Trigger.dev Has a Free API — Background Jobs for TypeScript

#triggerdev #typescript #api #backgroundjobs

Trigger.dev is an open-source platform for running background jobs in TypeScript. No infrastructure to manage — just write code and deploy.

What Is Trigger.dev?

Trigger.dev runs long-running tasks outside your main application. It handles retries, scheduling, queuing, and observability.

Free tier:

50,000 task runs/month
Unlimited tasks
Dashboard and logs

Quick Start

npx trigger.dev@latest init
npx trigger.dev@latest dev

Define a Task

import { task } from "@trigger.dev/sdk/v3";

export const processOrder = task({
  id: "process-order",
  retry: { maxAttempts: 3 },
  run: async (payload: { orderId: string; email: string }) => {
    // Step 1: Validate order
    const order = await db.orders.findUnique({ where: { id: payload.orderId } });

    // Step 2: Charge payment
    await stripe.charges.create({ amount: order.total });

    // Step 3: Send confirmation
    await sendEmail(payload.email, "Order confirmed!");

    return { success: true, orderId: payload.orderId };
  }
});

Trigger from Your App

import { processOrder } from "./trigger/process-order";

// From API route
app.post("/api/orders", async (req, res) => {
  const order = await createOrder(req.body);

  // Trigger background job
  await processOrder.trigger({ orderId: order.id, email: req.body.email });

  res.json({ status: "processing" });
});

Use Cases

Email processing — send bulk emails
Payment handling — async payment flows
Data sync — sync between services
Report generation — PDF/CSV exports
AI tasks — long-running LLM calls

Trigger.dev vs Alternatives

Feature	Trigger.dev	BullMQ	Inngest
Language	TypeScript	Node.js	TypeScript
Infrastructure	Managed	Self (Redis)	Managed
Free tier	50K runs	Unlimited	25K events
Dashboard	Yes	Basic	Yes
Retries	Built-in	Config	Built-in