Quick Start

This guide will help you create and manage your first cron job with A1Cron. By the end, you’ll have a scheduled task running automatically.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

An A1Base account
Your API key and secret from the dashboard
A publicly accessible endpoint URL to call

Step 1: Create Your First Cron Job

Let’s create a simple daily cron job that calls your endpoint every morning at 9 AM.

curl -X POST https://api.a1base.com/v1/cron-jobs/{accountId}/create \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-api-key" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: your-api-secret" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Daily Morning Report",
    "description": "Generate daily sales report",
    "endpoint_url": "https://your-app.com/api/daily-report",
    "method": "POST",
    "headers": {
      "Authorization": "Bearer your-token",
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    "body": "{\"report_type\": \"daily\", \"format\": \"pdf\"}",
    "timezone": "America/New_York",
    "schedule_config": {
      "repeat_type": "days",
      "repeat_every": 1,
      "time": "09:00",
      "end_type": "never"
    },
    "retry_config": {
      "max_retries": 3,
      "retry_delay_seconds": 300,
      "timeout_seconds": 30
    },
    "tags": ["reports", "daily"],
    "is_active": true
  }'

const axios = require('axios');

const createCronJob = async () => {
  try {
    const response = await axios.post(
      'https://api.a1base.com/v1/cron-jobs/{accountId}/create',
      {
        name: 'Daily Morning Report',
        description: 'Generate daily sales report',
        endpoint_url: 'https://your-app.com/api/daily-report',
        method: 'POST',
        headers: {
          'Authorization': 'Bearer your-token',
          'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        },
        body: JSON.stringify({
          report_type: 'daily',
          format: 'pdf'
        }),
        timezone: 'America/New_York',
        schedule_config: {
          repeat_type: 'days',
          repeat_every: 1,
          time: '09:00',
          end_type: 'never'
        },
        retry_config: {
          max_retries: 3,
          retry_delay_seconds: 300,
          timeout_seconds: 30
        },
        tags: ['reports', 'daily'],
        is_active: true
      },
      {
        headers: {
          'X-API-Key': 'your-api-key',
          'X-API-Secret': 'your-api-secret',
          'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        }
      }
    );
    
    console.log('Cron job created:', response.data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error creating cron job:', error.response.data);
  }
};

createCronJob();

import requests
import json

def create_cron_job():
    url = "https://api.a1base.com/v1/cron-jobs/{accountId}/create"
    
    headers = {
        "X-API-Key": "your-api-key",
        "X-API-Secret": "your-api-secret",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    }
    
    data = {
        "name": "Daily Morning Report",
        "description": "Generate daily sales report",
        "endpoint_url": "https://your-app.com/api/daily-report",
        "method": "POST",
        "headers": {
            "Authorization": "Bearer your-token",
            "Content-Type": "application/json"
        },
        "body": json.dumps({
            "report_type": "daily",
            "format": "pdf"
        }),
        "timezone": "America/New_York",
        "schedule_config": {
            "repeat_type": "days",
            "repeat_every": 1,
            "time": "09:00",
            "end_type": "never"
        },
        "retry_config": {
            "max_retries": 3,
            "retry_delay_seconds": 300,
            "timeout_seconds": 30
        },
        "tags": ["reports", "daily"],
        "is_active": True
    }
    
    response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=data)
    
    if response.status_code == 201:
        print("Cron job created:", response.json())
    else:
        print("Error:", response.status_code, response.json())

create_cron_job()

Response

{
  "data": {
    "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "name": "Daily Morning Report",
    "description": "Generate daily sales report",
    "endpoint_url": "https://your-app.com/api/daily-report",
    "schedule": "0 9 * * *",
    "method": "POST",
    "is_active": true,
    "timezone": "America/New_York",
    "next_run_at": "2024-01-26T14:00:00Z",
    "created_at": "2024-01-25T10:30:00Z"
  }
}

Save the returned id - you’ll need it to manage this cron job later.

