval (default 24 hours):

`sh
export CRND_AUTO_UPDATE_SECS=3600 # check every hour
`

Manual update:

`sh
crnd upgrade # update now
crnd upgrade --check # just check, don't update
`

Development

`sh
bun install
bun run dev # start daemon in dev mode
bun run build # compile single binary
bun test
``

License

MIT