How to Run Cron Jobs in Deno Without a Server Using Deno Deploy and Webhooks

Cron jobs are vital for running background tasks at scheduled intervals. While traditional methods involve servers or managed services, Deno Deploy provides a free, serverless, and modern way to achieve this using webhooks and scheduled triggers from external services like GitHub Actions or Upstash.

Why Deno Deploy?

• Zero configuration serverless functions
• Support for TypeScript out of the box
• Free tier with edge deployment

How It Works

Deno Deploy doesn’t have native scheduled triggers (yet), but you can still implement cron behavior by:

1. Deploying a Deno endpoint
2. Using GitHub Actions or Upstash Scheduler to ping it on a schedule

Step 1: Set Up a Deno Project

// main.ts
import { serve } from "https://deno.land/std/http/server.ts";

serve(async (req: Request) => {
  const url = new URL(req.url);

  if (url.pathname === "/run-cron") {
    // Perform your task here
    console.log("Cron job triggered:", new Date().toISOString());

    // Example: Fetching and cleaning up data
    const data = await fetch("https://your-api.com/clean");
    const result = await data.text();

    return new Response(`Cron ran: ${result}`);
  }

  return new Response("OK");
});

Step 2: Deploy to Deno Deploy

Push your code to a GitHub repository, then visit deno.com/deploy to link your GitHub account and deploy your project. You'll get a public URL like:

https://your-cron.deno.dev/run-cron

Step 3: Use GitHub Actions as the Scheduler

Add this GitHub Actions workflow in your repo:

# .github/workflows/schedule.yml
name: Trigger Deno Cron

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "*/15 * * * *"  # every 15 minutes
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  ping-cron:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Curl to Deno
        run: curl -X GET https://your-cron.deno.dev/run-cron

Push to GitHub, and the cron will start triggering your endpoint.

Pros and Cons

✅ Pros

• Zero-cost setup using Deno and GitHub
• No infrastructure to manage
• Easy to deploy and maintain

⚠️ Cons

• Depends on an external scheduler (e.g., GitHub Actions)
• No native time-based triggers inside Deno Deploy
• Limited logging/debugging from GitHub side

🚀 Alternatives

• Upstash Scheduler: Free HTTP-based cron trigger
• Cloudflare Workers: Native scheduled events
• GitHub Actions Only: Run full tasks entirely in workflows

Conclusion

While Deno Deploy doesn’t support built-in cron jobs yet, you can easily pair it with free schedulers like GitHub Actions to create a powerful, serverless cron system. This lets you keep your infrastructure clean and modern — and your wallet untouched.

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