Next.js setup guide

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Prerequisites

• Setup a project in
• Ensure TypeScript is installed
• Create a Trigger.dev account
• Create a new Trigger.dev project

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Initial setup

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Set your secret key locally

Set your TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY environment variable in your .env.local file if using the Next.js App router or .env file if using Pages router. This key is used to authenticate with Trigger.dev, so you can trigger runs from your Next.js app. Visit the API Keys page in the dashboard and select the DEV secret key.

For more information on authenticating with Trigger.dev, see the API keys page.

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Triggering your task in Next.js

Here are the steps to trigger your task in the Next.js App and Pages router and Server Actions. Alternatively, check out this repo for a full working example of a Next.js app with a Trigger.dev task triggered using a Server Action.

• App Router
• App Router (Server Actions)
• Pages Router

// Next.js API route support: https://nextjs.org/docs/api-routes/introduction
import type { helloWorldTask } from "@/trigger/example";
import { tasks } from "@trigger.dev/sdk/v3";
import { NextResponse } from "next/server";

//tasks.trigger also works with the edge runtime
//export const runtime = "edge";

export async function GET(request: Request) {
  const handle = await tasks.trigger<typeof helloWorldTask>(
    "hello-world",
    "James"
  );

  return NextResponse.json(handle);
}

http://localhost:3000/api/hello-world

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Add your environment variables (optional)

If you have any environment variables in your tasks, be sure to add them in the dashboard so deployed code runs successfully. In Node.js, these environment variables are accessed in your code using process.env.MY_ENV_VAR.

In the sidebar select the “Environment Variables” page, then press the “New environment variable” button.

You can add values for your local dev environment, staging and prod.

You can also add environment variables in code by following the steps on the Environment Variables page.

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Deploying your task in Next.js

For this guide, we’ll manually deploy your task by running the CLI deploy command below. Other ways to deploy are listed in the next section.

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Other ways to deploy

• GitHub Actions
• Vercel Integration

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Troubleshooting

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Next.js build failing due to missing API key in GitHub CI

This issue occurs during the Next.js app build process on GitHub CI where the Trigger.dev SDK is expecting the TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY environment variable to be set at build time. Next.js attempts to compile routes and creates static pages, which can cause issues with SDKs that require runtime environment variables. The solution is to mark the relevant pages as dynamic to prevent Next.js from trying to make them static. You can do this by adding the following line to the route file:

export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";

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Correctly passing event handlers to React components

An issue can sometimes arise when you try to pass a function directly to the onClick prop. This is because the function may require specific arguments or context that are not available when the event occurs. By wrapping the function call in an arrow function, you ensure that the handler is called with the correct context and any necessary arguments. For example:

This works:

<Button onClick={() => myTask()}>Trigger my task</Button>

Whereas this does not work:

<Button onClick={myTask}>Trigger my task</Button>

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Worker failed to start when running Dev command

An issue may occur when trying to run the development command for Trigger.dev when using certain packages like @t3-oss/env-nextjs or ORMs like Drizzle ORM. The error message typically indicates that there’s a problem with importing ES modules in a CommonJS context.

X Error: Worker failed to start Error [ERR_REQUIRE_ESM]: require() of ES Module [...] not supported.
Instead change the require of index.js in [...] to a dynamic import() which is available in all CommonJS modules.

This issue is related to how Trigger.dev bundles code and interacts with certain ES module dependencies.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. In your trigger.config.ts file, add the problematic dependencies to the dependenciesToBundle array:

export const config: TriggerConfig = {
  // ... other config options
  dependenciesToBundle: [
    /@t3-oss/,
    "drizzle-orm",
    /@neondatabase/,
    // Add other problematic dependencies here
  ],
};

2. If you’re using environment variables with @t3-oss/env-nextjs, implement a resolveEnvVars function in your config file:

import { env } from "@/env";
import type { ResolveEnvironmentVariablesFunction } from "@trigger.dev/sdk/v3";

export const resolveEnvVars: ResolveEnvironmentVariablesFunction = () => {
  return {
    variables: Object.keys(env).map((key) => ({
      name: key,
      value: env[key as keyof typeof env]?.toString(),
    })),
  };
};

3. For users of packages that require WebSocket (like @neondatabase/serverless), you may need to set up a WebSocket polyfill if you’re using Node.js versions earlier than 22. Add this to your code:

import { neonConfig, Pool } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
import ws from 'ws';

neonConfig.webSocketConstructor = ws;

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Useful next steps