How to Set Up Scheduled Workflows in GitHub Actions in 5 Minutes¶

Target Audience

Developers who want to automate recurring tasks with GitHub Actions

Key Points¶

Configure a GitHub Actions schedule trigger
Understand basic cron syntax
Run Claude Code on a schedule

How Scheduled Execution Works¶

GitHub Actions schedule events automatically run workflows at specified times. Internally they use cron expressions, but everything runs on GitHub, so no server setup is required.

Implementation Steps¶

Step 1: Create a Workflow File¶

Create .github/workflows/scheduled-task.yml:

name: Scheduled Task
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * *'  # Daily at 9:00 AM (UTC)
  workflow_dispatch:  # Enable manual triggering

Step 2: Add Claude Code Execution Job¶

jobs:
  run-claude:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run Claude Code
        env:
          CLAUDE_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CLAUDE_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          # Execute automation task with Claude Code
          npx claude-code --task "Generate daily report"

Step 3: Push to GitHub to Activate¶

git add .github/workflows/scheduled-task.yml
git commit -m "Add scheduled workflow"
git push origin main

Common Cron Expression Patterns¶

Schedule	Cron Expression	Japan Time (JST)
Daily 9 AM	`0 0 * * *`	9:00
Weekdays 9 AM	`0 0 * * 1-5`	9:00 (Mon-Fri)
Monday 9 AM	`0 0 * * 1`	Monday 9:00
1^st of month 9 AM	`0 0 1 * *`	1^st 9:00
Every 6 hours	`0 /6 * *`	0, 6, 12, 18

※GitHub Actions uses UTC. Japan time is UTC+9

Troubleshooting¶

Symptom	Cause	Solution
Doesn't run	Incorrect cron syntax	Validate with crontab.guru
Time offset	Timezone	Calculate in UTC (JST-9 hours)
Stops after 60 days	Inactivity	Commit to repository regularly

Advanced Configuration (Click to Expand)

### Multiple Schedules

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * *'  # Daily
    - cron: '0 12 * * 5'  # Friday noon

### Environment-Specific Execution

jobs:
  scheduled-task:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        environment: [dev, staging, prod]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Run for ${{ matrix.environment }}
        run: echo "Running for ${{ matrix.environment }}"

### Add Error Notifications

- name: Error Notification
  if: failure()
  uses: actions/github-script@v7
  with:
    script: |
      github.rest.issues.create({
        owner: context.repo.owner,
        repo: context.repo.repo,
        title: 'Scheduled task failed',
        body: 'Check the workflow run for details'
      })

Next Steps¶

This article extracts and organizes GitHub Actions-specific content from multiple legacy cron-related articles.