Scheduled Trigger

A Scheduled Trigger starts a workflow at fixed times or intervals. You can run workflows on a recurring basis—hourly, daily, weekly, or using a custom cron schedule.

Setting Up a Scheduled Trigger

1. Select "Scheduled" from the trigger panel
Choose Scheduled from the trigger type dropdown.

2. Define the run schedule
Use predefined intervals or write a custom cron expression to control when the workflow runs.

3. Activate the workflow
Scheduled triggers only run after the workflow is saved and activated.

Timezone Behavior

The trigger follows this timezone logic:

• If set, the workflow’s timezone is used

• If unset, the instance timezone is used (defaults to America/New_York on self-hosted or auto-detected in n8n Cloud)

Trigger Interval Options

You can configure the schedule using built-in interval modes or Cron expressions.

Seconds
Seconds Between Triggers – e.g., every 30 seconds

Minutes
Minutes Between Triggers – e.g., every 5 minutes

Hours

• Hours Between Triggers

• Trigger at Minute – minute past the hour (0–59)

Days

• Days Between Triggers

• Trigger at Hour and Minute

Weeks

• Weeks Between Triggers

• Trigger on Weekdays

• Trigger at Hour and Minute

Months

• Months Between Triggers

• Trigger at Day of Month (1–31)

• Trigger at Hour and Minute
  (Note: If a month lacks the selected day, the workflow won’t run)

Custom Schedule (Cron Expression)

Use a cron string for more control. Supports 6 fields (including seconds).

Example Patterns

Use tools like crontab.guru to generate expressions.

Variable Handling

Variables in the cron expression are evaluated only when the workflow is activated.
To apply changes to a variable, deactivate and reactivate the workflow.

Important Notes

• Only one Scheduled Trigger is allowed per workflow

• A workflow must be activated for the schedule to take effect

• You can combine multiple schedules using Trigger Rules