Cron with range

[rob_otter]

The idea is:

Add an option to cron to schedule a workflow in a given range. Preferably to a time with low workload.

So instead of the “Trigger at Minute” option, there would be a “Trigger at Range” option where n8n would decide when it’s best to run this workflow based on currently running and planned workflows.

My use case:

I am scheduling my workflows at different times so that the workload is more or less evenly distributed.
But I have to keep track of the times when the workflows are executed to achieve this.

I think it would be beneficial to add this because:

With such an option it would reduce workload peaks of the workers.

Any resources to support this?

There is a feature request for a dashboard which goes in a similar direction:

Cron dashboard

The idea is: Provide a dashboard with all cron triggers of all flows, so the user can see any potential conflicts in timed executions. If a flow’s cron node has multiple trigger time, It would make more sense to show that flow once per each trigger time. Consider showing last and median execution duration. My use case: I have a bunch of tasks that run overnight. Some modify data while other make backups. I want an easy way make sure that they don’t run at the same time. I think it would b…

[BramKn]

Hi @rob_otter

Good idea.
Not too sure about how it would be executed though especially if you take into account variable execution times.

For now you can try putting everything onto a schedule like in a table and then simply execute one by one after the “execute after” time has passed. You can do this in one flow that executes the workflows as subworkflows or send it to a queue and run from there.