Every 3 Hours

Use in your stack

# Run every 3 hours
0 */3 * * * /usr/local/bin/shift-report.sh

{ "cron": "0 0 */3 * * ?", "timezone": "UTC" }

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: shift-report
spec:
  schedule: "0 */3 * * *"
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: shift-report
            image: my-image:latest
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

cron(0 */3 * * ? *)

@Scheduled(cron = "0 0 */3 * * *")
public void every3Hours() { /* ... */ }

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 */3 * * *'

Next runs

Pick a timezone to see when this expression fires next.

Variations

Common use cases

• Three-shift workday tracking (8 hours × 3 shifts).
• Sync jobs between systems that don't need hourly precision.
• Sending time-of-day-tagged status reports.
• Periodic batch jobs aligned to standard work blocks.

Gotchas

• `*/3` in the hour field starts at 0 — there's no way to express "every 3 hours starting from 01:00" using shorthand. Use a range: `0 1-22/3 * * *`.
• AWS EventBridge: `0 */3 * * ? *`. Quartz: `0 0 */3 * * ?`.

Frequently asked questions