|  | 
|  | 1 | +--- | 
|  | 2 | +title: Cron Job Scheduling | 
|  | 3 | +description: Schedule recurring background tasks using cron expressions with the DeployStack job queue system. | 
|  | 4 | +sidebarTitle: Cron | 
|  | 5 | +--- | 
|  | 6 | + | 
|  | 7 | +# Cron Job Scheduling | 
|  | 8 | + | 
|  | 9 | +DeployStack includes a cron job scheduling system that integrates seamlessly with the [Background Job Queue](/development/backend/job-queue). This allows you to schedule recurring tasks using standard cron expressions, with all the benefits of the job queue system including persistence, retries, and monitoring. | 
|  | 10 | + | 
|  | 11 | +## Architecture | 
|  | 12 | + | 
|  | 13 | +The cron system follows a two-tier architecture: | 
|  | 14 | + | 
|  | 15 | +1. **Cron Scheduler**: Uses `node-cron` to schedule tasks based on cron expressions | 
|  | 16 | +2. **Job Queue**: Processes the actual work with persistence and retry capabilities | 
|  | 17 | + | 
|  | 18 | +``` | 
|  | 19 | +Cron Expression → Scheduler fires → Creates job in queue → Worker processes job | 
|  | 20 | +``` | 
|  | 21 | + | 
|  | 22 | +This separation provides: | 
|  | 23 | +- **Reliability**: Jobs persist even if the server restarts | 
|  | 24 | +- **Visibility**: All jobs are logged and trackable in the database | 
|  | 25 | +- **Rate Limiting**: Built-in queue management prevents system overload | 
|  | 26 | +- **Monitoring**: Track success/failure rates and execution history | 
|  | 27 | + | 
|  | 28 | +## Creating a Cron Job | 
|  | 29 | + | 
|  | 30 | +### Step 1: Define the Cron Job | 
|  | 31 | + | 
|  | 32 | +Create a new file in `src/cron/jobs/`: | 
|  | 33 | + | 
|  | 34 | +```typescript | 
|  | 35 | +// src/cron/jobs/dailyCleanup.ts | 
|  | 36 | +import type { CronJob } from '../cronManager'; | 
|  | 37 | +import type { JobQueueService } from '../../services/jobQueueService'; | 
|  | 38 | + | 
|  | 39 | +export function createDailyCleanupJob(jobQueueService: JobQueueService): CronJob { | 
|  | 40 | +  return { | 
|  | 41 | +    name: 'daily-cleanup', | 
|  | 42 | +    schedule: '0 2 * * *', // Every day at 2 AM | 
|  | 43 | +     | 
|  | 44 | +    task: async () => { | 
|  | 45 | +      await jobQueueService.createJob('cleanup_old_data', { | 
|  | 46 | +        daysToKeep: 30 | 
|  | 47 | +      }); | 
|  | 48 | +    } | 
|  | 49 | +  }; | 
|  | 50 | +} | 
|  | 51 | +``` | 
|  | 52 | + | 
|  | 53 | +### Step 2: Create the Worker | 
|  | 54 | + | 
|  | 55 | +Create a worker to process the job in `src/workers/`: | 
|  | 56 | + | 
|  | 57 | +```typescript | 
|  | 58 | +// src/workers/cleanupWorker.ts | 
|  | 59 | +import type { AnyDatabase } from '../db'; | 
|  | 60 | +import type { FastifyBaseLogger } from 'fastify'; | 
|  | 61 | +import type { Worker, WorkerResult } from './types'; | 
|  | 62 | + | 
|  | 63 | +interface CleanupPayload { | 
|  | 64 | +  daysToKeep: number; | 
|  | 65 | +} | 
|  | 66 | + | 
|  | 67 | +export class CleanupWorker implements Worker { | 
|  | 68 | +  constructor( | 
|  | 69 | +    private readonly db: AnyDatabase, | 
|  | 70 | +    private readonly logger: FastifyBaseLogger | 
|  | 71 | +  ) {} | 
|  | 72 | + | 
|  | 73 | +  async execute(payload: unknown, jobId: string): Promise<WorkerResult> { | 
|  | 74 | +    const { daysToKeep } = payload as CleanupPayload; | 
|  | 75 | + | 
