Serverless Tasks - Complete Guide

Overview

Serverless Tasks allow you to run code on a schedule without managing servers. Use them for periodic jobs like data backups, report generation, API syncing, cleanup tasks, and more.

Access Path: /dashboard/compute/serverless/tasks

Viewing Your Tasks

Tasks List Page

When you navigate to /dashboard/compute/serverless/tasks, you’ll see:

Search & Filter

• Search box at the top - Search by task name
• Results filter as you type

Task Cards

Each task displays as a card showing:

• Task Name - The identifier you assigned
• Schedule - Cron expression (e.g., */5 * * * * = every 5 minutes)
• Status Badge - Current state:
  • 🟢 Running - Task is scheduled and executing
  • 🟡 Pending - Task is being created
  • 🔴 Failed - Last execution failed
  • ⚪ Stopped - Task is paused/disabled
• Language - Runtime (Bash, Python, Go, Bun)
• Last Run - When the task last executed
• Next Run - When the task will execute next

Actions

• New Task button (top right) - Create a new scheduled task
• Click any card - Open the task details page

Creating a New Task

Click New Task to start the creation wizard.

* * * * *
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └─ Day of week (0-7, 0 and 7 = Sunday)
│ │ │ └─── Month (1-12)
│ │ └───── Day of month (1-31)
│ └─────── Hour (0-23)
└───────── Minute (0-59)

#!/bin/bash
echo "Starting backup..."
date
# Your backup logic here
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/backup
echo "Backup completed"

import requests
from datetime import datetime
 
print(f"Task started at {datetime.now()}")
 
# Make API call
response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data')
print(f"Status: {response.status_code}")
 
# Process data
data = response.json()
print(f"Processed {len(data)} items")

console.log('Task started:', new Date().toISOString());
 
// Fetch data
const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
const data = await response.json();
 
console.log(`Processed ${data.length} items`);

echo "API Key: $API_KEY"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" https://api.example.com

import os
api_key = os.environ['API_KEY']

const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY;

Managing Your Task

Click on any task card to open the task details page.

Task Details Header

Task Name & Status

• Large task name at the top
• Status badge showing current state
• Last execution timestamp

Primary Actions

• Update Scheduled Task - Modify task configuration
• Delete Scheduled Task - Remove the task permanently

Task Details View

Task Information

Name

• Your task identifier
• Displayed prominently

Status

• Current operational state
• Running, Stopped, Failed, or Pending

Schedule

• Cron Expression: The schedule pattern
• Timezone: Execution timezone
• Next Run: When task will execute next

Configuration

• Timeout: Maximum execution time
• Language: Runtime environment
• Created: When task was created

Resources

• Plan: Current pricing tier
• vCPU: Allocated CPU
• RAM: Memory allocation

Script

• View your task’s code
• Syntax-highlighted display
• Read-only in details view

Environment Variables

• List of configured variables
• Values are masked by default
• Click eye icon to reveal

Updating a Task

Click Update Scheduled Task to modify your task.

Editable Fields

Task Name

• Change the display name
• Must remain unique

Schedule

• Modify cron expression
• Change timezone
• Update execution frequency

Timeout

• Adjust maximum execution time
• Based on your needs

Script

• Edit your code
• Change logic
• Fix bugs

Language

• Switch runtime if needed
• Requires script rewrite

Environment Variables

• Add new variables
• Update existing values
• Remove unused variables

Plan

• Upgrade or downgrade resources
• Based on task requirements

Saving Changes

Click Save Changes to apply modifications.

Important Notes

• Changes take effect immediately
• Next execution uses new configuration
• Running executions continue with old config
• No downtime during updates

Execution History

Viewing Logs

Execution List

• Shows recent task runs
• Displays execution time
• Shows success/failure status
• Includes duration

Log Details

• Click on an execution to view logs
• See console output
• Check error messages
• Review execution time

Log Retention

• Logs kept for 7 days
• Download important logs
• Use for debugging

Common Workflows

Daily Backup Task

import os
import subprocess
from datetime import datetime
 
# Get credentials from environment
db_url = os.environ['DATABASE_URL']
backup_bucket = os.environ['BACKUP_BUCKET']
 
# Create backup filename
date_str = datetime.now().strftime('%Y%m%d')
backup_file = f'backup-{date_str}.sql'
 
# Run backup
print(f'Starting backup: {backup_file}')
subprocess.run(['pg_dump', db_url, '-f', backup_file])
 
# Upload to storage
print('Uploading to cloud storage...')
# Your upload logic here
 
print('Backup completed successfully')

