javan/whenever · error · ArgumentError

#{must_be_between}, #{at.min} given

Error message

#{must_be_between}, #{at.min} given

What it means

For numeric frequencies, Whenever validates the :at option against the cron field it controls using range_or_integer. When :at is a Ruby Range whose start (at.min) falls outside the field's legal values, it raises ArgumentError naming the field, its bounds, and the offending min. Field bounds: Minute 0-59 (hourly jobs), Hour 0-23 (daily jobs), Day 1-31 (monthly jobs), Month 1-12 (yearly jobs).

Source

Thrown at lib/whenever/cron.rb:156

        timing = Array.new(4, '*')
        timing[0] = @at.is_a?(Time) ? @at.min  : 0
        timing[1] = @at.is_a?(Time) ? @at.hour : 0

        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

View on GitHub (pinned to 756163ed1a)

Solutions

1. Clamp the Range start inside the field bounds: minutes 0-59, hours 0-23, days 1-31, months 1-12.
2. If you mean a wall-clock time, pass a Chronic-parseable string such as at: '4pm' instead of a numeric Range — Whenever extracts hour/minute from the parsed Time.
3. Validate generated schedules in CI with a bare `whenever` run so bad ranges fail the build, not the deploy.

Example fix

# before (day-of-month 0 is invalid in cron)
every 1.month, at: (0..15) do
  rake 'billing:run'
end

# after
every 1.month, at: (1..15) do
  rake 'billing:run'
end

LIMITS = { minute: 0..59, hour: 0..23, day: 1..31, month: 1..12 }
# before: every 1.month, at: (0..15)
at = (0..15); field = :day
unless LIMITS[field].cover?(at.min)
  abort(field.to_s + ' range must start within ' + LIMITS[field].to_s)
end

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

begin
  Whenever.cron(file: 'config/schedule.rb')
rescue ArgumentError => e
  abort('invalid :at range in schedule: ' + e.message)
end

When it happens

Trigger: every 1.month, at: (0..15) → Day must be between 1-31, 0 given (day-of-month starts at 1 in cron). every 1.day, at: (25..27) → Hour must be between 0-23, 25 given. every 1.hour, at: (-5..10) → Minute must be between 0-59, -5 given.

Common situations: Applying 0-based thinking to days (0 is not a valid day-of-month) or forgetting hours cap at 23; programmatically generated ranges like (start..start + hours) that can overshoot bounds; timezone or duration math producing an endpoint like 24 for 'end of day'.

Related errors

• #{must_be_between}, #{at.max} given
• 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} given

AI-assisted analysis of javan/whenever@756163ed1a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6206fc5a79f95a1e. Report an issue: GitHub.