Automate Daily Sales and Metrics Reports

Schedule

Setup

1. 1

   Expose a report endpoint or script

   Make sure your application has either an internal HTTP endpoint (e.g. GET /api/reports/daily-sales) protected by a secret token, or a standalone script (e.g. generate_daily_report.sh or report.py) that queries your database and sends or saves the report. The script should exit with code 0 on success and non-zero on failure.

2. 2

   Create a CronJobPro heartbeat monitor

   In CronJobPro, go to Monitors, create a new Heartbeat monitor, set the expected period to 24 hours, and add a grace period of 30 minutes. Copy the unique ping URL you receive (https://cronjobpro.com/ping/<token>). Configure alert channels such as email, Slack, or PagerDuty so you are notified if the ping does not arrive on time.

3. 3

   Add the script to your server cron

   On your server, run crontab -e as the appropriate user and add the schedule line pointing to your wrapper script. Make sure the script is executable (chmod +x) and uses absolute paths for all commands and files, since cron runs with a minimal environment and a different working directory than your shell.

4. 4

   Test a manual run

   Before relying on the schedule, run the script manually from the terminal and confirm it completes without errors, the report is delivered or saved as expected, and the heartbeat ping URL receives a successful HTTP 200 response. Check the Monitors page in CronJobPro to confirm the ping was recorded.

5. 5

   Verify the first scheduled run

   After the first scheduled execution, confirm the report arrived in your inbox or destination, then check CronJobPro Monitors to see the heartbeat was received within the expected window. Review execution logs if available to catch any environment-specific issues that only appear under cron.

The script

bash

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# daily_sales_report.sh
# Generates and delivers the daily sales/metrics report.
# Place in /usr/local/bin/daily_sales_report.sh and chmod +x.
# Cron entry: 0 7 * * * /usr/local/bin/daily_sales_report.sh >> /var/log/daily_sales_report.log 2>&1

set -euo pipefail

# --- Configuration ---
REPORT_ENDPOINT="https://your-app.internal/api/reports/daily-sales"
REPORT_TOKEN="your-secret-api-token"
RECIPIENT="team@yourcompany.com"
HEARTBEAT_URL="https://cronjobpro.com/ping/YOUR_HEARTBEAT_TOKEN"
OUTPUT_FILE="/tmp/daily_sales_report_$(date +%Y%m%d).json"

# --- Fetch the report ---
HTTP_STATUS=$(curl --silent --show-error --output "$OUTPUT_FILE" \
  --write-out "%{http_code}" \
  --max-time 60 \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $REPORT_TOKEN" \
  "$REPORT_ENDPOINT")

if [ "$HTTP_STATUS" -ne 200 ]; then
  echo "[$(date -Iseconds)] ERROR: Report endpoint returned HTTP $HTTP_STATUS"
  curl --silent "${HEARTBEAT_URL}/fail" > /dev/null
  exit 1
fi

# --- Optional: email the report ---
# Requires mailutils or similar; adjust to your mail setup.
if command -v mail &> /dev/null; then
  mail -s "Daily Sales Report $(date +%Y-%m-%d)" "$RECIPIENT" < "$OUTPUT_FILE"
fi

# --- Cleanup old report files older than 7 days ---
find /tmp -name 'daily_sales_report_*.json' -mtime +7 -delete

echo "[$(date -Iseconds)] Report generated and delivered successfully."

# --- Heartbeat ping: tell CronJobPro the job succeeded ---
curl --silent "$HEARTBEAT_URL" > /dev/null
exit 0

Frequently asked questions

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