Trigger Dev Tasks

Trigger.dev Task Expert

You are an expert Trigger.dev developer specializing in building production-grade background job systems. Tasks deployed to Trigger.dev run in Node.js 21+ and use the @trigger.dev/sdk package.

Critical Rules

1. Always use `@trigger.dev/sdk` - Never use @trigger.dev/sdk/v3 or deprecated client.defineJob pattern 2. Never use `node-fetch` - Use the built-in fetch function 3. Export all tasks - Every task must be exported, including subtasks 4. Never wrap wait/trigger calls in Promise.all - triggerAndWait, batchTriggerAndWait, and wait.* calls cannot be wrapped in Promise.all or Promise.allSettled

Basic Task Pattern

import { task } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const processData = task({
  id: "process-data",
  retry: {
    maxAttempts: 10,
    factor: 1.8,
    minTimeoutInMs: 500,
    maxTimeoutInMs: 30_000,
  },
  run: async (payload: { userId: string; data: any[] }) => {
    console.log(`Processing ${payload.data.length} items`);
    return { processed: payload.data.length };
  },
});

Schema Task (with validation)

import { schemaTask } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";
import { z } from "zod";

export const validatedTask = schemaTask({
  id: "validated-task",
  schema: z.object({
    name: z.string(),
    email: z.string().email(),
  }),
  run: async (payload) => {
    // Payload is automatically validated and typed
    return { message: `Hello ${payload.name}` };
  },
});

Triggering Tasks

From Backend Code (type-only import to prevent dependency leakage)

import { tasks } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";
import type { processData } from "./trigger/tasks";

const handle = await tasks.trigger<typeof processData>("process-data", {
  userId: "123",
  data: [{ id: 1 }],
});

From Inside Tasks

export const parentTask = task({
  id: "parent-task",
  run: async (payload) => {
    // Trigger and wait - returns Result object, NOT direct output
    const result = await childTask.triggerAndWait({ data: "value" });
    if (result.ok) {
      console.log("Output:", result.output);
    } else {
      console.error("Failed:", result.error);
    }

    // Or unwrap directly (throws on error)
    const output = await childTask.triggerAndWait({ data: "value" }).unwrap();
  },
});

Idempotency (Critical for Retries)

Always use idempotency keys when triggering tasks from inside other tasks:

import { idempotencyKeys } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const paymentTask = task({
  id: "process-payment",
  run: async (payload: { orderId: string }) => {
    // Scoped to current run - survives retries
    const key = await idempotencyKeys.create(`payment-${payload.orderId}`);

    await chargeCustomer.trigger(payload, {
      idempotencyKey: key,
      idempotencyKeyTTL: "24h",
    });
  },
});

Trigger Options

await myTask.trigger(payload, {
  delay: "1h",           // Delay execution
  ttl: "10m",            // Cancel if not started within TTL
  idempotencyKey: key,
  queue: "my-queue",
  machine: "large-1x",   // micro, small-1x, small-2x, medium-1x, medium-2x, large-1x, large-2x
  maxAttempts: 3,
  tags: ["user_123"],    // Max 10 tags
  debounce: {            // Consolidate rapid triggers
    key: "unique-key",
    delay: "5s",
    mode: "trailing",    // "leading" (default) or "trailing"
  },
});

Debouncing

Consolidate multiple triggers into a single execution:

// Rapid triggers with same key = single execution
await myTask.trigger({ userId: "123" }, {
  debounce: {
    key: "user-123-update",
    delay: "5s",
  },
});

// Trailing mode: use payload from LAST trigger
await myTask.trigger({ data: "latest" }, {
  debounce: {
    key: "my-key",
    delay: "10s",
    mode: "trailing",
  },
});

Use cases: user activity updates, webhook deduplication, search indexing, notification batching.

Batch Triggering

Up to 1,000 items per batch, 3MB per payload:

const results = await myTask.batchTriggerAndWait([
  { payload: { userId: "1" } },
  { payload: { userId: "2" } },
]);

for (const result of results) {
  if (result.ok) console.log(result.output);
}

Machine Presets

Design Principles

1. Break complex workflows into subtasks that can be independently retried and made idempotent 2. Don't over-complicate - Sometimes Promise.allSettled inside a single task is better than many subtasks (each task has dedicated process and is charged by millisecond) 3. Always configure retries - Set appropriate maxAttempts based on the operation 4. Use idempotency keys - Especially for payment/critical operations 5. Group related subtasks - Keep subtasks only used by one parent in the same file, don't export them 6. Use logger - Log at key execution points with logger.info(), logger.error(), etc.

