Task scheduling - Knowledge of Laravel

What is task scheduling?

Traditionally, you would create a cron entry on your server for every recurring task. This approach scatters your schedule definitions outside version control and requires SSH access every time you want to change them. Laravel’s scheduler lets you define all scheduled tasks in code, using an expressive API. You only need one cron entry on your server, and your entire schedule lives alongside your application. Define your scheduled tasks in routes/console.php:

<?php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::call(function () {
    DB::table('recent_users')->delete();
})->daily();

Run php artisan schedule:list to see all defined tasks and when they will next execute.

How the scheduler works

Defining schedules

Write schedules in routes/console.php. You can also use the withSchedule method in bootstrap/app.php:

// bootstrap/app.php
use Illuminate\Console\Scheduling\Schedule;

->withSchedule(function (Schedule $schedule) {
    $schedule->call(new DeleteRecentUsers)->daily();
})

What you can schedule

Artisan commands

use App\Console\Commands\SendEmailsCommand;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

// Schedule by command name
Schedule::command('emails:send Taylor --force')->daily();

// Schedule by class name with an array of arguments
Schedule::command(SendEmailsCommand::class, ['Taylor', '--force'])->daily();

You can also chain a schedule method directly onto a closure command:

Artisan::command('delete:recent-users', function () {
    DB::table('recent_users')->delete();
})->purpose('Delete recent users')->daily();

Queued jobs

use App\Jobs\Heartbeat;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::job(new Heartbeat)->everyFiveMinutes();

// Specify the queue and connection
Schedule::job(new Heartbeat, 'heartbeats', 'sqs')->everyFiveMinutes();

Shell commands

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::exec('node /home/forge/script.js')->daily();

Closures

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::call(function () {
    DB::table('recent_users')->delete();
})->daily();

// Invokable objects work too
Schedule::call(new DeleteRecentUsers)->daily();

Frequency options

Common frequency methods

Method	Description
`->everySecond()`	Every second
`->everyMinute()`	Every minute
`->everyFiveMinutes()`	Every five minutes
`->everyFifteenMinutes()`	Every fifteen minutes
`->everyThirtyMinutes()`	Every thirty minutes
`->hourly()`	Every hour
`->hourlyAt(17)`	At 17 minutes past every hour
`->daily()`	Every day at midnight
`->dailyAt('13:00')`	Every day at 13:00
`->twiceDaily(1, 13)`	Every day at 01:00 and 13:00
`->weekly()`	Every Sunday at midnight
`->weeklyOn(1, '8:00')`	Every Monday at 08:00
`->monthly()`	First day of every month at midnight
`->monthlyOn(4, '15:00')`	Fourth day of every month at 15:00
`->quarterly()`	First day of each quarter at midnight
`->yearly()`	January 1 at midnight
`->timezone('America/New_York')`	Set the task timezone

Custom cron expressions

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::command('emails:send')->cron('0 9 * * *'); // Every day at 09:00

Combining frequency and day constraints

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

// Every Monday at 13:00
Schedule::call(function () {
    // ...
})->weekly()->mondays()->at('13:00');

// Weekdays, hourly, between 08:00 and 17:00
Schedule::command('foo')
    ->weekdays()
    ->hourly()
    ->between('8:00', '17:00');

Day constraints

Method	Description
`->weekdays()`	Weekdays only
`->weekends()`	Weekends only
`->mondays()` – `->sundays()`	A specific day of the week
`->days([0, 3])`	Multiple specific days (0 = Sunday)

Timezones

Set a per-task timezone with timezone():

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::command('report:generate')
    ->timezone('America/Chicago')
    ->at('9:00');

Set a default timezone for all tasks in config/app.php:

'schedule_timezone' => 'America/Chicago',

If a timezone observes daylight saving time, a task scheduled during the transition hour may run twice (when clocks fall back) or be skipped entirely (when clocks spring forward). UTC avoids these issues and is the safest choice for scheduled tasks.

Preventing overlaps

By default, a task starts even if the previous run is still executing. Use withoutOverlapping() to ensure only one instance runs at a time:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::command('emails:send')->withoutOverlapping();

// Expire the lock after 10 minutes instead of the default 24 hours
Schedule::command('emails:send')->withoutOverlapping(10);

withoutOverlapping() uses the application cache to manage locks. If a task gets stuck, clear the lock with php artisan schedule:clear-cache.

Conditions and constraints

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

// Run only when the closure returns true
Schedule::command('emails:send')->daily()->when(fn () => true);

// Skip when the closure returns true
Schedule::command('emails:send')->daily()->skip(fn () => true);

// Run only in specific environments
Schedule::command('emails:send')
    ->daily()
    ->environments(['staging', 'production']);

// Run only between 07:00 and 22:00
Schedule::command('emails:send')
    ->hourly()
    ->between('7:00', '22:00');

Running on one server

When your scheduler runs on multiple servers, use onOneServer() to ensure only one server executes the task:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::command('report:generate')
    ->fridays()
    ->at('17:00')
    ->onOneServer();

This feature requires your default cache driver to be database, memcached, dynamodb, or redis, and all servers must share the same cache server.

