NEXUS Cronjobs

Technical summary

NEXUS Cronjobs is the server's single scheduling hub: it discovers jobs declared in each active plugin's cronjob.json, dispatches ticks via soft-cron (worker.php/cron.php/run_cron) and schedules custom CLI commands through an allowlist. It runs via nx_secure_exec_status and creates tasks from job runs.

Executed scope

• Plugin registration (registerTab('nexus-cronjobs','Cronjobs','clock',tab.php,'Admin & Ops') + registerDoc) and cronjob.json as a declarative job manifest (same spirit as fastr.json).
• 7 API actions: cronjobs_list (catalog + custom + plugin_catalog + stats), cronjobs_save (schedule edited via functions.save), cronjobs_run (on-demand run), cronjobs_custom_{save,delete} (CLI job CRUD) and cronjobs_runs/cronjobs_tick (history and soft-cron dispatcher).
• Persistence via DB config (no own tables): plugin.cronjobs.jobs (custom, upsert), plugin.cronjobs.runs (history, max 80) and plugin.cronjobs.meta.
• Security and allowlist: cronjobs_resolve_command() validates the path against (?^plugins/[a-z0-9_-]+/.+\.php$ | cron/*.php | worker.php$) via realpath, rejects ../null/space and confirms the prefix stays inside root.
• Workers/cron (soft-cron): cronjobs_tick() iterates jobs with tick:true calling functions.check, then cronjobs_run_custom_due() fires custom jobs whose next_run <= now and reschedules (cronjobs_calc_next_run: hourly/daily/weekly/monthly); production recommends an hourly crontab on worker.php (or cron.php/run_cron).
• Execution: cronjobs_exec_custom() and cronjobs_run_discovered() resolve command→path and run via nx_secure_exec_status([phpCli, $path]) (PHP bin from cronjobs_php_cli), log the result in cronjobs_run_log and update last_run/last_status/next_run.
• UI (tab.php, 567 lines, Alpine cronjobsApp()): header with clock icon + crontab recommendation badge; "Production" callout; stat cards (Active/Next 24h/24h failures/Last tick); 3 tabs — Jobs (manifest catalog, plugin filter, active/off badges), Custom (CLI CRUD with plugin + job picker → hub-resolved path, frequency/time schedule) and History (paginated runs with ok/error status).
• Integrations: Backup, Email OSINT, Pipeline Control and worker plugins expose jobs via cronjob.json; the hub is the single orchestrator (no duplicate scheduling per plugin).

Stack and tools

• PHP 8 (backend, no framework) + MySQL 8 (admin_configs store)
• nx_secure_exec_status for CLI jobs with resolved PHP bin (/usr/bin/php, fallbacks /usr/bin/php8.x)
• OS crontab scheduling worker.php/cron.php/run_cron (soft-cron; no built-in daemon)
• Alpine.js + Tailwind (tab.php, no assets/ or design.css)
• Internal Plugin API (PluginManager tabs/actions + declarative cronjob.json)

Operational tags

• Cronjobs
• Scheduling
• Soft-cron
• Tick
• Worker
• Custom CLI
• NEXUS Plugin

Operational result

• Declarative discovery: each plugin exposes jobs in plugins/<slug>/cronjob.json; the hub scans only active plugins and builds a unified, ID-deduplicated catalog.
• Soft-cron with tick + custom: cronjobs_tick() runs checks of tick:true jobs (backup, email_osint, pipeline) and fires custom jobs by due-time; schedules support hourly|daily|weekly|monthly + HH:MM.
• Security allowlist: no path is typed by the user — a picker lists plugin + job/CLI and the hub resolves the PHP via realpath against plugins/*/…, cron/*.php and worker.php.
• Isolated execution: scripts run via nx_secure_exec_status (no shell) with a resolved PHP binary, captured output and run logging.
• History and stats: up to 80 runs in plugin.cronjobs.runs + stats (active, next 24h, 24h failures, last tick); plugins without cronjob.json show as "no CLI".
• Custom CLI from the panel: create/edit/delete jobs without touching the server — the path is resolved by the hub from the selected plugin.