Reference Documentation

For detailed documentation on specific topics, read these files:

• basic-tasks.md - Task basics, triggering, waits
• advanced-tasks.md - Tags, queues, concurrency, metadata, error handling
• scheduled-tasks.md - Cron schedules, declarative and imperative
• realtime.md - Real-time subscriptions, streams, React hooks
• config.md - trigger.config.ts, build extensions (Prisma, Playwright, FFmpeg, etc.)

Trigger.dev Advanced Tasks (v4)

Advanced patterns and features for writing tasks

Tags & Organization

import { task, tags } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const processUser = task({
  id: "process-user",
  run: async (payload: { userId: string; orgId: string }, { ctx }) => {
    // Add tags during execution
    await tags.add(`user_${payload.userId}`);
    await tags.add(`org_${payload.orgId}`);

    return { processed: true };
  },
});

// Trigger with tags
await processUser.trigger(
  { userId: "123", orgId: "abc" },
  { tags: ["priority", "user_123", "org_abc"] } // Max 10 tags per run
);

// Subscribe to tagged runs
for await (const run of runs.subscribeToRunsWithTag("user_123")) {
  console.log(`User task ${run.id}: ${run.status}`);
}

Tag Best Practices:

• Use prefixes: user_123, org_abc, video:456
• Max 10 tags per run, 1-64 characters each
• Tags don't propagate to child tasks automatically

Batch Triggering v2

Enhanced batch triggering with larger payloads and streaming ingestion.

Limits

• Maximum batch size: 1,000 items (increased from 500)
• Payload per item: 3MB each (increased from 1MB combined)
• Payloads > 512KB automatically offload to object storage

Rate Limiting (per environment)

Concurrent Batch Processing

Usage

import { myTask } from "./trigger/myTask";

// Basic batch trigger (up to 1,000 items)
const runs = await myTask.batchTrigger([
  { payload: { userId: "user-1" } },
  { payload: { userId: "user-2" } },
  { payload: { userId: "user-3" } },
]);

// Batch trigger with wait
const results = await myTask.batchTriggerAndWait([
  { payload: { userId: "user-1" } },
  { payload: { userId: "user-2" } },
]);

for (const result of results) {
  if (result.ok) {
    console.log("Result:", result.output);
  }
}

// With per-item options
const batchHandle = await myTask.batchTrigger([
  {
    payload: { userId: "123" },
    options: {
      idempotencyKey: "user-123-batch",
      tags: ["priority"],
    },
  },
  {
    payload: { userId: "456" },
    options: {
      idempotencyKey: "user-456-batch",
    },
  },
]);

Debouncing

Consolidate multiple triggers into a single execution by debouncing task runs with a unique key and delay window.

Use Cases

• User activity updates: Batch rapid user actions into a single run
• Webhook deduplication: Handle webhook bursts without redundant processing
• Search indexing: Combine document updates instead of processing individually
• Notification batching: Group notifications to prevent user spam

Basic Usage

await myTask.trigger(
  { userId: "123" },
  {
    debounce: {
      key: "user-123-update",  // Unique identifier for debounce group
      delay: "5s",              // Wait duration ("5s", "1m", or milliseconds)
    },
  }
);

Execution Modes

Leading Mode (default): Uses payload/options from the first trigger; subsequent triggers only reschedule execution time.

// First trigger sets the payload
await myTask.trigger({ action: "first" }, {
  debounce: { key: "my-key", delay: "10s" }
});

// Second trigger only reschedules - payload remains "first"
await myTask.trigger({ action: "second" }, {
  debounce: { key: "my-key", delay: "10s" }
});
// Task executes with { action: "first" }

Trailing Mode: Uses payload/options from the most recent trigger.

await myTask.trigger(
  { data: "latest-value" },
  {
    debounce: {
      key: "trailing-example",
      delay: "10s",
      mode: "trailing",
    },
  }
);

In trailing mode, these options update with each trigger:

• payload — task input data
• metadata — run metadata
• tags — run tags (replaces existing)
• maxAttempts — retry attempts
• maxDuration — maximum compute time
• machine — machine preset

Important Notes

• Idempotency keys take precedence over debounce settings
• Compatible with triggerAndWait() — parent runs block correctly on debounced execution
• Debounce key is scoped to the task

Concurrency & Queues

import { task, queue } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

// Shared queue for related tasks
const emailQueue = queue({
  name: "email-processing",
  concurrencyLimit: 5, // Max 5 emails processing simultaneously
});

// Task-level concurrency
export const oneAtATime = task({
  id: "sequential-task",
  queue: { concurrencyLimit: 1 }, // Process one at a time
  run: async (payload) => {
    // Critical section - only one instance runs
  },
});

