Minute Intervals

Minute-interval cron jobs are the backbone of near-real-time automation in software systems. Whether you are polling an external API, running a heartbeat check, processing a queue of pending tasks, or syncing data between systems, minute-based scheduling gives you the granularity needed to keep systems responsive without the complexity of persistent long-running processes.

Understanding Minute-Interval Cron Syntax

The expression */5 * * * * runs a job every 5 minutes, while */15 * * * * runs every 15 minutes. For a job that should run every single minute, the expression is * * * * *. The expression */2 * * * * runs every 2 minutes, */10 * * * * every 10 minutes, and */30 * * * * every 30 minutes.

Standard cron operates at minute-level precision. If your use case demands sub-minute intervals, you need either a different scheduler (like Quartz with a seconds field) or a purpose-built job queue.

Common Use Cases for Minute-Interval Jobs

• Heartbeat and health checks: * * * * * (every minute) pings an endpoint and records response time.
• Queue processing: */1 * * * * drains a database-backed task queue.
• API polling: */5 * * * * or */10 * * * * for third-party services without webhooks.
• Metric collection: */5 * * * * for custom business metrics sampling.
• Data synchronization: */15 * * * * for analytics warehouse sync.

Best Practices for Minute-Interval Scheduling

• Prevent overlapping executions. Use flock, Redis SET NX, or database advisory locks.
• Design for idempotency. Track state with a persistent cursor, not "last N minutes" calculations.
• Choose the right interval. * * * * * for heartbeats, */5 * * * * for polling, */15 * * * * for data sync. Match the interval to the rate of change in the data.