Cron Reference

Cron Expression /3 * * * Every 3 Minutes GitHub Actions (2026)

Cron expression */3 * * * * means Every 3 minutes.

Cron expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes for GitHub Actions in 2026. Understand UTC timing, overlap controls, and safe high-frequency workflow design.

Cron Expression

*/3 * * * *

*/3Minute

*Hour

*Day

*Month

*Weekday

Common use cases

Every-3-minute GitHub Actions polling workflows
Short-interval repository health or sync checks
Frequent automation for lightweight issue and data refresh tasks
High-cadence workflow triggers that need stronger observability

How to use this cron schedule

For cron expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes GitHub Actions, configure `on: schedule: - cron: '*/3 * * * *'` in your workflow YAML. GitHub Actions interprets the schedule in UTC, so the run happens every three minutes on UTC time boundaries. In 2026, this is a useful cadence for lightweight polling, rapid retry workflows, and repository automations that need faster feedback than five-minute schedules. It is not a good fit for heavy tasks, so keep the scheduled job narrow and deterministic from the start.

High-frequency workflows need explicit overlap control. If a run takes longer than three minutes, the next trigger can arrive before the previous job finishes. Use `concurrency` to cancel or serialize runs when duplicate work is unsafe, and keep side effects idempotent so reruns do not create inconsistent downstream state. Also watch GitHub-hosted runtime limits and external API rate limits. Short intervals amplify dependency instability quickly, and in 2026 the fastest path to noisy automation is a frequent cron schedule without bounded retries, timeouts, and clear failure reporting.

A strong pattern is schedule, preflight, enqueue. Let the three-minute workflow validate prerequisites and queue heavier processing instead of doing everything inline. Track duration, failure streaks, and last-success age, then alert on repeated misses rather than isolated blips. If cost or flakiness climbs, move non-critical steps to five or ten minutes while preserving only the latency-sensitive check at three minutes. Use this page as the GitHub Actions reference for `*/3 * * * *`, then compare related Linux and Kubernetes interval pages when deciding where the work should actually run in 2026.

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Platform usage examples

Linux / Unix — crontab

# Edit your crontab
crontab -e

# Add this line to run expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes github actions (2026)
*/3 * * * * /usr/bin/php /var/www/html/script.php

# Or run a shell script
*/3 * * * * /home/user/scripts/job.sh >> /var/log/job.log 2>&1

GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/scheduled.yml
name: Scheduled Job

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

jobs:
  run:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run job
        run: echo "Running expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes github actions (2026)"

Kubernetes CronJob

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

Related developer tools

More free tools for engineering workflows that pair with scheduled jobs:

Epoch ConverterConvert Unix timestamps Regex TesterDebug parsing rules

Frequently asked questions

What is the cron expression for expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes github actions (2026)?

The cron expression is */3 * * * *. Cron expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes for GitHub Actions in 2026. Understand UTC timing, overlap controls, and safe high-frequency workflow design.

How do I schedule a cron job to run expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes github actions (2026) in Linux?

Open your crontab with "crontab -e" and add a new line: */3 * * * * /path/to/your/script.sh — this schedules your script to run expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes github actions (2026). Save and exit; the cron daemon picks up the change immediately.

What does the cron expression "*/3 * * * *" mean?

Cron expression */3 * * * * every 3 minutes for GitHub Actions in 2026. Understand UTC timing, overlap controls, and safe high-frequency workflow design.

Can I use "*/3 * * * *" in GitHub Actions?

Yes. In your workflow YAML, set the schedule trigger: on: schedule: - cron: '*/3 * * * *'. GitHub Actions uses standard 5-field Unix cron syntax, so this expression works as-is.

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