|  | 76 | +    this.logger.info({  | 
|  | 77 | +      jobId,  | 
|  | 78 | +      daysToKeep, | 
|  | 79 | +      operation: 'cleanup_old_data' | 
|  | 80 | +    }, 'Starting cleanup job'); | 
|  | 81 | + | 
|  | 82 | +    try { | 
|  | 83 | +      // Your cleanup logic here | 
|  | 84 | +      const cutoffDate = new Date(); | 
|  | 85 | +      cutoffDate.setDate(cutoffDate.getDate() - daysToKeep); | 
|  | 86 | + | 
|  | 87 | +      // Example: Delete old records | 
|  | 88 | +      // const result = await this.db.delete(oldRecordsTable) | 
|  | 89 | +      //   .where(lt(oldRecordsTable.createdAt, cutoffDate)); | 
|  | 90 | + | 
|  | 91 | +      this.logger.info({  | 
|  | 92 | +        jobId, | 
|  | 93 | +        operation: 'cleanup_old_data' | 
|  | 94 | +      }, 'Cleanup completed successfully'); | 
|  | 95 | + | 
|  | 96 | +      return { | 
|  | 97 | +        success: true, | 
|  | 98 | +        message: 'Cleanup completed successfully' | 
|  | 99 | +      }; | 
|  | 100 | +    } catch (error) { | 
|  | 101 | +      this.logger.error({ jobId, error }, 'Cleanup job failed'); | 
|  | 102 | +      throw error; // Triggers retry logic | 
|  | 103 | +    } | 
|  | 104 | +  } | 
|  | 105 | +} | 
|  | 106 | +``` | 
|  | 107 | + | 
|  | 108 | +### Step 3: Register the Worker | 
|  | 109 | + | 
|  | 110 | +Add the worker to `src/workers/index.ts`: | 
|  | 111 | + | 
|  | 112 | +```typescript | 
|  | 113 | +import { CleanupWorker } from './cleanupWorker'; | 
|  | 114 | + | 
|  | 115 | +export function registerWorkers( | 
|  | 116 | +  processor: JobProcessorService, | 
|  | 117 | +  db: AnyDatabase, | 
|  | 118 | +  logger: FastifyBaseLogger | 
|  | 119 | +): void { | 
|  | 120 | +  // ... existing workers ... | 
|  | 121 | +   | 
|  | 122 | +  processor.registerWorker( | 
|  | 123 | +    'cleanup_old_data', | 
|  | 124 | +    new CleanupWorker(db, logger) | 
|  | 125 | +  ); | 
|  | 126 | +} | 
|  | 127 | +``` | 
|  | 128 | + | 
|  | 129 | +### Step 4: Register the Cron Job | 
|  | 130 | + | 
|  | 131 | +Add the cron job to `src/cron/index.ts`: | 
|  | 132 | + | 
|  | 133 | +```typescript | 
|  | 134 | +import { createDailyCleanupJob } from './jobs/dailyCleanup'; | 
|  | 135 | + | 
|  | 136 | +export function initializeCronJobs( | 
|  | 137 | +  jobQueueService: JobQueueService, | 
|  | 138 | +  logger: FastifyBaseLogger | 
|  | 139 | +): CronManager { | 
|  | 140 | +  const cronManager = new CronManager(logger); | 
|  | 141 | + | 
|  | 142 | +  cronManager.register(createDailyCleanupJob(jobQueueService)); | 
|  | 143 | + | 
|  | 144 | +  return cronManager; | 
|  | 145 | +} | 
|  | 146 | +``` | 
|  | 147 | + | 
|  | 148 | +## Cron Expression Syntax | 
|  | 149 | + | 
|  | 150 | +The system uses standard cron syntax with 5 or 6 fields: | 
|  | 151 | + | 
|  | 152 | +``` | 
|  | 153 | +┌────────────── second (optional, 0-59) | 
|  | 154 | +│ ┌──────────── minute (0-59) | 
|  | 155 | +│ │ ┌────────── hour (0-23) | 
|  | 156 | +│ │ │ ┌──────── day of month (1-31) | 
|  | 157 | +│ │ │ │ ┌────── month (1-12) | 
|  | 158 | +│ │ │ │ │ ┌──── day of week (0-7, 0 or 7 = Sunday) | 
|  | 159 | +│ │ │ │ │ │ | 
|  | 160 | +* * * * * * | 
|  | 161 | +``` | 
|  | 162 | + | 
|  | 163 | +### Common Examples | 
|  | 164 | + | 
|  | 165 | +```typescript | 
|  | 166 | +'*/2 * * * *'       // Every 2 minutes | 
