Cron Jobs

The Telegram Subscription Manager uses cron jobs to automatically remove users from the VIP channel when their subscriptions expire. This ensures that only active paying members have access.

Overview

The cron system performs the following tasks:

Checks for expired subscriptions every hour
Removes users from the Telegram channel by banning them
Deletes MetaCopier accounts for premium users
Sends expiry notifications to removed users
Updates the database to mark subscriptions as removed

The cron job runs automatically when deployed on Vercel. No manual configuration needed after setup.

Cron Endpoint

The cron job is implemented as an API route: Endpoint: /api/cron/remove-expired File: src/app/api/cron/remove-expired/route.ts Methods: GET and POST (POST is for manual testing) Schedule: Every hour (0 * * * * in cron syntax)

How It Works

Here’s the step-by-step flow when the cron job runs:

1. Find Expired Subscriptions

src/app/api/cron/remove-expired/route.ts

const now = new Date()
const expiredSubscriptions = await prisma.subscription.findMany({
  where: {
    expiresAt: { lt: now },  // Expiry date is in the past
    isRemoved: false          // Not already removed
  },
  include: { mt5Setup: true }
})

2. Process Each Expired Subscription

For each expired user:

Remove MetaCopier Account

If the user has premium plan with copier access:

if (subscription.mt5Setup && subscription.mt5Setup.metacopierAccountId) {
  await removeUserMt5Account(
    subscription.mt5Setup.metacopierAccountId,
    subscription.mt5Setup.metacopierCopierId
  )
}

If MetaCopier removal fails, an alert is sent to the admin for manual cleanup.

Ban User from Channel

Remove the user from the Telegram VIP channel:

const banned = await banChatMember(subscription.telegramUserId)

Update Database

Mark the subscription as removed:

await prisma.subscription.update({
  where: { id: subscription.id },
  data: {
    isRemoved: true,
    removedAt: now
  }
})

Notify User

Send an expiry notification with renewal options:

await sendMessage(
  subscription.telegramUserId,
  `⏰ Your subscription has expired.
  
  Your access to Pear VIP signals channel has been removed.
  
  Want to renew? Just tap /pay to get started.`
)

3. Return Results

return NextResponse.json({
  success: true,
  processed: expiredSubscriptions.length,
  removed: removedCount,
  failed: failedCount,
  timestamp: now.toISOString()
})

Vercel Cron Configuration

To enable automatic hourly execution on Vercel, create a vercel.json file in your project root:

vercel.json

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/remove-expired",
      "schedule": "0 * * * *"
    }
  ]
}

path

string

The API route to call (always /api/cron/remove-expired)

schedule

string

Cron expression for the schedule. Format: minute hour day month weekdayExamples:

0 * * * * - Every hour at minute 0
*/30 * * * * - Every 30 minutes
0 */6 * * * - Every 6 hours
0 0 * * * - Daily at midnight
0 2 * * * - Daily at 2 AM

Customizing the Schedule

Run Every 30 Minutes

vercel.json

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/remove-expired",
      "schedule": "*/30 * * * *"
    }
  ]
}

Run Every 6 Hours

vercel.json

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/remove-expired",
      "schedule": "0 */6 * * *"
    }
  ]
}

Run Daily at 2 AM

vercel.json

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/remove-expired",
      "schedule": "0 2 * * *"
    }
  ]
}

More frequent runs consume more serverless function invocations. Hourly is recommended for balancing timely removals with resource usage.

Manual Testing

You can manually trigger the cron job for testing:

Using cURL

curl -X POST https://your-domain.vercel.app/api/cron/remove-expired

Using Browser

Simply visit:

https://your-domain.vercel.app/api/cron/remove-expired

Expected Response

{
  "success": true,
  "processed": 5,
  "removed": 4,
  "failed": 1,
  "timestamp": "2026-03-03T10:00:00.000Z"
}

processed

number

Total number of expired subscriptions found

removed

number

Number of users successfully removed from channel

failed

number

Number of removals that failed (will retry next run)

timestamp

string

ISO 8601 timestamp when the cron job ran

Error Handling

The cron job implements robust error handling:

MetaCopier Removal Failures

If MetaCopier account deletion fails, the admin receives a notification:

⚠️ MetaCopier Removal Failed - Manual Action Needed!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

User: 123456789 (username)
MetaCopier Account: mc_abc123
Error: API timeout

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Action Required:
• User has been removed from channel
• But MetaCopier account could NOT be removed automatically
• Please remove manually from MetaCopier dashboard

Login: 12345678
Server: MetaQuotes-Demo

The channel removal continues even if MetaCopier cleanup fails, ensuring users can’t access VIP content.

