triggerdotdev/trigger.dev: Trigger.dev – build and deploy durable AI agents and workflows

Trigger.dev – build and deploy durable AI agents and workflows - triggerdotdev/trigger.dev

Summary

Trigger.dev is an open-source TypeScript platform for building and deploying durable AI agents and long-running workflows. It manages retries, queues, observability, and elastic scaling so engineers can focus on task logic instead of infrastructure. The project is written in TypeScript, released under Apache-2.0, and can be used through the hosted cloud or self-hosted on Docker or Kubernetes.

What it is useful for

The README highlights use cases that typical serverless runtimes struggle with. Tasks run with no timeouts, in contrast to AWS Lambda or Vercel, which makes the platform a fit for work that takes minutes or hours: video or audio transcoding with FFmpeg, headless browser automation, Python scripts invoked through a build extension, or AI pipelines that combine LLM calls with follow-up steps.

It also fits:

• AI agents that need durability, retries, idempotency, and human-in-the-loop checkpoints via waitpoints that pause a run until a person approves or rejects.
• Cron schedules of up to a year for recurring maintenance or data work.
• Realtime user experiences, by streaming LLM responses or subscribing to run updates from a frontend with the React hooks package.
• Multi-step orchestration with concurrency controls, queues, batch triggering, and structured input validation through schemaTask.
• Isolated testing with preview branches, DEV/PREVIEW/STAGING/PROD environments, and atomic versioning that does not disrupt in-flight runs.

A documented limitation worth noting: the README does not include concrete local setup commands. New users are directed to the web app onboarding, CONTRIBUTING.md for development, or the self-hosting guides for Docker and Kubernetes.

How engineers can use it

Tasks are defined in your own repository using the @trigger.dev/sdk package. The README shows the pattern:

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

export const helloWorld = task({
  id: "hello-world",
  run: async (payload: { message: string }) => {
    console.log(payload.message);
  },
});

A typical workflow:

1. Create a project in the hosted web app and follow the Quick start guide.
2. Define tasks with structured schemas, waits, waitpoints, tags, and run metadata.
3. Configure machine size (vCPUs and RAM) and use build extensions when you need Python, FFmpeg, or a browser.
4. Trigger tasks individually or with batchTrigger(), and subscribe to runs from a React or Next.js frontend.
5. For self-hosting, follow the Docker Compose guide or the official Kubernetes Helm chart. To work on Trigger.dev itself, follow CONTRIBUTING.md.

Because the README does not document specific CLI or install commands, consult the linked guides for the exact steps.