Docs · Cron & scheduled tasks

Cron & scheduled tasks

FortPass has a single entry point: run_cron($con) in functions.php. Each task has its own throttle so calling run_cron() more often than needed is harmless — only tasks whose interval has elapsed actually do work.

How it gets triggered

Cron-on-visit: every request invokes run_cron() at most every 5 minutes (driven by cron_time setting).
Manual button in /admin/dashboard → "Run cron now".
External crontab (optional): php /path/to/cron.php every N minutes for installs with low traffic.

Tasks

Task	Interval	What it does
Monthly reports	Day 1 of each month	`monthly_dispatch_reports()` sends the security summary email to every eligible user.
Breach digest	Every 24h	`breach_digest_dispatch()` — HIBP fetch → email to users with `breach_alerts_basic` or `breach_alerts_realtime`.
Emergency processing	Every run	Marks requests with elapsed wait as granted, sends email + encrypted recovery code.
Cleanup	Every 5 min (throttled)	`cron_cleanup_expired()` — reset tokens, login codes, expired emergency invites, PIN attempts, sessions, scan history, cancelled subs, expired trials.
Translation worker	Every 60s	`cron_process_translations()` drains the translation queue. See i18n & auto-translation.
New language detection	On startup	`cron_detect_new_languages()` compares installed langs vs `translated_languages_seen` setting.
Translation orphan sweep	Daily	Removes translation rows whose source object no longer exists.

Cleanup details

The cleanup pass touches several tables on a 5-minute throttle:

Reset tokens expired / used > 7d ago.
Login codes > 1h.
Expired emergency invitations → status = 'expired'.
PIN attempts > 30d.
User sessions inactive > 30d.
Scan history > 20 per user.
Cancelled subscriptions with grace period elapsed → downgrade to Free.
Trials without conversion → Free.
past_due > 7d → Free.

Forcing a task to run

Each task's last-run timestamp lives in settings with key cron_*_last_run. Setting it to 0 manually forces the next execution:

UPDATE settings SET setting_value='0' WHERE setting_name='cron_monthly_last_run';

The next run_cron() call will fire the monthly dispatch, regardless of the calendar.

Performance

Each task short-circuits if its interval hasn't elapsed (single SELECT per task). A typical run_cron() call with all timers fresh does < 10 queries and returns in < 5 ms. Cron-on-visit overhead is negligible.