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