Jobs

Now that we have covered Tasks and Workflows, we can tie them together with a concept called a Job.

For example, let's say we have a Workflow or Task that describes the logic to sync information from Payload to a third-party system. This is how you'd declare how to sync that info, but it wouldn't do anything on its own. In order to run that task or workflow, you'd create a Job that references the corresponding Task or Workflow.

Jobs are stored in the Payload database in the payload-jobs collection, and you can decide to keep a running list of all jobs, or configure Payload to delete the job when it has been successfully executed.

Queuing a new job

In order to queue a job, you can use the payload.jobs.queue function.

Here's how you'd queue a new Job, which will run a createPostAndUpdate workflow:

1const createdJob = await payload.jobs.queue({
// Pass the name of the workflow
workflow: 'createPostAndUpdate',
// The input type will be automatically typed
// according to the input you've defined for this workflow
input: {
  title: 'my title',
},
9})

In addition to being able to queue new Jobs based on Workflows, you can also queue a job for a single Task:

1const createdJob = await payload.jobs.queue({
2  task: 'createPost',
3  input: {
4    title: 'my title',
5  },
6})

Where to Queue Jobs

Jobs can be queued from anywhere in your application. Here are the most common scenarios:

From Collection Hooks

The most common place - queue jobs in response to document changes:

1{
slug: 'posts',
hooks: {
  afterChange: [
    async ({ req, doc, operation }) => {
      // Only send notification for published posts
      if (operation === 'update' && doc.status === 'published') {
        await req.payload.jobs.queue({
          task: 'notifySubscribers',
          input: {
            postId: doc.id,
          },
        })
      }
    },
  ],
},
18}

From Field Hooks

Queue jobs based on specific field changes:

1{
name: 'featuredImage',
type: 'upload',
relationTo: 'media',
hooks: {
  afterChange: [
    async ({ req, value, previousValue }) => {
      // Generate image variants when image changes
      if (value !== previousValue) {
        await req.payload.jobs.queue({
          task: 'generateImageVariants',
          input: {
            imageId: value,
          },
        })
      }
    },
  ],
},
20}

From Custom Endpoints

Queue jobs from your API routes:

1export const POST = async (req: PayloadRequest) => {
const job = await req.payload.jobs.queue({
  workflow: 'generateMonthlyReport',
  input: {
    month: new Date().getMonth(),
    year: new Date().getFullYear(),
  },
})
9
return Response.json({
  message: 'Report generation queued',
  jobId: job.id,
})
14}

From Server Actions

Queue jobs from Next.js server actions:

1'use server'
2
3import { getPayload } from 'payload'
4import config from '@payload-config'
5
6export async function scheduleEmail(userId: string) {
7  const payload = await getPayload({ config })
8
9  await payload.jobs.queue({
10    task: 'sendEmail',
11    input: { userId },
12  })
13}

Job Options

When queuing a job, you can pass additional options:

1await payload.jobs.queue({
task: 'sendEmail',
input: { userId: '123' },
4
// Schedule the job to run in the future
waitUntil: new Date('2024-12-25T00:00:00Z'),
7
// Assign to a specific queue
queue: 'high-priority',
10
// Add custom metadata for tracking
log: [
  {
    message: 'Email queued by admin',
    createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
  },
],
18})

Common options

waitUntil - Schedule the job to run at a specific date/time in the future
queue - Assign the job to a specific queue (defaults to 'default')
log - Add custom log entries for debugging or tracking
req - Pass the request context for access control

Check Job Status

After queuing a job, you can check its status:

1const job = await payload.jobs.queue({
2  task: 'processPayment',
3  input: { orderId: '123' },
4})
5
6// Later, check the job status
7const updatedJob = await payload.findByID({
8  collection: 'payload-jobs',
9  id: job.id,
10})
11
12console.log(updatedJob.completedAt) // When it finished
13console.log(updatedJob.hasError) // If it failed
14console.log(updatedJob.taskStatus) // Details of each task

Job Status Fields

Each job document contains:

1{
id: 'job_123',
taskSlug: 'sendEmail',        // Or workflowSlug for workflows
input: { userId: '123' },     // The input you provided
completedAt: '2024-01-15...',  // When job completed (null if pending)
hasError: false,              // True if job failed
totalTried: 1,                // Number of attempts
processing: false,            // True if currently running
taskStatus: {                 // Status of each task (for workflows)
  sendEmail: {
    '1': {
      complete: true,
      output: { emailSent: true }
    }
  }
},
log: [                        // Execution log
  {
    message: 'Job started',
    createdAt: '...'
  }
]
23}

Access Control

Use Payload's dedicated Jobs APIs and endpoints, such as payload.jobs.*, /run, and /handle-schedules. Calling generic Local API, REST, or GraphQL CRUD directly on payload-jobs is not recommended because it bypasses the job operations and does not run jobs.access.*.

Raw collection create, read, update, and delete access is denied by default. You can adjust these rules through jobsCollectionOverrides. REST and GraphQL always run them; Local API CRUD runs them when you pass overrideAccess: false.

The dedicated job operations use jobs.access.queue, run, and cancel. Local API calls run these functions when you pass overrideAccess: false. The /run and /handle-schedules endpoints always check jobs.access.run.

Configure access for the dedicated job operations in your Jobs Config:

1import type { SanitizedConfig } from 'payload'
2
3const config: SanitizedConfig = {
// ...
jobs: {
  access: {
    // Control who can queue new jobs
    queue: ({ req }) => {
      return req.user?.roles?.includes('admin')
    },
    // Control who can run jobs
    run: ({ req }) => {
      return req.user?.roles?.includes('admin')
    },
    // Control who can cancel jobs
    cancel: ({ req }) => {
      return req.user?.roles?.includes('admin')
    },
  },
},
21}

These functions receive the current req and return a boolean. By default, they allow authenticated users.

Pass overrideAccess: false to run them from the Local API:

1const req = await createLocalReq({ user }, payload)
2
3await payload.jobs.queue({
4  workflow: 'createPost',
5  input: { title: 'My Post' },
6  overrideAccess: false, // Enable access control
7  req, // Pass the request with user context
8})

Cancelling Jobs

Payload allows you to cancel jobs that are either queued or currently running. When cancelling a running job, the current task will finish executing, but no subsequent tasks will run. This happens because the job checks its cancellation status between tasks.

To cancel a specific job, use the payload.jobs.cancelByID method with the job's ID:

1await payload.jobs.cancelByID({
2  id: createdJob.id,
3})

To cancel multiple jobs at once, use the payload.jobs.cancel method with a Where query:

1await payload.jobs.cancel({
where: {
  workflowSlug: {
    equals: 'createPost',
  },
},
7})

From within a task or workflow handler, you can also cancel the current job by throwing a JobCancelledError:

1throw new JobCancelledError('Job was cancelled')

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