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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.

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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

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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()

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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.

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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"

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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"
  }
}

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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"

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Common Patterns

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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"
  }
}

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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"]
  }
}

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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
  }
}

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Troubleshooting

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

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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