// Per-user concurrency
export const processUserData = task({
  id: "process-user-data",
  run: async (payload: { userId: string }) => {
    // Override queue with user-specific concurrency
    await childTask.trigger(payload, {
      queue: {
        name: `user-${payload.userId}`,
        concurrencyLimit: 2,
      },
    });
  },
});

export const emailTask = task({
  id: "send-email",
  queue: emailQueue, // Use shared queue
  run: async (payload: { to: string }) => {
    // Send email logic
  },
});

Error Handling & Retries

import { task, retry, AbortTaskRunError } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const resilientTask = task({
  id: "resilient-task",
  retry: {
    maxAttempts: 10,
    factor: 1.8, // Exponential backoff multiplier
    minTimeoutInMs: 500,
    maxTimeoutInMs: 30_000,
    randomize: false,
  },
  catchError: async ({ error, ctx }) => {
    // Custom error handling
    if (error.code === "FATAL_ERROR") {
      throw new AbortTaskRunError("Cannot retry this error");
    }

    // Log error details
    console.error(`Task ${ctx.task.id} failed:`, error);

    // Allow retry by returning nothing
    return { retryAt: new Date(Date.now() + 60000) }; // Retry in 1 minute
  },
  run: async (payload) => {
    // Retry specific operations
    const result = await retry.onThrow(
      async () => {
        return await unstableApiCall(payload);
      },
      { maxAttempts: 3 }
    );

    // Conditional HTTP retries
    const response = await retry.fetch("https://api.example.com", {
      retry: {
        maxAttempts: 5,
        condition: (response, error) => {
          return response?.status === 429 || response?.status >= 500;
        },
      },
    });

    return result;
  },
});

Machines & Performance

export const heavyTask = task({
  id: "heavy-computation",
  machine: { preset: "large-2x" }, // 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM
  maxDuration: 1800, // 30 minutes timeout
  run: async (payload, { ctx }) => {
    // Resource-intensive computation
    if (ctx.machine.preset === "large-2x") {
      // Use all available cores
      return await parallelProcessing(payload);
    }

    return await standardProcessing(payload);
  },
});

// Override machine when triggering
await heavyTask.trigger(payload, {
  machine: { preset: "medium-1x" }, // Override for this run
});

Machine Presets:

• micro: 0.25 vCPU, 0.25 GB RAM
• small-1x: 0.5 vCPU, 0.5 GB RAM (default)
• small-2x: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM
• medium-1x: 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM
• medium-2x: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM
• large-1x: 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM
• large-2x: 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM

Idempotency

import { task, idempotencyKeys } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const paymentTask = task({
  id: "process-payment",
  retry: {
    maxAttempts: 3,
  },
  run: async (payload: { orderId: string; amount: number }) => {
    // Automatically scoped to this task run, so if the task is retried, the idempotency key will be the same
    const idempotencyKey = await idempotencyKeys.create(`payment-${payload.orderId}`);

    // Ensure payment is processed only once
    await chargeCustomer.trigger(payload, {
      idempotencyKey,
      idempotencyKeyTTL: "24h", // Key expires in 24 hours
    });
  },
});

// Payload-based idempotency
import { createHash } from "node:crypto";

function createPayloadHash(payload: any): string {
  const hash = createHash("sha256");
  hash.update(JSON.stringify(payload));
  return hash.digest("hex");
}

export const deduplicatedTask = task({
  id: "deduplicated-task",
  run: async (payload) => {
    const payloadHash = createPayloadHash(payload);
    const idempotencyKey = await idempotencyKeys.create(payloadHash);

    await processData.trigger(payload, { idempotencyKey });
  },
});

Metadata & Progress Tracking

import { task, metadata } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const batchProcessor = task({
  id: "batch-processor",
  run: async (payload: { items: any[] }, { ctx }) => {
    const totalItems = payload.items.length;

    // Initialize progress metadata
    metadata
      .set("progress", 0)
      .set("totalItems", totalItems)
      .set("processedItems", 0)
      .set("status", "starting");

    const results = [];

    for (let i = 0; i < payload.items.length; i++) {
      const item = payload.items[i];

      // Process item
      const result = await processItem(item);
      results.push(result);

      // Update progress
      const progress = ((i + 1) / totalItems) * 100;
      metadata
        .set("progress", progress)
        .increment("processedItems", 1)
        .append("logs", `Processed item ${i + 1}/${totalItems}`)
        .set("currentItem", item.id);
    }

    // Final status
    metadata.set("status", "completed");

    return { results, totalProcessed: results.length };
  },
});

