Manual setup - Trigger.dev

This guide covers how to manually set up Trigger.dev in your project, including configuration for different package managers, monorepos, and build extensions. This guide replicates all the steps performed by the trigger.dev init command. Follow our Quickstart for a more streamlined setup.

Prerequisites

Node.js 18.20+ (or Bun runtime)
A Trigger.dev account (sign up at trigger.dev)
TypeScript 5.0.4 or later (for TypeScript projects)

CLI Authentication

Before setting up your project, you need to authenticate the CLI with Trigger.dev:

# Login to Trigger.dev
npx trigger.dev@latest login

# Or with a specific API URL (for self-hosted instances)
npx trigger.dev@latest login --api-url https://your-trigger-instance.com

This will open your browser to authenticate. Once authenticated, you’ll need to select or create a project in the Trigger.dev dashboard to get your project reference (e.g., proj_abc123).

Package installation

Install the required packages based on your package manager:

npm add @trigger.dev/sdk@latest
npm add --save-dev @trigger.dev/build@latest

Environment variables

For local development, you need to set up the TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY environment variable. This key authenticates your application with Trigger.dev.

Go to your project dashboard in Trigger.dev
Navigate to the “API Keys” page
Copy the DEV secret key
Add it to your local environment file:

TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY=tr_dev_xxxxxxxxxx

Self-hosted instances

If you’re using a self-hosted Trigger.dev instance, also set:

TRIGGER_API_URL=https://your-trigger-instance.com

CLI setup

You can run the Trigger.dev CLI in two ways:

Option 1: Using npx/pnpm dlx/yarn dlx

# npm
npx trigger.dev@latest dev

# pnpm
pnpm dlx trigger.dev@latest dev

# yarn
yarn dlx trigger.dev@latest dev

Option 2: Add as dev dependency

Add the CLI to your package.json:

{
  "devDependencies": {
    "trigger.dev": "^4.0.0"
  }
}

Then add scripts to your package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev:trigger": "trigger dev",
    "deploy:trigger": "trigger deploy"
  }
}

Version pinning

Make sure to pin the version of the CLI to the same version as the SDK that you are using:

"devDependencies": {
  "trigger.dev": "^4.0.0",
  "@trigger.dev/build": "^4.0.0"
},
"dependencies": {
  "@trigger.dev/sdk": "^4.0.0"
}

While running the CLI dev or deploy commands, the CLI will automatically detect mismatched versions and warn you.

Configuration file

Create a trigger.config.ts file in your project root (or trigger.config.mjs for JavaScript projects):

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

export default defineConfig({
  // Your project ref from the Trigger.dev dashboard
  project: "<your-project-ref>", // e.g., "proj_abc123"

  // Directories containing your tasks
  dirs: ["./src/trigger"], // Customize based on your project structure

  // Retry configuration
  retries: {
    enabledInDev: false, // Enable retries in development
    default: {
      maxAttempts: 3,
      minTimeoutInMs: 1000,
      maxTimeoutInMs: 10000,
      factor: 2,
      randomize: true,
    },
  },

  // Build configuration (optional)
  build: {
    extensions: [], // Build extensions go here
  },

  // Max duration of a task in seconds
  maxDuration: 3600,
});

Using the Bun runtime

By default, Trigger.dev will use the Node.js runtime. If you’re using Bun, you can specify the runtime:

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

export default defineConfig({
  project: "<your-project-ref>",
  runtime: "bun",
  dirs: ["./src/trigger"],
});

See our Bun runtime documentation for more information.

Add your first task

Create a trigger directory (matching the dirs in your config) and add an example task:

src/trigger/example.ts

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

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

    return {
      message: `Hello ${payload.name}!`,
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
    };
  },
});

See our Tasks docs for more information on how to create tasks.

TypeScript config

If you’re using TypeScript, add trigger.config.ts to your tsconfig.json include array:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    // ... your existing options
  },
  "include": [
    // ... your existing includes
    "trigger.config.ts"
  ]
}

Git config

Add .trigger to your .gitignore file to exclude Trigger.dev’s local development files:

# Trigger.dev
.trigger

If you don’t have a .gitignore file, create one with this content.