Telegram Ban Failures

If banning a user fails:

The subscription is not marked as removed
The failure is logged and counted
The job will retry on the next run

Database Errors

If the database query fails, the endpoint returns:

{
  "error": "Cron job failed",
  "message": "Database connection timeout"
}

Monitoring

Check Vercel Cron Logs

Go to Vercel Dashboard
Select your project
Navigate to Deployments → Functions
Click on /api/cron/remove-expired
View execution logs and metrics

Database Monitoring

Query removed subscriptions:

npx prisma studio

Filter by:

isRemoved: true
removedAt: [recent date range]

Admin Notifications

The cron job sends Telegram messages to the admin (configured in ADMIN_ID) when:

MetaCopier removal fails
Critical errors occur during processing

Best Practices

Production Checklist:

✅ Set CRON_SECRET in environment variables
✅ Test cron endpoint manually before going live
✅ Verify bot has “Restrict members” permission in channel
✅ Monitor logs regularly for failures
✅ Set up admin notifications
✅ Have a manual removal process as backup

Performance Tips:

The cron job processes all expired subscriptions in a single run
Failed removals are automatically retried on the next scheduled run
Running every hour balances timeliness with serverless function usage
Consider more frequent runs (every 30 minutes) for high-volume operations

Troubleshooting

Cron Job Not Running

Check vercel.json exists in project root
Verify deployment includes the cron configuration
Review Vercel logs for errors
Ensure endpoint returns 200 status code

Users Not Being Removed

Check bot permissions in the Telegram channel
Verify TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN is correct
Review database - are subscriptions actually expired?
Check isRemoved flag - might already be processed

Too Many Failed Removals

Check Telegram API rate limits (20 requests/second)
Verify bot hasn’t been removed from the channel
Review error logs for specific failure reasons
Consider adding retry delays between removals

Duplicate Removals

The system prevents duplicates by:

Checking isRemoved: false before processing
Setting isRemoved: true immediately after successful removal
Using database transactions for atomicity

Advanced Configuration

For more control, you can modify the cron job behavior in src/app/api/cron/remove-expired/route.ts:

Add Grace Period

const gracePeriodHours = 24
const cutoffDate = new Date(now.getTime() - (gracePeriodHours * 60 * 60 * 1000))

const expiredSubscriptions = await prisma.subscription.findMany({
  where: {
    expiresAt: { lt: cutoffDate },  // 24 hours past expiry
    isRemoved: false
  }
})

Batch Processing

const BATCH_SIZE = 10

for (let i = 0; i < expiredSubscriptions.length; i += BATCH_SIZE) {
  const batch = expiredSubscriptions.slice(i, i + BATCH_SIZE)
  await Promise.all(batch.map(processSubscription))
  await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000)) // Rate limit pause
}

Custom Notifications

Modify the expiry message sent to users in the sendMessage call within the route handler.

Get Started

Core Features

Configuration

Deployment

Admin Guide

Overview

Cron Endpoint

How It Works

1. Find Expired Subscriptions

2. Process Each Expired Subscription

3. Return Results

Vercel Cron Configuration

Customizing the Schedule

Run Every 30 Minutes

Run Every 6 Hours

Run Daily at 2 AM

Manual Testing

Using cURL

Using Browser

Expected Response

Error Handling

MetaCopier Removal Failures

Telegram Ban Failures

Database Errors

Monitoring

Check Vercel Cron Logs

Database Monitoring

Admin Notifications

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Cron Job Not Running

Users Not Being Removed

Too Many Failed Removals

Duplicate Removals

Advanced Configuration

Add Grace Period

Batch Processing

Custom Notifications

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Features

Configuration

Deployment

Admin Guide

​Overview

​Cron Endpoint

​How It Works

​1. Find Expired Subscriptions

​2. Process Each Expired Subscription

​3. Return Results

​Vercel Cron Configuration

​Customizing the Schedule

​Run Every 30 Minutes

​Run Every 6 Hours

​Run Daily at 2 AM

​Manual Testing

​Using cURL

​Using Browser

​Expected Response

​Error Handling

​MetaCopier Removal Failures

​Telegram Ban Failures

​Database Errors

​Monitoring

​Check Vercel Cron Logs

​Database Monitoring

​Admin Notifications

​Best Practices

​Troubleshooting

​Cron Job Not Running

​Users Not Being Removed

​Too Many Failed Removals

​Duplicate Removals

​Advanced Configuration

​Add Grace Period

​Batch Processing

​Custom Notifications

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Cron Endpoint

How It Works

1. Find Expired Subscriptions

2. Process Each Expired Subscription

3. Return Results

Vercel Cron Configuration

Customizing the Schedule

Run Every 30 Minutes

Run Every 6 Hours

Run Daily at 2 AM

Manual Testing

Using cURL

Using Browser

Expected Response

Error Handling

MetaCopier Removal Failures

Telegram Ban Failures

Database Errors

Monitoring

Check Vercel Cron Logs

Database Monitoring

Admin Notifications

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Cron Job Not Running

Users Not Being Removed

Too Many Failed Removals

Duplicate Removals

Advanced Configuration

Add Grace Period

Batch Processing

Custom Notifications