Inngest Durable Functions

Inngest Durable Functions

Master Inngest's durable execution model for building fault-tolerant, long-running workflows. This skill covers the complete lifecycle from triggers to error handling.

These skills are focused on TypeScript. For Python or Go, refer to the Inngest documentation for language-specific guidance. Core concepts apply across all languages.

Core Concepts You Need to Know

Durable Execution Model

• Each step should encapsulate side-effects and non-deterministic code
• Memoization prevents re-execution of completed steps
• State persistence survives infrastructure failures
• Automatic retries with configurable retry count

Step Execution Flow

// ❌ BAD: Non-deterministic logic outside steps
async ({ event, step }) => {
  const timestamp = Date.now(); // This runs multiple times!

  const result = await step.run("process-data", () => {
    return processData(event.data);
  });
};

// ✅ GOOD: All non-deterministic logic in steps
async ({ event, step }) => {
  const result = await step.run("process-with-timestamp", () => {
    const timestamp = Date.now(); // Only runs once
    return processData(event.data, timestamp);
  });
};

Function Limits

Every Inngest function has these hard limits:

• Maximum 1,000 steps per function run
• Maximum 4MB returned data for each step
• Maximum 32MB combined function run state including, event data, step output, and function output
• Each step = separate HTTP request (~50-100ms overhead)

If you're hitting these limits, break your function into smaller functions connected via step.invoke() or step.sendEvent().

When to Use Steps

Always wrap in `step.run()`:

• API calls and network requests
• Database reads and writes
• File I/O operations
• Any non-deterministic operation
• Anything you want retried independently on failure

Never wrap in `step.run()`:

• Pure calculations and data transformations
• Simple validation logic
• Deterministic operations with no side effects
• Logging (use outside steps)

Function Creation

Basic Function Structure

const processOrder = inngest.createFunction(
  {
    id: "process-order", // Unique, never change this
    triggers: [{ event: "order/created" }],
    retries: 4, // Default: 4 retries per step
    concurrency: 10 // Max concurrent executions
  },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    // Your durable workflow
  }
);

Step IDs and Memoization

// Step IDs can be reused - Inngest handles counters automatically
const data = await step.run("fetch-data", () => fetchUserData());
const more = await step.run("fetch-data", () => fetchOrderData()); // Different execution

// Use descriptive IDs for clarity
await step.run("validate-payment", () => validatePayment(event.data.paymentId));
await step.run("charge-customer", () => chargeCustomer(event.data));
await step.run("send-confirmation", () => sendEmail(event.data.email));

Triggers and Events

Event Triggers

Triggers are defined in the triggers array in the first argument of createFunction:

// Single event trigger
inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "my-fn", triggers: [{ event: "user/signup" }] },
  async ({ event }) => { /* ... */ }
);

// Event with conditional filter
inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "my-fn", triggers: [{ event: "user/action", if: 'event.data.action == "purchase" && event.data.amount > 100' }] },
  async ({ event }) => { /* ... */ }
);

// Multiple triggers (up to 10)
inngest.createFunction(
  {
    id: "my-fn",
    triggers: [
      { event: "user/signup" },
      { event: "user/login", if: 'event.data.firstLogin == true' },
      { cron: "0 9 * * *" } // Daily at 9 AM
    ]
  },
  async ({ event }) => { /* ... */ }
);

Cron Triggers

// Basic cron
inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "my-fn", triggers: [{ cron: "0 */6 * * *" }] }, // Every 6 hours
  async ({ step }) => { /* ... */ }
);

// With timezone
inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "my-fn", triggers: [{ cron: "TZ=Europe/Paris 0 12 * * 5" }] }, // Fridays at noon Paris time
  async ({ step }) => { /* ... */ }
);

// Combine with events
inngest.createFunction(
  {
    id: "my-fn",
    triggers: [
      { event: "manual/report.requested" },
      { cron: "0 0 * * 0" } // Weekly on Sunday
    ]
  },
  async ({ event, step }) => { /* ... */ }
);

Function Invocation

// Invoke another function as a step
const result = await step.invoke("generate-report", {
  function: generateReportFunction,
  data: { userId: event.data.userId }
});

// Use returned data
await step.run("process-report", () => {
  return processReport(result);
});

Idempotency Strategies

Event-Level Idempotency (Producer Side)

// Prevent duplicate events with custom ID
await inngest.send({
  id: `checkout-completed-${cartId}`, // 24-hour deduplication
  name: "cart/checkout.completed",
  data: { cartId, email: "user@example.com" }
});

Function-Level Idempotency (Consumer Side)

const sendEmail = inngest.createFunction(
  {
    id: "send-checkout-email",
    triggers: [{ event: "cart/checkout.completed" }],
    // Only run once per cartId per 24 hours
    idempotency: "event.data.cartId"
  },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    // This function won't run twice for same cartId
  }
);

// Complex idempotency keys
const processUserAction = inngest.createFunction(
  {
    id: "process-user-action",
    triggers: [{ event: "user/action.performed" }],
    // Unique per user + organization combination
    idempotency: 'event.data.userId + "-" + event.data.organizationId'
  },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    /* ... */
  }
);

Cancellation Patterns

Event-Based Cancellation

In expressions, event = the original triggering event, async = the new event being matched. See Expression Syntax Reference for full details.

const processOrder = inngest.createFunction(
  {
    id: "process-order",
    triggers: [{ event: "order/created" }],
    cancelOn: [
      {
        event: "order/cancelled",
        if: "event.data.orderId == async.data.orderId"
      }
    ]
  },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    await step.sleepUntil("wait-for-payment", event.data.paymentDue);
    // Will be cancelled if order/cancelled event received
    await step.run("charge-payment", () => processPayment(event.data));
  }
);

Timeout Cancellation

const processWithTimeout = inngest.createFunction(
  {
    id: "process-with-timeout",
    triggers: [{ event: "long/process.requested" }],
    timeouts: {
      start: "5m", // Cancel if not started within 5 minutes
      finish: "30m" // Cancel if not finished within 30 minutes
    }
  },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    /* ... */
  }
);

Handling Cancellation Cleanup

// Listen for cancellation events
const cleanupCancelled = inngest.createFunction(
  { id: "cleanup-cancelled-process", triggers: [{ event: "inngest/function.cancelled" }] },
  async ({ event, step }) => {
    if (event.data.function_id === "process-order") {
      await step.run("cleanup-resources", () => {
        return cleanupOrderResources(event.data.run_id);
      });
    }
  }
);

Error Handling and Retries

Default Retry Behavior

• 5 total attempts (1 initial + 4 retries) per step
• Exponential backoff with jitter
• Independent retry counters per step

Custom Retry Configuration

const reliableFunction = inngest.createFunction(
  {
    id: "reliable-function",
    triggers: [{ event: "critical/task" }],
    retries: 10 // Up to 10 retries per step
  },
  async ({ event, step, attempt }) => {
    // `attempt` is the function-level attempt counter (0-indexed)