Step 2: Verify Your Cron Job

Let’s check that your cron job was created successfully:

curl -X GET https://api.a1base.com/v1/cron-jobs/{accountId}/details/{cron_job_id} \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-api-key" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: your-api-secret"

Step 3: Test with Manual Trigger

Before waiting for the scheduled time, test your cron job manually:

curl -X POST https://api.a1base.com/v1/cron-jobs/{accountId}/trigger/{cron_job_id} \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-api-key" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: your-api-secret"

This will immediately execute your cron job and return the result:

{
  "data": {
    "execution_id": "exe_123456",
    "status": "success",
    "response_code": 200,
    "response_body": "{\"message\": \"Report generated successfully\"}",
    "executed_at": "2024-01-25T10:35:00Z"
  }
}

Step 4: Monitor Execution Logs

Check the execution history of your cron job:

curl -X GET "https://api.a1base.com/v1/cron-jobs/{accountId}/logs/{cron_job_id}?limit=10" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-api-key" \
  -H "X-API-Secret: your-api-secret"

Common Patterns

Hourly Health Check

{
  "name": "API Health Check",
  "endpoint_url": "https://your-api.com/health",
  "method": "GET",
  "timezone": "UTC",
  "schedule_config": {
    "repeat_type": "hourly",
    "repeat_every": 1,
    "time": "00:00"
  },
  "callbacks": {
    "failure_url": "https://your-app.com/alerts/health-check-failed"
  }
}

Weekly Report on Business Days

{
  "name": "Weekday Summary",
  "endpoint_url": "https://your-app.com/api/summary",
  "method": "POST",
  "timezone": "America/Chicago",
  "schedule_config": {
    "repeat_type": "weeks",
    "repeat_every": 1,
    "time": "17:00",
    "days_of_week": ["1", "2", "3", "4", "5"]
  }
}

Limited Duration Campaign

{
  "name": "30-Day Campaign",
  "endpoint_url": "https://your-app.com/api/campaign",
  "method": "POST",
  "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles",
  "schedule_config": {
    "repeat_type": "days",
    "repeat_every": 1,
    "time": "10:00",
    "end_type": "after",
    "end_occurrences": 30
  }
}

Troubleshooting

My cron job isn't running

Check that is_active is set to true
Verify the timezone and scheduled time
Ensure your endpoint URL is publicly accessible
Check the execution logs for error messages

Getting authentication errors

Verify your API key and secret are correct
Ensure you’re including both headers in your requests
Check that your account ID in the URL is correct

Endpoint timeouts

Increase the timeout_seconds in your retry configuration
Ensure your endpoint responds within the timeout period
Consider optimizing your endpoint for faster response

Next Steps

Now that you have a working cron job:

Explore Examples

See more use cases and patterns

API Reference

Deep dive into all endpoints

Monitoring Guide

Learn about logs and monitoring

Webhook Setup

Configure success/failure callbacks

A1Cron

Getting Started with A1Cron

Cron Job Management

Monitoring & Logs

Quick Start

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create Your First Cron Job

Response

Step 2: Verify Your Cron Job

Step 3: Test with Manual Trigger

Step 4: Monitor Execution Logs

Common Patterns

Hourly Health Check

Weekly Report on Business Days

Limited Duration Campaign

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Explore Examples

API Reference

Monitoring Guide

Webhook Setup

​Quick Start

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Create Your First Cron Job

​Response

​Step 2: Verify Your Cron Job

​Step 3: Test with Manual Trigger

​Step 4: Monitor Execution Logs

​Common Patterns

​Hourly Health Check

​Weekly Report on Business Days

​Limited Duration Campaign

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Explore Examples

API Reference

Monitoring Guide

Webhook Setup

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create Your First Cron Job

Response

Step 2: Verify Your Cron Job

Step 3: Test with Manual Trigger

Step 4: Monitor Execution Logs

Common Patterns

Hourly Health Check

Weekly Report on Business Days

Limited Duration Campaign

Troubleshooting

Next Steps