Scheduling Scraping Jobs

Real scrapers run automatically:

• every hour
• every day
• every week

Manual runs are not practical.

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Option 1: cron (Linux)

Run every day at 2 AM:

0 2 * * * /usr/bin/python3 /path/scraper.py >> scraper.log 2>&1

Meaning:
minute hour day month weekday

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Option 2: Python schedule library

import schedule
import time

def job():
    print("Running scraper...")

schedule.every().day.at("02:00").do(job)

while True:
    schedule.run_pending()
    time.sleep(60)

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Why scheduling matters

• keeps data fresh
• no human needed
• works 24/7

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Graph: scheduler flow

flowchart LR
  A[Clock] --> B[Scheduler]
  B --> C[Run Scraper]
  C --> D[Store in DB]

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Remember

• cron is reliable for servers
• Python scheduler good for apps
• Always log scheduled runs