React hooks setup

If you’re building a React frontend application and want to display task status in real-time, install the React hooks package:

Installation

# npm
npm install @trigger.dev/react-hooks@latest

# pnpm
pnpm add @trigger.dev/react-hooks@latest

# yarn
yarn add @trigger.dev/react-hooks@latest

# bun
bun add @trigger.dev/react-hooks@latest

Basic usage

Generate a Public Access Token in your backend:

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

// In your backend API
export async function getPublicAccessToken() {
  const publicAccessToken = await auth.createPublicToken({
    scopes: ["read:runs"], // Customize based on needs
  });

  return publicAccessToken;
}

Use hooks to monitor tasks:

import { useRealtimeRun } from "@trigger.dev/react-hooks";

export function TaskStatus({
  runId,
  publicAccessToken,
}: {
  runId: string;
  publicAccessToken: string;
}) {
  const { run, error } = useRealtimeRun(runId, {
    accessToken: publicAccessToken,
  });

  if (error) return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;
  if (!run) return <div>Loading...</div>;

  return (
    <div>
      <p>Status: {run.status}</p>
      <p>Progress: {run.completedAt ? "Complete" : "Running..."}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

For more information, see the React Hooks documentation.

Build extensions

Build extensions allow you to customize the build process. Ensure you have the @trigger.dev/build package installed in your project (see package installation). Now you can use any of the built-in extensions:

import { defineConfig } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";
import { prismaExtension } from "@trigger.dev/build/extensions/prisma";

export default defineConfig({
  project: "<project-ref>",
  build: {
    extensions: [
      prismaExtension({
        schema: "prisma/schema.prisma",
        migrate: true, // Run migrations on deploy
      }),
    ],
  },
});

See our Build extensions docs for more information on how to use build extensions and the available extensions.

Monorepo setup

There are two main approaches for setting up Trigger.dev in a monorepo:

Tasks as a package: Create a separate package for your Trigger.dev tasks that can be shared across apps
Tasks in apps: Install Trigger.dev directly in individual apps that need background tasks

Both approaches work well depending on your needs. Use the tasks package approach if you want to share tasks across multiple applications, or the app-based approach if tasks are specific to individual apps.

Approach 1: Tasks as a package (Turborepo)

This approach creates a dedicated tasks package that can be consumed by multiple apps in your monorepo.

1. Set up workspace configuration

Root package.json:

{
  "name": "my-monorepo",
  "private": true,
  "scripts": {
    "build": "turbo run build",
    "dev": "turbo run dev",
    "lint": "turbo run lint"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "turbo": "^2.4.4",
    "typescript": "5.8.2"
  },
  "packageManager": "[email protected]"
}

pnpm-workspace.yaml:

packages:
  - "apps/*"
  - "packages/*"

turbo.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json",
  "ui": "tui",
  "tasks": {
    "build": {
      "dependsOn": ["^build"],
      "outputs": [".next/**", "!.next/cache/**"]
    },
    "dev": {
      "cache": false,
      "persistent": true
    },
    "lint": {
      "dependsOn": ["^lint"]
    }
  }
}

2. Create the tasks package

packages/tasks/package.json:

{
  "name": "@repo/tasks",
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "dependencies": {
    "@trigger.dev/sdk": "^4.0.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@trigger.dev/build": "^4.0.0"
  },
  "exports": {
    ".": "./src/trigger/index.ts",
    "./trigger": "./src/index.ts"
  }
}

packages/tasks/trigger.config.ts:

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

export default defineConfig({
  project: "<your-project-ref>", // Replace with your project reference
  dirs: ["./src/trigger"],
  retries: {
    enabledInDev: true,
    default: {
      maxAttempts: 3,
      minTimeoutInMs: 1000,
      maxTimeoutInMs: 10000,
      factor: 2,
      randomize: true,
    },
  },
  maxDuration: 3600,
});

packages/tasks/src/index.ts:

export * from "@trigger.dev/sdk"; // Export values and types from the Trigger.dev sdk

packages/tasks/src/trigger/index.ts:

// Export tasks
export * from "./example";

packages/tasks/src/trigger/example.ts:

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

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

    return {
      message: `Hello ${payload.name}!`,
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
    };
  },
});

See our turborepo-prisma-tasks-package example for a more complete example.