// Update parent metadata from child task
export const childTask = task({
  id: "child-task",
  run: async (payload, { ctx }) => {
    // Update parent task metadata
    metadata.parent.set("childStatus", "processing");
    metadata.root.increment("childrenCompleted", 1);

    return { processed: true };
  },
});

Logging & Tracing

import { task, logger } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const tracedTask = task({
  id: "traced-task",
  run: async (payload, { ctx }) => {
    logger.info("Task started", { userId: payload.userId });

    // Custom trace with attributes
    const user = await logger.trace(
      "fetch-user",
      async (span) => {
        span.setAttribute("user.id", payload.userId);
        span.setAttribute("operation", "database-fetch");

        const userData = await database.findUser(payload.userId);
        span.setAttribute("user.found", !!userData);

        return userData;
      },
      { userId: payload.userId }
    );

    logger.debug("User fetched", { user: user.id });

    try {
      const result = await processUser(user);
      logger.info("Processing completed", { result });
      return result;
    } catch (error) {
      logger.error("Processing failed", {
        error: error.message,
        userId: payload.userId,
      });
      throw error;
    }
  },
});

Hidden Tasks

// Hidden task - not exported, only used internally
const internalProcessor = task({
  id: "internal-processor",
  run: async (payload: { data: string }) => {
    return { processed: payload.data.toUpperCase() };
  },
});

// Public task that uses hidden task
export const publicWorkflow = task({
  id: "public-workflow",
  run: async (payload: { input: string }) => {
    // Use hidden task internally
    const result = await internalProcessor.triggerAndWait({
      data: payload.input,
    });

    if (result.ok) {
      return { output: result.output.processed };
    }

    throw new Error("Internal processing failed");
  },
});

Best Practices

• Concurrency: Use queues to prevent overwhelming external services
• Retries: Configure exponential backoff for transient failures
• Idempotency: Always use for payment/critical operations
• Metadata: Track progress for long-running tasks
• Machines: Match machine size to computational requirements
• Tags: Use consistent naming patterns for filtering
• Debouncing: Use for user activity, webhooks, and notification batching
• Batch triggering: Use for bulk operations up to 1,000 items
• Error Handling: Distinguish between retryable and fatal errors

Design tasks to be stateless, idempotent, and resilient to failures. Use metadata for state tracking and queues for resource management.

Trigger.dev Basic Tasks (v4)

MUST use `@trigger.dev/sdk`, NEVER `client.defineJob`

Basic Task

import { task } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const processData = task({
  id: "process-data",
  retry: {
    maxAttempts: 10,
    factor: 1.8,
    minTimeoutInMs: 500,
    maxTimeoutInMs: 30_000,
    randomize: false,
  },
  run: async (payload: { userId: string; data: any[] }) => {
    // Task logic - runs for long time, no timeouts
    console.log(`Processing ${payload.data.length} items for user ${payload.userId}`);
    return { processed: payload.data.length };
  },
});

Schema Task (with validation)

import { schemaTask } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";
import { z } from "zod";

export const validatedTask = schemaTask({
  id: "validated-task",
  schema: z.object({
    name: z.string(),
    age: z.number(),
    email: z.string().email(),
  }),
  run: async (payload) => {
    // Payload is automatically validated and typed
    return { message: `Hello ${payload.name}, age ${payload.age}` };
  },
});

Triggering Tasks

From Backend Code

import { tasks } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";
import type { processData } from "./trigger/tasks";

// Single trigger
const handle = await tasks.trigger<typeof processData>("process-data", {
  userId: "123",
  data: [{ id: 1 }, { id: 2 }],
});

// Batch trigger (up to 1,000 items, 3MB per payload)
const batchHandle = await tasks.batchTrigger<typeof processData>("process-data", [
  { payload: { userId: "123", data: [{ id: 1 }] } },
  { payload: { userId: "456", data: [{ id: 2 }] } },
]);

Debounced Triggering

Consolidate multiple triggers into a single execution:

// Multiple rapid triggers with same key = single execution
await myTask.trigger(
  { userId: "123" },
  {
    debounce: {
      key: "user-123-update",  // Unique key for debounce group
      delay: "5s",              // Wait before executing
    },
  }
);

// Trailing mode: use payload from LAST trigger
await myTask.trigger(
  { data: "latest-value" },
  {
    debounce: {
      key: "trailing-example",
      delay: "10s",
      mode: "trailing",  // Default is "leading" (first payload)
    },
  }
);

Debounce modes:

• leading (default): Uses payload from first trigger, subsequent triggers only reschedule
• trailing: Uses payload from most recent trigger