How onOneServer() works

Grouping tasks

Apply shared configuration to multiple tasks at once:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::daily()
    ->onOneServer()
    ->timezone('America/Chicago')
    ->group(function () {
        Schedule::command('emails:send --force');
        Schedule::command('emails:prune');
    });

Background execution

Tasks scheduled at the same time run sequentially by default. Use runInBackground() to let a long-running task execute in parallel with others:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::command('analytics:report')
    ->daily()
    ->runInBackground();

runInBackground() works only with command() and exec() tasks.

Maintenance mode

Scheduled tasks are skipped when the application is in maintenance mode. To force a task to run even then:

Schedule::command('emails:send')->evenInMaintenanceMode();

Maintenance mode handling flow

Pausing the scheduler

Pause and resume the entire scheduler without touching code:

php artisan schedule:pause
php artisan schedule:continue

To keep a specific task running while the scheduler is paused:

Schedule::command('health:check')->evenWhenPaused();

Output handling

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

// Write output to a file
Schedule::command('emails:send')
    ->daily()
    ->sendOutputTo(storage_path('logs/emails-send.log'));

// Append output to an existing file
Schedule::command('emails:send')
    ->daily()
    ->appendOutputTo(storage_path('logs/emails-send.log'));

// Email output on completion
Schedule::command('report:generate')
    ->daily()
    ->sendOutputTo($filePath)
    ->emailOutputTo('[email protected]');

// Email output only on failure
Schedule::command('report:generate')
    ->daily()
    ->emailOutputOnFailure('[email protected]');

Task hooks

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;
use Illuminate\Support\Stringable;

Schedule::command('emails:send')
    ->daily()
    ->before(function () {
        // Before the task runs
    })
    ->after(function () {
        // After the task runs
    })
    ->onSuccess(function (Stringable $output) {
        // Task succeeded
    })
    ->onFailure(function (Stringable $output) {
        // Task failed
    });

Deploying to a server

Add one cron entry

Add a single line to the server’s crontab. Laravel’s scheduler dispatches all your tasks from there.

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

Edit the crontab with crontab -e.

Verify your schedule

List all defined tasks and their next execution times:

php artisan schedule:list

Laravel Cloud manages scheduled tasks for you without any cron configuration.

Local development

Run the scheduler continuously in the foreground during development—no cron needed:

php artisan schedule:work

Sub-minute scheduling

Normal cron only goes down to one-minute intervals. Laravel supports per-second scheduling:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schedule;

Schedule::call(function () {
    DB::table('recent_users')->delete();
})->everySecond();

When sub-minute tasks are defined, schedule:run stays alive for the entire minute and fires them at the right moments. To interrupt an in-progress schedule:run during a deployment:

php artisan schedule:interrupt

Common commands reference

php artisan schedule:list       # List all tasks and next run times
php artisan schedule:run        # Run due tasks (called by cron every minute)
php artisan schedule:work       # Run the scheduler continuously (local development)
php artisan schedule:pause      # Pause all scheduled tasks
php artisan schedule:continue   # Resume scheduled tasks
php artisan schedule:clear-cache # Clear overlap-prevention locks
php artisan schedule:interrupt  # Interrupt the running schedule:run process

Artisan console

Build custom Artisan commands to use in your scheduled tasks.

Documentation Index

​What is task scheduling?

​How the scheduler works

​Defining schedules

​What you can schedule

​Artisan commands

​Queued jobs

​Shell commands

​Closures

​Frequency options

​Common frequency methods

​Custom cron expressions

​Combining frequency and day constraints

​Day constraints

​Timezones

​Preventing overlaps

​Conditions and constraints

​Running on one server

​How onOneServer() works

​Grouping tasks

​Background execution

​Maintenance mode

​Maintenance mode handling flow

​Pausing the scheduler

​Output handling

​Task hooks

​Deploying to a server

​Local development

​Sub-minute scheduling

​Common commands reference

Artisan console

What is task scheduling?

How the scheduler works

Defining schedules

What you can schedule

Artisan commands

Queued jobs

Shell commands

Closures

Frequency options

Common frequency methods

Custom cron expressions

Combining frequency and day constraints

Day constraints

Timezones

Preventing overlaps

Conditions and constraints

Running on one server

How onOneServer() works

Grouping tasks

Background execution

Maintenance mode

Maintenance mode handling flow

Pausing the scheduler

Output handling

Task hooks

Deploying to a server

Local development

Sub-minute scheduling

Common commands reference