Task Scheduling and Cron Jobs

Automated Task Scheduling

Laravel's scheduler lets you define scheduled tasks in PHP code instead of managing cron entries.

Defining Scheduled Tasks

// routes/console.php
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::command('newsletter:send')->weeklyOn(1, '8:00');
Schedule::command('sitemap:generate')->daily();
Schedule::command('telescope:prune')->daily();
Schedule::command('queue:prune-failed --hours=48')->daily();

// Custom closure
Schedule::call(function () {
    DB::table('sessions')->where('last_activity', '<', now()->subHours(24))->delete();
})->dailyAt('03:00');

// Conditional scheduling
Schedule::command('reports:generate')
    ->monthlyOn(1, '09:00')
    ->environments(['production'])
    ->emailOutputOnFailure('admin@example.com');

Schedule Frequencies

->everyMinute()
->everyFiveMinutes()
->hourly()
->daily()
->dailyAt('13:00')
->weekly()
->weeklyOn(1, '8:00')  // Monday at 8 AM
->monthly()
->monthlyOn(1, '09:00')
->quarterly()
->yearly()
->cron('0 */6 * * *')  // Custom cron expression

Preventing Overlaps

Schedule::command('reports:generate')
    ->daily()
    ->withoutOverlapping()
    ->runInBackground();

Server Setup

Add one cron entry to your server:

* * * * * cd /path-to-your-project && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1

Laravel checks every minute and runs any tasks that are due. One cron entry handles all your scheduled tasks.

Testing Schedules

php artisan schedule:list       # View all scheduled tasks
php artisan schedule:test       # Run a specific task interactively
php artisan schedule:run        # Execute due tasks now

The scheduler eliminates fragile server cron management and keeps your scheduling logic version-controlled alongside your code.