CronFu CLI

The cronfu command-line tool discovers, syncs, and monitors your cron jobs from the terminal.

Installation

curl -fsSL https://app.cronfu.dev/install | bash

The installer downloads the latest binary for your platform (Linux/macOS, amd64/arm64), verifies the SHA-256 checksum, and installs to /usr/local/bin/cronfu. The script requires sudo to write to /usr/local/bin — on systems without sudo, download the binary manually and place it in your PATH.

Configuration

Quick setup (recommended)

The fastest way to configure the CLI is with the OAuth setup flow:

cronfu configure --setup

This will:

1. Print an authorization URL for you to open in your browser
2. You sign in to CronFu in the browser
3. Copy the one-time authorization code displayed on the callback page
4. Paste the code back into the terminal
5. The CLI exchanges the code for a telemetry key automatically

Configuration is saved to ~/.cronfu/config.yml with restricted permissions (0600).

Use --app-url to point to a different CronFu instance (for self-hosted or development):

cronfu configure --setup --app-url http://localhost:3010

Manual setup

If you prefer to enter keys manually (or don't have browser access):

cronfu configure

You'll be prompted for:

Get your keys from Settings → API Keys in the dashboard.

Commands

cronfu discover

Scans all local crontab sources and lists discovered jobs:

cronfu discover
cronfu discover --format json

Sources scanned:

• Current user's crontab (crontab -l)
• /etc/crontab (if readable)
• /etc/cron.d/* (if readable)
• systemd timers (Linux only)

cronfu sync

Discovers jobs and automatically creates monitors for each one via the management API:

cronfu sync              # Create monitors for all discovered jobs
cronfu sync --dry-run    # Preview what would be synced

Existing monitors (409 Conflict) are skipped. Requires a management key.

cronfu exec

Wraps a command with CronFu monitoring — sends run ping before execution, then complete or fail after:

cronfu exec backup-db -- /usr/local/bin/backup.sh
cronfu exec etl-job --timeout 30m -- python /opt/etl/run.py

Usage: cronfu exec <monitor-key> [--timeout duration] -- <command> [args...]

The -- separator is required. Job output (stdout + stderr) is captured and sent as a log excerpt (up to 64 KB). Exit codes are preserved — if the wrapped command exits with code 1, cronfu exec also exits with code 1.

cronfu ping

Manually send a ping to a monitor:

cronfu ping nightly-backup              # Sends "complete" (default)
cronfu ping nightly-backup run          # Sends "run"
cronfu ping nightly-backup fail         # Sends "fail"

cronfu status

Lists your monitors with their current state:

cronfu status
cronfu status --limit 50

cronfu activity

Shows recent alerts for all monitors or a specific one:

cronfu activity                         # All recent alerts
cronfu activity nightly-backup          # Alerts for a specific monitor
cronfu activity --limit 50

cronfu update

Checks for a newer CLI version:

cronfu update

If a newer version is available, prints the install command.

Common Crontab Examples

Wrap an existing job with cronfu exec

# Before
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

# After
0 2 * * * cronfu exec nightly-backup -- /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

Wrap with a timeout

*/15 * * * * cronfu exec health-check --timeout 60s -- curl -fsS https://api.example.com/health

Discover and sync all jobs at once

cronfu discover               # See what's running
cronfu sync --dry-run         # Preview monitor creation
cronfu sync                   # Create all monitors

Use curl pings instead of the CLI

If you can't install the CLI, use curl directly:

0 2 * * * curl -fsS "https://ping.cronfu.dev/p/YOUR_TEL_KEY/nightly-backup?state=run" && /usr/local/bin/backup.sh && curl -fsS "https://ping.cronfu.dev/p/YOUR_TEL_KEY/nightly-backup?state=complete" || curl -fsS "https://ping.cronfu.dev/p/YOUR_TEL_KEY/nightly-backup?state=fail"