API Data Sync

const API_KEY = process.env.API_KEY;
const WEBHOOK_URL = process.env.WEBHOOK_URL;
 
console.log('Starting sync:', new Date().toISOString());
 
// Fetch data from source
const response = await fetch('https://api.source.com/data', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${API_KEY}` }
});
 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(`Fetched ${data.length} records`);
 
// Send to destination
await fetch(WEBHOOK_URL, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify(data)
});
 
console.log('Sync completed');

Cleanup Old Files

#!/bin/bash
 
echo "Starting cleanup: $(date)"
 
# Delete files older than 30 days
find /tmp/uploads -type f -mtime +30 -delete
 
# Clean up logs
find /var/log/app -name "*.log" -mtime +7 -delete
 
# Report results
echo "Cleanup completed: $(date)"
echo "Disk usage:"
df -h

Best Practices

Scheduling

• ✅ Use appropriate frequencies (don’t over-schedule)
• ✅ Consider timezone for business hours tasks
• ✅ Avoid scheduling many tasks at the same time
• ✅ Use off-peak hours for heavy operations
• ✅ Test cron expressions before deploying

Script Development

• ✅ Test scripts locally first
• ✅ Add error handling
• ✅ Include logging statements
• ✅ Set appropriate timeouts
• ✅ Handle edge cases

Error Handling

• ✅ Use try-catch blocks
• ✅ Log errors clearly
• ✅ Set up notifications for failures
• ✅ Include retry logic for transient errors
• ✅ Exit with proper status codes

Security

• ✅ Use environment variables for secrets
• ✅ Never hardcode credentials
• ✅ Limit task permissions
• ✅ Validate external inputs
• ✅ Use HTTPS for API calls

Monitoring

• ✅ Check logs regularly
• ✅ Monitor execution times
• ✅ Track success/failure rates
• ✅ Set up alerts for critical tasks
• ✅ Review resource usage

Troubleshooting

Task Not Executing

Symptoms: Task status is “Running” but no executions appear

Solutions:

1. Verify cron expression is correct
2. Check if next run time has passed
3. Ensure task isn’t paused
4. Review timezone settings
5. Check for system-wide issues

Task Timing Out

Symptoms: Executions fail with timeout error

Solutions:

1. Increase timeout value
2. Optimize script performance
3. Upgrade to larger plan
4. Break task into smaller chunks
5. Remove unnecessary operations

Script Errors

Symptoms: Task fails with error in logs

Solutions:

1. Review error message in logs
2. Test script locally
3. Check environment variables are set
4. Verify external services are accessible
5. Add error handling to script

Environment Variables Not Working

Symptoms: Script can’t access variables

Solutions:

1. Verify variables are saved
2. Check variable names match exactly (case-sensitive)
3. Ensure no typos in variable names
4. Test with simple echo/print statements
5. Restart task after adding variables

High Resource Usage

Symptoms: Task uses too much CPU/memory

Solutions:

1. Optimize script code
2. Reduce data processing volume
3. Upgrade to larger plan
4. Split into multiple smaller tasks
5. Add resource limits in code

Cron Expression Helper

Building Cron Expressions

Every Minute

* * * * *

Every 15 Minutes

*/15 * * * *

Every Hour at 30 Minutes Past

30 * * * *

Every Day at Specific Time

0 14 * * *  # 2:00 PM daily

Weekdays Only

0 9 * * 1-5  # 9 AM Monday-Friday

Specific Days

0 0 * * 0,3  # Midnight on Sunday and Wednesday

First Day of Month

0 0 1 * *  # Midnight on the 1st

Multiple Times Per Day

0 9,12,15,18 * * *  # 9 AM, 12 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM

Testing Cron Expressions

Use online tools:

• crontab.guru 
• crontab-generator.org 

Next Steps

• Web Applications - Trigger tasks from web apps
• Databases - Access databases from tasks
• Monitoring - Track task execution
• Best Practices - Optimization tips