javan/whenever · error · ArgumentError

#{must_be_between}, #{at} given

Error message

#{must_be_between}, #{at} given

What it means

Whenever validates a numeric :at against the cron field it feeds: for hourly jobs the number is a minute (0-59), for daily jobs an hour (0-23), for monthly jobs a day (1-31), for yearly jobs a month (1-12). If the integer lies outside that window, range_or_integer raises ArgumentError with the field name, its bounds, and the value. Strings are not validated here — they go through Chronic first, so '4:30pm' works where 430 does not.

Source

Thrown at lib/whenever/cron.rb:160

        return (timing << '1-5') * " " if string.downcase.index('weekday')
        return (timing << '6,0') * " " if string.downcase.index('weekend')

        DAYS.each_with_index do |day, i|
          return (timing << i) * " " if string.downcase.index(day)
        end

        raise ArgumentError, "Couldn't parse: #{@time.inspect}"
      end

      def range_or_integer(at, valid_range, name)
        must_be_between = "#{name} must be between #{valid_range.min}-#{valid_range.max}"
        if at.is_a?(Range)
          raise ArgumentError, "#{must_be_between}, #{at.min} given" unless valid_range.include?(at.min)
          raise ArgumentError, "#{must_be_between}, #{at.max} given" unless valid_range.include?(at.max)
          return "#{at.min}-#{at.max}"
        end
        raise ArgumentError, "#{must_be_between}, #{at} given" unless valid_range.include?(at)
        at
      end

      def comma_separated_timing(frequency, max, start = 0)
        return start     if frequency.nil? || frequency == "" || frequency.zero?
        return '*'       if frequency == 1
        return frequency if frequency > (max * 0.5).ceil

        original_start = start

        start += frequency unless (max + 1).modulo(frequency).zero? || start > 0
        output = (start..max).step(frequency).to_a

        max_occurances = (max.to_f  / (frequency.to_f)).round
        max_occurances += 1 if original_start.zero?

        output[0, max_occurances].join(',')
      end

View on GitHub (pinned to 756163ed1a)

Solutions

1. Pass times as parseable strings: at: '14:30' or at: '4:30pm' — Whenever runs them through Chronic and extracts hour and minute.
2. If numeric, use only the field value: hour 0-23 for daily jobs, minute 0-59 for hourly jobs, day 1-31 for monthly, month 1-12 for yearly.
3. Validate generated schedules with a dry-run `whenever` in CI so out-of-range values fail early.

Example fix

# before (Hour must be between 0-23, 1430 given)
every 1.day, at: 1430 do
  rake 'daily:sync'
end

# after
every 1.day, at: '14:30' do
  rake 'daily:sync'
end

LIMITS = { minute: 0..59, hour: 0..23, day: 1..31, month: 1..12 }
at = 1430; field = :hour # from: every 1.day, at: 1430
unless LIMITS[field].cover?(at)
  abort('numeric :at must be a ' + field.to_s + ' (0-23 for daily jobs); use a string like 14:30 for clock times')
end

def valid_at_integer?(at, field)
  limits = { minute: 0..59, hour: 0..23, day: 1..31, month: 1..12 }
  at.is_a?(Integer) && limits[field].cover?(at)
end

begin
  Whenever.cron(file: 'config/schedule.rb')
rescue ArgumentError => e
  abort('invalid numeric :at in schedule (pass clock times as strings): ' + e.message)
end

When it happens

Trigger: every 1.hour, at: 75 → Minute must be between 0-59, 75 given. every 1.day, at: 430 (meaning 4:30) → Hour must be between 0-23, 430 given. every 1.year, at: 13 → Month must be between 1-12, 13 given. Any compacted military-time integer like 1430 passed as a number instead of a string.

Common situations: Passing clock times as integers (430, 1430) because they look numeric; scripts generating at values from timestamps or arithmetic that overshoot field bounds; mixing up which field the number applies to for each frequency (minute for hourly, hour for daily).

Related errors

• You cannot specify an ':at' when using the shortcuts for tim
• Time must be in minutes or higher
• Couldn't parse: #{@time.inspect}
• #{must_be_between}, #{at.min} given
• #{must_be_between}, #{at.max} given

AI-assisted analysis of javan/whenever@756163ed1a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/25d30be32f308de4. Report an issue: GitHub.