3. Use tasks in your apps

apps/web/package.json:

{
  "name": "web",
  "dependencies": {
    "@repo/tasks": "workspace:*",
    "next": "^15.2.1",
    "react": "^19.0.0",
    "react-dom": "^19.0.0"
  }
}

apps/web/app/api/actions.ts:

"use server";

import { tasks } from "@repo/tasks/trigger";
import type { helloWorld } from "@repo/tasks";
//     👆 type only import

export async function triggerHelloWorld(name: string) {
  try {
    const handle = await tasks.trigger<typeof helloWorld>("hello-world", {
      name: name,
    });

    return handle.id;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
    return { error: "something went wrong" };
  }
}

4. Development workflow

Run the development server for the tasks package:

# From the root of your monorepo
cd packages/tasks
npx trigger.dev@latest dev

# Or using turbo (if you add dev:trigger script to tasks package.json)
turbo run dev:trigger --filter=@repo/tasks

Approach 2: Tasks in apps (Turborepo)

This approach installs Trigger.dev directly in individual apps that need background tasks.

1. Install in your app

apps/web/package.json:

{
  "name": "web",
  "dependencies": {
    "@trigger.dev/sdk": "^4.0.0",
    "next": "^15.2.1",
    "react": "^19.0.0",
    "react-dom": "^19.0.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@trigger.dev/build": "^4.0.0"
  }
}

2. Add configuration

apps/web/trigger.config.ts:

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

export default defineConfig({
  project: "<your-project-ref>", // Replace with your project reference
  dirs: ["./src/trigger"],
  retries: {
    enabledInDev: true,
    default: {
      maxAttempts: 3,
      minTimeoutInMs: 1000,
      maxTimeoutInMs: 10000,
      factor: 2,
      randomize: true,
    },
  },
  maxDuration: 3600,
});

3. Create tasks

apps/web/src/trigger/example.ts:

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

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

    return {
      message: `Hello ${payload.name}!`,
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
    };
  },
});

4. Use tasks in your app

apps/web/app/api/actions.ts:

"use server";

import { tasks } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";
import type { helloWorld } from "../../src/trigger/example";
//     👆 type only import

export async function triggerHelloWorld(name: string) {
  try {
    const handle = await tasks.trigger<typeof helloWorld>("hello-world", {
      name: name,
    });

    return handle.id;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
    return { error: "something went wrong" };
  }
}

5. Development workflow

# From the app directory
cd apps/web
npx trigger.dev@latest dev

# Or from the root using turbo
turbo run dev:trigger --filter=web

Example projects

You can find a growing list of example projects in our examples section.

Troubleshooting

If you run into any issues, please check our Troubleshooting page.

Feedback

If you have any feedback, please let us know by opening an issue.

Getting started

Fundamentals

Writing tasks

Configuration

Development

Deployment

Realtime

CLI

MCP Server

Using the Dashboard

Troubleshooting

Self-hosting

Open source

Help

​Prerequisites

​CLI Authentication

​Package installation

​Environment variables

​Self-hosted instances

​CLI setup

​Option 1: Using npx/pnpm dlx/yarn dlx

​Option 2: Add as dev dependency

​Version pinning

​Configuration file

​Using the Bun runtime

​Add your first task

​TypeScript config

​Git config

​React hooks setup

​Installation

​Basic usage

​Build extensions

​Monorepo setup

​Approach 1: Tasks as a package (Turborepo)

​1. Set up workspace configuration

​2. Create the tasks package

​3. Use tasks in your apps

​4. Development workflow

​Approach 2: Tasks in apps (Turborepo)

​1. Install in your app

​2. Add configuration

​3. Create tasks

​4. Use tasks in your app

​5. Development workflow

​Example projects

​Troubleshooting

​Feedback

Prerequisites

CLI Authentication

Package installation

Environment variables

Self-hosted instances

CLI setup

Option 1: Using npx/pnpm dlx/yarn dlx

Option 2: Add as dev dependency

Version pinning

Configuration file

Using the Bun runtime

Add your first task

TypeScript config

Git config

React hooks setup

Installation

Basic usage

Build extensions

Monorepo setup

Approach 1: Tasks as a package (Turborepo)

1. Set up workspace configuration

2. Create the tasks package

3. Use tasks in your apps

4. Development workflow

Approach 2: Tasks in apps (Turborepo)

1. Install in your app

2. Add configuration

3. Create tasks

4. Use tasks in your app

5. Development workflow

Example projects

Troubleshooting

Feedback