From Inside Tasks (with Result handling)

export const parentTask = task({
  id: "parent-task",
  run: async (payload) => {
    // Trigger and continue
    const handle = await childTask.trigger({ data: "value" });

    // Trigger and wait - returns Result object, NOT task output
    const result = await childTask.triggerAndWait({ data: "value" });
    if (result.ok) {
      console.log("Task output:", result.output); // Actual task return value
    } else {
      console.error("Task failed:", result.error);
    }

    // Quick unwrap (throws on error)
    const output = await childTask.triggerAndWait({ data: "value" }).unwrap();

    // Batch trigger and wait
    const results = await childTask.batchTriggerAndWait([
      { payload: { data: "item1" } },
      { payload: { data: "item2" } },
    ]);

    for (const run of results) {
      if (run.ok) {
        console.log("Success:", run.output);
      } else {
        console.log("Failed:", run.error);
      }
    }
  },
});

export const childTask = task({
  id: "child-task",
  run: async (payload: { data: string }) => {
    return { processed: payload.data };
  },
});

Never wrap triggerAndWait or batchTriggerAndWait calls in a Promise.all or Promise.allSettled as this is not supported in Trigger.dev tasks.

Waits

import { task, wait } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const taskWithWaits = task({
  id: "task-with-waits",
  run: async (payload) => {
    console.log("Starting task");

    // Wait for specific duration
    await wait.for({ seconds: 30 });
    await wait.for({ minutes: 5 });
    await wait.for({ hours: 1 });
    await wait.for({ days: 1 });

    // Wait until specific date
    await wait.until({ date: new Date("2024-12-25") });

    // Wait for token (from external system)
    await wait.forToken({
      token: "user-approval-token",
      timeoutInSeconds: 3600, // 1 hour timeout
    });

    console.log("All waits completed");
    return { status: "completed" };
  },
});

Never wrap wait calls in a Promise.all or Promise.allSettled as this is not supported in Trigger.dev tasks.

Key Points

• Result vs Output: triggerAndWait() returns a Result object with ok, output, error properties - NOT the direct task output
• Type safety: Use import type for task references when triggering from backend
• Waits > 5 seconds: Automatically checkpointed, don't count toward compute usage
• Debounce + idempotency: Idempotency keys take precedence over debounce settings

NEVER Use (v2 deprecated)

// BREAKS APPLICATION
client.defineJob({
  id: "job-id",
  run: async (payload, io) => {
    /* ... */
  },
});

Use SDK (@trigger.dev/sdk), check result.ok before accessing result.output

Trigger.dev Configuration

Complete guide to configuring `trigger.config.ts` with build extensions

Basic Configuration

import { defineConfig } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export default defineConfig({
  project: "<project-ref>", // Required: Your project reference
  dirs: ["./trigger"], // Task directories
  runtime: "node", // "node", "node-22", or "bun"
  logLevel: "info", // "debug", "info", "warn", "error"

  // Default retry settings
  retries: {
    enabledInDev: false,
    default: {
      maxAttempts: 3,
      minTimeoutInMs: 1000,
      maxTimeoutInMs: 10000,
      factor: 2,
      randomize: true,
    },
  },

  // Build configuration
  build: {
    autoDetectExternal: true,
    keepNames: true,
    minify: false,
    extensions: [], // Build extensions go here
  },

  // Global lifecycle hooks
  onStartAttempt: async ({ payload, ctx }) => {
    console.log("Global task start");
  },
  onSuccess: async ({ payload, output, ctx }) => {
    console.log("Global task success");
  },
  onFailure: async ({ payload, error, ctx }) => {
    console.log("Global task failure");
  },
});

Build Extensions

Database & ORM

Prisma

import { prismaExtension } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/prisma";

extensions: [
  prismaExtension({
    schema: "prisma/schema.prisma",
    version: "5.19.0", // Optional: specify version
    migrate: true, // Run migrations during build
    directUrlEnvVarName: "DIRECT_DATABASE_URL",
    typedSql: true, // Enable TypedSQL support
  }),
];

TypeScript Decorators (for TypeORM)

import { emitDecoratorMetadata } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/typescript";

extensions: [
  emitDecoratorMetadata(), // Enables decorator metadata
];

Scripting Languages

Python

import { pythonExtension } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/python";

extensions: [
  pythonExtension({
    scripts: ["./python/**/*.py"], // Copy Python files
    requirementsFile: "./requirements.txt", // Install packages
    devPythonBinaryPath: ".venv/bin/python", // Dev mode binary
  }),
];

// Usage in tasks
const result = await python.runInline(`print("Hello, world!")`);
const output = await python.runScript("./python/script.py", ["arg1"]);

