---
name: trigger-tasks
description: Build AI agents, workflows and durable background tasks with Trigger.dev. Use when creating tasks, triggering jobs, handling retries, scheduling cron jobs, or implementing queues and concurrency control.
---

# Trigger.dev Tasks

Build durable background tasks that run reliably with automatic retries, queuing, and observability.

## When to Use

- Creating background jobs or async workflows
- Building AI agents that need long-running execution
- Processing webhooks, emails, or file uploads
- Scheduling recurring tasks (cron)
- Any work that shouldn't block your main application

## Critical Rules

1. **Always use `@trigger.dev/sdk`** — never use deprecated `client.defineJob`
2. **Check `result.ok`** before accessing `result.output` from `triggerAndWait()`
3. **Never use `Promise.all`** with `triggerAndWait()` or `wait.*` calls
4. **Export tasks** from files in your `trigger/` directory

## Basic Task

```ts
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 (Validated Input)

```ts
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 typed and validated
    return { message: `Hello ${payload.name}` };
  },
});
```

## Triggering Tasks

### From Backend Code

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

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

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

### From Inside Tasks

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

    // Wait for result - 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);
    }

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

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

## Waits

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

export const taskWithWaits = task({
  id: "task-with-waits",
  run: async (payload) => {
    await wait.for({ seconds: 30 });
    await wait.for({ minutes: 5 });
    await wait.until({ date: new Date("2024-12-25") });

    // Wait for external approval
    await wait.forToken({
      token: "user-approval-token",
      timeoutInSeconds: 3600,
    });
  },
});
```

> Waits > 5 seconds are checkpointed and don't count toward compute.

## Concurrency & Queues

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

// Shared queue
const emailQueue = queue({
  name: "email-processing",
  concurrencyLimit: 5,
});

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

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

// Per-tenant concurrency (at trigger time)
await childTask.trigger(payload, {
  queue: {
    name: `user-${userId}`,
    concurrencyLimit: 2,
  },
});
```

## Debouncing

Consolidate rapid triggers into a single execution:

```ts
await myTask.trigger(
  { userId: "123" },
  {
    debounce: {
      key: "user-123-update",
      delay: "5s",
      mode: "trailing", // Use latest payload (default: "leading")
    },
  }
);
```

## Idempotency

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

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

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

## Error Handling & Retries

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

export const resilientTask = task({
  id: "resilient-task",
  retry: {
    maxAttempts: 10,
    factor: 1.8,
    minTimeoutInMs: 500,
    maxTimeoutInMs: 30_000,
  },
  catchError: async ({ error, ctx }) => {
    if (error.code === "FATAL_ERROR") {
      throw new AbortTaskRunError("Cannot retry");
    }
    return { retryAt: new Date(Date.now() + 60000) };
  },
  run: async (payload) => {
    // Retry specific operations
    const result = await retry.onThrow(
      async () => unstableApiCall(payload),
      { maxAttempts: 3 }
    );

    // HTTP retries with conditions
    const response = await retry.fetch("https://api.example.com", {
      retry: {
        maxAttempts: 5,
        condition: (res, err) => res?.status === 429 || res?.status >= 500,
      },
    });
  },
});
```

## Scheduled Tasks (Cron)

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

// Declarative schedule
export const dailyTask = schedules.task({
  id: "daily-cleanup",
  cron: "0 0 * * *", // Midnight UTC
  run: async (payload) => {
    // payload.timestamp - scheduled time
    // payload.timezone - IANA timezone
    // payload.scheduleId - schedule identifier
  },
});

// With timezone
export const tokyoTask = schedules.task({
  id: "tokyo-morning",
  cron: { pattern: "0 9 * * *", timezone: "Asia/Tokyo" },
  run: async () => {},
});

// Dynamic/multi-tenant schedules
await schedules.create({
  task: "reminder-task",
  cron: "0 8 * * *",
  timezone: "America/New_York",
  externalId: userId,
  deduplicationKey: `${userId}-daily`,
});
```

## Metadata & Progress

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

export const batchProcessor = task({
  id: "batch-processor",
  run: async (payload: { items: any[] }) => {
    metadata.set("progress", 0).set("total", payload.items.length);

    for (let i = 0; i < payload.items.length; i++) {
      await processItem(payload.items[i]);
      metadata.set("progress", ((i + 1) / payload.items.length) * 100);
    }

    metadata.set("status", "completed");
  },
});
```

## Tags

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

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

// Trigger with tags
await processUser.trigger(
  { userId: "123" },
  { tags: ["priority", "user_123"] }
);
```

## Machine Presets

```ts
export const heavyTask = task({
  id: "heavy-computation",
  machine: { preset: "large-2x" }, // 8 vCPU, 16 GB RAM
  maxDuration: 1800, // 30 minutes
  run: async (payload) => {},
});
```

| Preset | vCPU | RAM |
|--------|------|-----|
| micro | 0.25 | 0.25 GB |
| small-1x | 0.5 | 0.5 GB (default) |
| small-2x | 1 | 1 GB |
| medium-1x | 1 | 2 GB |
| medium-2x | 2 | 4 GB |
| large-1x | 4 | 8 GB |
| large-2x | 8 | 16 GB |

## Best Practices

1. **Make tasks idempotent** — safe to retry without side effects
2. **Use queues** to prevent overwhelming external services
3. **Configure appropriate retries** with exponential backoff
4. **Track progress with metadata** for long-running tasks
5. **Use debouncing** for user activity and webhook bursts
6. **Match machine size** to computational requirements

See `references/` for detailed documentation on each feature.