Cron expression for every 30 seconds

Standard cron cannot run every 30 seconds. The Unix cron syntax — used by Linux crontab, Kubernetes CronJob, GitHub Actions and AWS EventBridge — has only minute-level resolution. The minimum granularity is * * * * * (every minute). For sub-minute schedules you need a different tool: Quartz cron (which has a seconds field), KEDA, a sleep-loop wrapper, or an event-driven trigger.

Why is there no cron expression for “every 30 seconds”?

Cron was designed in 1975 for batch jobs running minutes or hours apart. The original Vixie cron format used 5 fields starting at minute — there was no seconds field. Every cron flavor descended from Vixie inherited that limitation: Linux crontab, anacron, fcron, Kubernetes CronJob, GitHub Actions, AWS EventBridge.

Some newer schedulers add a seconds field. Quartz (used in Java enterprise apps) uses 7 fields: seconds, minutes, hours, day-of-month, month, day-of-week, year. So in Quartz, */30 * * * * ? * does run every 30 seconds. AWS does not use Quartz — EventBridge cron is 6-field, no seconds, despite some confusion in older AWS docs.

For sub-minute schedules in mainstream cron, the answer is “use a different tool”.

What’s the actual minimum cron interval?

Cron-style 1-minute is fine for most batch jobs. Sub-minute is unusual and usually a sign of the wrong abstraction.

Workarounds when you really need sub-minute

Option 1: Run a long-lived process with setInterval / sleep loop

Easiest workaround. Run a single container that loops internally:

#!/bin/bash
# every 30s loop
while true; do
  /usr/local/bin/check-something
  sleep 30
done

Wrap in a Kubernetes Deployment (not CronJob) so it stays alive. The pod does the timing instead of the scheduler.

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: check-loop
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels: { app: check-loop }
  template:
    metadata:
      labels: { app: check-loop }
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: check
          image: my-org/check-loop:1.0
          command: ["/bin/bash", "-c", "while true; do /usr/local/bin/check-something; sleep 30; done"]

Option 2: KEDA cron scaler (Kubernetes)

KEDA supports cron-based scaling but is primarily for scaling Deployments up at certain times — not for triggering jobs. For sub-minute triggers, KEDA isn’t the right tool either.

Option 3: AWS Step Functions Express workflow

Build a Step Functions state machine with a Wait state for 30 seconds and a self-loop. Step Functions Express is billed per state transition and can sustain sub-minute loops.

Option 4: Quartz inside a Java app

If you’re already in a Java/Spring runtime, Quartz’s full 7-field cron supports */30 * * * * ? * natively. This is the cleanest option for Java apps.

Option 5: Reconsider the requirement

The most common sub-minute use case (“check this status every 30 seconds”) is usually better solved by:

• Webhooks — let the upstream system notify you when state changes
• Long polling — open a connection that returns when there’s something new
• Pub/sub — subscribe to events instead of polling

If you’re polling at 30-second intervals to detect state changes that happen rarely, you’re paying for ~2,880 wasted requests per day per subscriber.

What about AWS EventBridge rate() expressions?

rate(30 seconds) is NOT supported. EventBridge rate() minimum is rate(1 minute). Same for Scheduler. For sub-minute on AWS, you’re outside EventBridge’s scope — Step Functions or a long-running ECS task. The AWS EventBridge cron generator covers the legitimate rate() and cron() expressions EventBridge does support.

If your schedule needs are 1 minute or longer, the Kubernetes CronJob schedule generator handles the K8s side and the AWS EventBridge cron generator handles the AWS side. New to cron entirely? Start with what is a cron job? for the syntax basics.

For schedules cron CAN do see common cron schedules, or build any standard expression with the Cron Expression Builder.