Browser Automation

Playwright

import { playwright } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/playwright";

extensions: [
  playwright({
    browsers: ["chromium", "firefox", "webkit"], // Default: ["chromium"]
    headless: true, // Default: true
  }),
];

Puppeteer

import { puppeteer } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/puppeteer";

extensions: [puppeteer()];

// Environment variable needed:
// PUPPETEER_EXECUTABLE_PATH: "/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable"

Lightpanda

import { lightpanda } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/lightpanda";

extensions: [
  lightpanda({
    version: "latest", // or "nightly"
    disableTelemetry: false,
  }),
];

Media Processing

FFmpeg

import { ffmpeg } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/core";

extensions: [
  ffmpeg({ version: "7" }), // Static build, or omit for Debian version
];

// Automatically sets FFMPEG_PATH and FFPROBE_PATH
// Add fluent-ffmpeg to external packages if using

Audio Waveform

import { audioWaveform } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/audioWaveform";

extensions: [
  audioWaveform(), // Installs Audio Waveform 1.1.0
];

System & Package Management

System Packages (apt-get)

import { aptGet } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/core";

extensions: [
  aptGet({
    packages: ["ffmpeg", "imagemagick", "curl=7.68.0-1"], // Can specify versions
  }),
];

Additional NPM Packages

Only use this for installing CLI tools, NOT packages you import in your code.

import { additionalPackages } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/core";

extensions: [
  additionalPackages({
    packages: ["wrangler"], // CLI tools and specific versions
  }),
];

Additional Files

import { additionalFiles } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/core";

extensions: [
  additionalFiles({
    files: ["wrangler.toml", "./assets/**", "./fonts/**"], // Glob patterns supported
  }),
];

Environment & Build Tools

Environment Variable Sync

import { syncEnvVars } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/core";

extensions: [
  syncEnvVars(async (ctx) => {
    // ctx contains: environment, projectRef, env
    return [
      { name: "SECRET_KEY", value: await getSecret(ctx.environment) },
      { name: "API_URL", value: ctx.environment === "prod" ? "api.prod.com" : "api.dev.com" },
    ];
  }),
];

ESBuild Plugins

import { esbuildPlugin } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions";
import { sentryEsbuildPlugin } from "@sentry/esbuild-plugin";

extensions: [
  esbuildPlugin(
    sentryEsbuildPlugin({
      org: process.env.SENTRY_ORG,
      project: process.env.SENTRY_PROJECT,
      authToken: process.env.SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN,
    }),
    { placement: "last", target: "deploy" } // Optional config
  ),
];

Custom Build Extensions

import { defineConfig } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

const customExtension = {
  name: "my-custom-extension",

  externalsForTarget: (target) => {
    return ["some-native-module"]; // Add external dependencies
  },

  onBuildStart: async (context) => {
    console.log(`Build starting for ${context.target}`);
    // Register esbuild plugins, modify build context
  },

  onBuildComplete: async (context, manifest) => {
    console.log("Build complete, adding layers");
    // Add build layers, modify deployment
    context.addLayer({
      id: "my-layer",
      files: [{ source: "./custom-file", destination: "/app/custom" }],
      commands: ["chmod +x /app/custom"],
    });
  },
};

export default defineConfig({
  project: "my-project",
  build: {
    extensions: [customExtension],
  },
});

Advanced Configuration

Telemetry

import { PrismaInstrumentation } from "@prisma/instrumentation";
import { OpenAIInstrumentation } from "@langfuse/openai";

export default defineConfig({
  // ... other config
  telemetry: {
    instrumentations: [new PrismaInstrumentation(), new OpenAIInstrumentation()],
    exporters: [customExporter], // Optional custom exporters
  },
});

Machine & Performance

export default defineConfig({
  // ... other config
  defaultMachine: "large-1x", // Default machine for all tasks
  maxDuration: 300, // Default max duration (seconds)
  enableConsoleLogging: true, // Console logging in development
});

Common Extension Combinations

Full-Stack Web App

extensions: [
  prismaExtension({ schema: "prisma/schema.prisma", migrate: true }),
  additionalFiles({ files: ["./public/**", "./assets/**"] }),
  syncEnvVars(async (ctx) => [...envVars]),
];

AI/ML Processing

extensions: [
  pythonExtension({
    scripts: ["./ai/**/*.py"],
    requirementsFile: "./requirements.txt",
  }),
  ffmpeg({ version: "7" }),
  additionalPackages({ packages: ["wrangler"] }),
];

Web Scraping

extensions: [
  playwright({ browsers: ["chromium"] }),
  puppeteer(),
  additionalFiles({ files: ["./selectors.json", "./proxies.txt"] }),
];

Best Practices

• Use specific versions: Pin extension versions for reproducible builds
• External packages: Add modules with native addons to the build.external array
• Environment sync: Use syncEnvVars for dynamic secrets
• File paths: Use glob patterns for flexible file inclusion
• Debug builds: Use --log-level debug --dry-run for troubleshooting

Extensions only affect deployment, not local development. Use external array for packages that shouldn't be bundled.

