Skip to content

cronova

A lightweight, self-hosted Go workflow scheduler — an open-source Airflow / Azkaban alternative you can install with one command.

Release License: MIT GitHub stars

cronova schedules DAGs — tasks with dependencies, retries, catchup and pools — and ships as a static scheduler + executor with an embedded SQLite database. No JVM, no Python runtime, no external database, no message broker.

# Install the scheduler + web console + native service on Linux or macOS:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zoyluoblue/cronova/main/deploy/bootstrap.sh | sudo bash

Start the Tutorial Quick start

cronova web console — visual task editor with drag-and-drop template variable pills

  • Small native install, zero service dependencies

    Pure-Go scheduler + executor, embedded database. curl | bash to install, cronova update to upgrade, cronova uninstall to remove.

    Quick start

  • Airflow-style DAGs, in YAML

    Dependencies, cron / @every schedules, cross-DAG triggers, catchup / backfill, retries & timeouts, resource pools, trigger rules.

    DAG & Task Reference

  • Polyglot tasks + project upload

    Tasks run as subprocesses — shell, Python, SQL, a JAR, or HTTP. Drag-and-drop a whole project folder and run it in an isolated copy.

    Run your own scripts

  • AI-native (MCP built in)

    A built-in Model Context Protocol server and a remote JSON CLI let AI agents manage workflows through the same token-authenticated API.

    AI Agents (MCP)

What is cronova?

cronova is an open-source, self-hosted workflow scheduler (job scheduler / task orchestrator / DAG scheduler) written in Go. It schedules DAGs on cron or interval triggers, runs each task as a subprocess with the host's own interpreters, and gives you a web console, a REST API, a CLI, and an MCP endpoint for AI agents. Think of it as a cron replacement with dependencies, retries, backfill and observability, or a lightweight Airflow alternative with a compact native footprint.

30 seconds to a running DAG

go build -o cronova ./cmd/cronova   # or grab a prebuilt release
./cronova serve                     # console at http://localhost:8090
./cronova trigger example_etl       # run a DAG now
./cronova runs example_etl          # watch task states

Learn more

  • Tutorial — the step-by-step path: install → first DAG → scheduling → variables → projects → cross-DAG.
  • Console guide — every page of the web UI: dashboard, DAG editor, visual task editor, runs & live logs, pools, variables, audit, API tokens.
  • Quick start — the single-page fast path.
  • Deployment — systemd / launchd services, updates, the crash-recoverable executor.
  • Comparison — cronova vs. Airflow, Azkaban, Dagster, Prefect & cron.
  • FAQ — common questions, answered.
  • GitHub — source, releases, issues. ⭐ Stars welcome!