Sync schedules

For each connection, you can select between three options that allow a sync to run. The three options for Schedule Type are:

Schedule Setting	Definition
Scheduled	Runs the syncs at the specified time interval (e.g. every 24 hours, every 2 hours)
Cron	Runs the syncs based on the user-defined cron expression
Manual	You are required to run the syncs manually

Scheduled syncs

You can choose between the following scheduled options:

• Every 24 hours (most common)
• Every 12 hours
• Every 8 hours
• Every 6 hours
• Every 3 hours
• Every 2 hours
• Every 1 hour

When a scheduled connection is first created, a sync is executed immediately after creation. After that, a sync is run once the time since the last sync (whether it was triggered manually or due to a schedule) has exceeded the schedule interval. For example:

• October 1st, 2pm, a user sets up a connection to sync data every 24 hours.
• October 1st, 2:01pm: sync job runs
• October 2nd, 2:01pm: 24 hours have passed since the last sync, so a sync is triggered.
• October 2nd, 5pm: The user manually triggers a sync from the UI
• October 3rd, 2:01pm: since the last sync was less than 24 hours ago, no sync is run
• October 3rd, 5:01pm: It has been more than 24 hours since the last sync, so a sync is run

Cron Syncs

If you prefer more precision in scheduling your sync, you can also use CRON scheduling to set a specific time of day or month.

Airbyte uses the CRON scheduler from Quartz. We recommend reading their documentation to understand the required formatting. You can also refer to these examples:

Cron string	Sync Timing
0 0 * * * ?	Every hour, at 0 minutes past the hour
0 0 15 * * ?	At 15:00 every day
0 0 15 * * MON,TUE	At 15:00, only on Monday and Tuesday
0 0 0,2,4,6 * * ?	At 12:00 AM, 02:00 AM, 04:00 AM and 06:00 AM every day
0 0 _/15 _ * ?	At 0 minutes past the hour, every 15 hours

When setting up the cron expression, you will also be asked to choose a time zone the sync will run in.

Manual Syncs

When the connection is set to replicate with Manual frequency, the sync will not automatically run.

It can be triggered by clicking the "Sync Now" button at any time through the UI or be triggered through the API.

Sync Considerations

• Only one sync per connection can run at a time.
• If a sync is scheduled to run before the previous sync finishes, the scheduled sync will start after the completion of the previous sync.
• Syncs can run at most every 60 minutes in Airbyte Cloud. Reach out to Sales if you require replication more frequently than once per hour.

:::note For Scheduled or cron scheduled syncs, Airbyte guarantees syncs will initiate with a schedule accuracy of +/- 30 minutes. :::