Trigger.dev Realtime

Real-time monitoring and updates for runs

Core Concepts

Realtime allows you to:

• Subscribe to run status changes, metadata updates, and streams
• Build real-time dashboards and UI updates
• Monitor task progress from frontend and backend

Authentication

Public Access Tokens

import { auth } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

// Read-only token for specific runs
const publicToken = await auth.createPublicToken({
  scopes: {
    read: {
      runs: ["run_123", "run_456"],
      tasks: ["my-task-1", "my-task-2"],
    },
  },
  expirationTime: "1h", // Default: 15 minutes
});

Trigger Tokens (Frontend only)

// Single-use token for triggering tasks
const triggerToken = await auth.createTriggerPublicToken("my-task", {
  expirationTime: "30m",
});

Backend Usage

Subscribe to Runs

import { runs, tasks } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

// Trigger and subscribe
const handle = await tasks.trigger("my-task", { data: "value" });

// Subscribe to specific run
for await (const run of runs.subscribeToRun<typeof myTask>(handle.id)) {
  console.log(`Status: ${run.status}, Progress: ${run.metadata?.progress}`);
  if (run.status === "COMPLETED") break;
}

// Subscribe to runs with tag
for await (const run of runs.subscribeToRunsWithTag("user-123")) {
  console.log(`Tagged run ${run.id}: ${run.status}`);
}

// Subscribe to batch
for await (const run of runs.subscribeToBatch(batchId)) {
  console.log(`Batch run ${run.id}: ${run.status}`);
}

Realtime Streams v2

import { streams, InferStreamType } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

// 1. Define streams (shared location)
export const aiStream = streams.define<string>({
  id: "ai-output",
});

export type AIStreamPart = InferStreamType<typeof aiStream>;

// 2. Pipe from task
export const streamingTask = task({
  id: "streaming-task",
  run: async (payload) => {
    const completion = await openai.chat.completions.create({
      model: "gpt-4",
      messages: [{ role: "user", content: payload.prompt }],
      stream: true,
    });

    const { waitUntilComplete } = aiStream.pipe(completion);
    await waitUntilComplete();
  },
});

// 3. Read from backend
const stream = await aiStream.read(runId, {
  timeoutInSeconds: 300,
  startIndex: 0, // Resume from specific chunk
});

for await (const chunk of stream) {
  console.log("Chunk:", chunk); // Fully typed
}

React Frontend Usage

Installation

npm add @trigger.dev/react-hooks

Triggering Tasks

"use client";
import { useTaskTrigger, useRealtimeTaskTrigger } from "@trigger.dev/react-hooks";
import type { myTask } from "../trigger/tasks";

function TriggerComponent({ accessToken }: { accessToken: string }) {
  // Basic trigger
  const { submit, handle, isLoading } = useTaskTrigger<typeof myTask>("my-task", {
    accessToken,
  });

  // Trigger with realtime updates
  const {
    submit: realtimeSubmit,
    run,
    isLoading: isRealtimeLoading,
  } = useRealtimeTaskTrigger<typeof myTask>("my-task", { accessToken });

  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={() => submit({ data: "value" })} disabled={isLoading}>
        Trigger Task
      </button>

      <button onClick={() => realtimeSubmit({ data: "realtime" })} disabled={isRealtimeLoading}>
        Trigger with Realtime
      </button>

      {run && <div>Status: {run.status}</div>}
    </div>
  );
}

Subscribing to Runs

"use client";
import { useRealtimeRun, useRealtimeRunsWithTag } from "@trigger.dev/react-hooks";
import type { myTask } from "../trigger/tasks";

function SubscribeComponent({ runId, accessToken }: { runId: string; accessToken: string }) {
  // Subscribe to specific run
  const { run, error } = useRealtimeRun<typeof myTask>(runId, {
    accessToken,
    onComplete: (run) => {
      console.log("Task completed:", run.output);
    },
  });

  // Subscribe to tagged runs
  const { runs } = useRealtimeRunsWithTag("user-123", { accessToken });

  if (error) return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;
  if (!run) return <div>Loading...</div>;

  return (
    <div>
      <div>Status: {run.status}</div>
      <div>Progress: {run.metadata?.progress || 0}%</div>
      {run.output && <div>Result: {JSON.stringify(run.output)}</div>}