|  | 167 | +'0 * * * *'         // Every hour (at minute 0) | 
|  | 168 | +'0 0 * * *'         // Daily at midnight | 
|  | 169 | +'0 2 * * *'         // Daily at 2 AM | 
|  | 170 | +'0 9 * * 1-5'       // Weekdays at 9 AM | 
|  | 171 | +'*/30 * * * *'      // Every 30 minutes | 
|  | 172 | +'0 */6 * * *'       // Every 6 hours | 
|  | 173 | +'0 0 1 * *'         // First day of every month | 
|  | 174 | +'0 0 * * 0'         // Every Sunday at midnight | 
|  | 175 | +``` | 
|  | 176 | + | 
|  | 177 | +## Integration with Job Queue | 
|  | 178 | + | 
|  | 179 | +The cron system is designed to work with the job queue system. This provides several benefits: | 
|  | 180 | + | 
|  | 181 | +**Persistence**: Jobs created by cron are stored in the database and survive server restarts. | 
|  | 182 | + | 
|  | 183 | +**Retry Logic**: Failed jobs are automatically retried with exponential backoff. | 
|  | 184 | + | 
|  | 185 | +**Rate Limiting**: The job queue processes jobs sequentially, preventing system overload. | 
|  | 186 | + | 
|  | 187 | +**Monitoring**: Track job execution history, success rates, and failures. | 
|  | 188 | + | 
|  | 189 | +For more details on the job queue system, see the [Background Job Queue](/development/backend/job-queue) documentation. | 
|  | 190 | + | 
|  | 191 | +## Example: Complete Implementation | 
|  | 192 | + | 
|  | 193 | +Here's a complete example showing how to create a cron job that sends a daily email digest: | 
|  | 194 | + | 
|  | 195 | +```typescript | 
|  | 196 | +// src/cron/jobs/dailyDigest.ts | 
|  | 197 | +import type { CronJob } from '../cronManager'; | 
|  | 198 | +import type { JobQueueService } from '../../services/jobQueueService'; | 
|  | 199 | + | 
|  | 200 | +export function createDailyDigestJob(jobQueueService: JobQueueService): CronJob { | 
|  | 201 | +  return { | 
|  | 202 | +    name: 'daily-digest-email', | 
|  | 203 | +    schedule: '0 8 * * *', // Every day at 8 AM | 
|  | 204 | +     | 
|  | 205 | +    task: async () => { | 
|  | 206 | +      // Create job to send digest email | 
|  | 207 | +      await jobQueueService.createJob('send_email', { | 
|  | 208 | + | 
|  | 209 | +        subject: 'Daily Activity Digest', | 
|  | 210 | +        template: 'daily_digest', | 
|  | 211 | +        variables: { | 
|  | 212 | +          date: new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0] | 
|  | 213 | +        } | 
|  | 214 | +      }); | 
|  | 215 | +    } | 
|  | 216 | +  }; | 
|  | 217 | +} | 
|  | 218 | +``` | 
|  | 219 | + | 
|  | 220 | +The `send_email` worker (already registered in the system) will process this job using the existing [Email System](/development/backend/mail). | 
|  | 221 | + | 
|  | 222 | +## Lifecycle Management | 
|  | 223 | + | 
|  | 224 | +The cron system is automatically initialized during server startup and gracefully shut down when the server stops: | 
|  | 225 | + | 
|  | 226 | +**Startup**: All registered cron jobs are scheduled and begin running according to their expressions. | 
|  | 227 | + | 
|  | 228 | +**Shutdown**: When the server receives a shutdown signal, cron jobs stop creating new jobs, allowing the job queue to finish processing existing jobs. | 
|  | 229 | + | 
|  | 230 | +This ensures no jobs are lost during server restarts or deployments. | 
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