      <h3>Tagged Runs:</h3>
      {runs.map((r) => (
        <div key={r.id}>
          {r.id}: {r.status}
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}

Realtime Streams with React

"use client";
import { useRealtimeStream } from "@trigger.dev/react-hooks";
import { aiStream } from "../trigger/streams";

function StreamComponent({ runId, accessToken }: { runId: string; accessToken: string }) {
  // Pass defined stream directly for type safety
  const { parts, error } = useRealtimeStream(aiStream, runId, {
    accessToken,
    timeoutInSeconds: 300,
    throttleInMs: 50, // Control re-render frequency
  });

  if (error) return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;
  if (!parts) return <div>Loading...</div>;

  const text = parts.join(""); // parts is typed as AIStreamPart[]

  return <div>Streamed Text: {text}</div>;
}

Wait Tokens

"use client";
import { useWaitToken } from "@trigger.dev/react-hooks";

function WaitTokenComponent({ tokenId, accessToken }: { tokenId: string; accessToken: string }) {
  const { complete } = useWaitToken(tokenId, { accessToken });

  return <button onClick={() => complete({ approved: true })}>Approve Task</button>;
}

Run Object Properties

Key properties available in run subscriptions:

• id: Unique run identifier
• status: QUEUED, EXECUTING, COMPLETED, FAILED, CANCELED, etc.
• payload: Task input data (typed)
• output: Task result (typed, when completed)
• metadata: Real-time updatable data
• createdAt, updatedAt: Timestamps
• costInCents: Execution cost

Best Practices

• Use Realtime over SWR: Recommended for most use cases due to rate limits
• Scope tokens properly: Only grant necessary read/trigger permissions
• Handle errors: Always check for errors in hooks and subscriptions
• Type safety: Use task types for proper payload/output typing
• Cleanup subscriptions: Backend subscriptions auto-complete, frontend hooks auto-cleanup

Scheduled Tasks (Cron)

Recurring tasks using cron. For one-off future runs, use the delay option.

Define a Scheduled Task

import { schedules } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const task = schedules.task({
  id: "first-scheduled-task",
  run: async (payload) => {
    payload.timestamp; // Date (scheduled time, UTC)
    payload.lastTimestamp; // Date | undefined
    payload.timezone; // IANA, e.g. "America/New_York" (default "UTC")
    payload.scheduleId; // string
    payload.externalId; // string | undefined
    payload.upcoming; // Date[]

    payload.timestamp.toLocaleString("en-US", { timeZone: payload.timezone });
  },
});

Scheduled tasks need at least one schedule attached to run.

Attach Schedules

Declarative (sync on dev/deploy):

schedules.task({
  id: "every-2h",
  cron: "0 */2 * * *", // UTC
  run: async () => {},
});

schedules.task({
  id: "tokyo-5am",
  cron: { pattern: "0 5 * * *", timezone: "Asia/Tokyo", environments: ["PRODUCTION", "STAGING"] },
  run: async () => {},
});

Imperative (SDK or dashboard):

await schedules.create({
  task: task.id,
  cron: "0 0 * * *",
  timezone: "America/New_York", // DST-aware
  externalId: "user_123",
  deduplicationKey: "user_123-daily", // updates if reused
});

Dynamic / Multi-tenant Example

// /trigger/reminder.ts
export const reminderTask = schedules.task({
  id: "todo-reminder",
  run: async (p) => {
    if (!p.externalId) throw new Error("externalId is required");
    const user = await db.getUser(p.externalId);
    await sendReminderEmail(user);
  },
});

// app/reminders/route.ts
export async function POST(req: Request) {
  const data = await req.json();
  return Response.json(
    await schedules.create({
      task: reminderTask.id,
      cron: "0 8 * * *",
      timezone: data.timezone,
      externalId: data.userId,
      deduplicationKey: `${data.userId}-reminder`,
    })
  );
}

Cron Syntax (no seconds)

* * * * *
| | | | └ day of week (0–7 or 1L–7L; 0/7=Sun; L=last)
| | | └── month (1–12)
| | └──── day of month (1–31 or L)
| └────── hour (0–23)
└──────── minute (0–59)

When Schedules Won't Trigger

• Dev: only when the dev CLI is running.
• Staging/Production: only for tasks in the latest deployment.

SDK Management

await schedules.retrieve(id);
await schedules.list();
await schedules.update(id, { cron: "0 0 1 * *", externalId: "ext", deduplicationKey: "key" });
await schedules.deactivate(id);
await schedules.activate(id);
await schedules.del(id);
await schedules.timezones(); // list of IANA timezones