Nuxt•4mo ago

Long running thread on Nuxt startup

My app requires a thread (e.g, nitro task) to start on application startup. It will run as long as the app is running. It performs some logic - fetch data from database, do some calculations and update rows. It's a timely process, so rows are handled at certain time. How can I achieve this with Nuxt? I tried server/plugins, but it blocks other plugins and feels wrong (it's not a plugin, it's a long running task). I can't use tasks as it's not a scheduled task. I thought about maybe creating this as a task, and have a plugin that triggers this task on startup. Would that work? Is there another way to achieve triggering long running tasks on startup?

8 Replies

kapa.ai•4mo ago

Hi @lazygopher. I'm kapa.ai, your friendly support bot. I will try to answer your question by searching through the knowledge base. :wave: ---------------------- To run a long-lived background process when your Nuxt app (with Nitro) starts, the most idiomatic approach—based on the available documentation—is to use a Nitro server plugin. Nitro plugins are initialized once when the server starts (or on each request in serverless environments), making them suitable for starting background tasks that should persist for the application's lifetime. You can place your logic in a plugin under the server/plugins/ directory or register it using addServerPlugin in a Nuxt module. In your plugin, you can start your background process (e.g., setInterval, or a custom async loop) when the Nitro app initializes:

// server/plugins/background-task.ts
export default defineNitroPlugin((nitroApp) => {
  // Start your long-running process here
  setInterval(async () => {
    // Fetch data, process, update DB, etc.
  }, 60 * 1000); // every minute, for example
});

// server/plugins/background-task.ts
export default defineNitroPlugin((nitroApp) => {
  // Start your long-running process here
  setInterval(async () => {
    // Fetch data, process, update DB, etc.
  }, 60 * 1000); // every minute, for example
});

This code will run as soon as the Nitro server starts and will persist as long as the server process is alive. This is the standard way to run persistent background logic in a Nuxt/Nitro app, and it does not block other plugins—each plugin runs its own initialization logic independently. Caveats: - In serverless environments, the process may be short-lived and restarted per request, so this approach is best for traditional server deployments. - If you need to interact with the Nitro instance, you can do so via the nitroApp argument in the plugin. There is no official mention in the documentation of a "task" API for scheduled or persistent background jobs that would be more suitable than a Nitro plugin for this use case. Triggering a task from a plugin on startup is functionally similar to just running the logic directly in the plugin's initialization. References:
- Nuxt Lifecycle: Server Plugins
- Server Hooks & Nitro Plugins
- addServerPlugin API If your use case is more complex or you need to manage concurrency, you may need to implement additional logic, but the above is the recommended starting point according to the official documentation. ---------------------- Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon: ----------------------

kapa.ai•4mo ago

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lazygopherOP•4mo ago

@kapa.ai if I have Nitro plugins at multiple server/plugins, are they all loaded in parallel? They don't run sequentially in blocking mode? If that's the way I'm good with it - just making sure I'm not using plugins concept wrong here

kapa.ai•4mo ago

Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! :books: ---------------------- According to the Nuxt documentation, Nitro plugins placed in the server/plugins directory are executed once when the server starts. The documentation does not explicitly state whether these plugins are loaded in parallel or sequentially, nor does it mention if one plugin can block others during initialization. It only specifies that Nitro plugins are executed on server startup and can register hooks for various lifecycle events, but does not detail the execution order or concurrency model for multiple plugins in this directory Nuxt Lifecycle: Server Plugins. Therefore, while using multiple Nitro plugins in server/plugins is the correct approach for extending Nitro's runtime behavior, the knowledge sources do not provide enough information to confirm whether they are loaded in parallel or sequentially. If you have concerns about blocking behavior, you may want to ensure that your plugin initialization is non-blocking (e.g., avoid long-running synchronous code in the plugin's top-level scope). If you need more precise control or guarantees about plugin execution order or parallelism, you may need to consult the Nitro source code or open an issue for clarification. ---------------------- Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon: ----------------------

kapa.ai•4mo ago

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lazygopherOP•4mo ago

@kapa.ai I validated two plugins (async) can run in parallel without blocking. There is no limitation for running a nitro plugin as a long process right? This plugin needs to run as long as my app is running

kapa.ai•4mo ago

Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! :books: ---------------------- Based on the available documentation, there is no stated limitation against running a long-lived process inside a Nitro plugin. Nitro plugins are designed to initialize once when the server starts and can register hooks or execute any logic you need for the lifetime of your app. This makes them suitable for background tasks that should persist as long as your application is running Nuxt Lifecycle: Server Plugins. The documentation does not mention any restrictions on the duration of code running inside a Nitro plugin, nor does it state that plugins must complete quickly. Therefore, running a long process (such as a background loop or interval) inside a Nitro plugin is a valid use case. However, the documentation does not explicitly confirm the concurrency model (parallel vs. sequential execution) for multiple Nitro plugins, but your observation that async plugins can run in parallel is consistent with typical Node.js behavior and is not contradicted by the official docs. In summary:
- There is no documented limitation for running a Nitro plugin as a long process. - Nitro plugins are intended for logic that should persist for the application's lifetime. - Your approach is valid according to the official documentation Nuxt Lifecycle: Server Plugins. If you have very specific concurrency or resource management needs, you may want to test your setup under load, but for most use cases, this pattern is supported. ---------------------- Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon: ----------------------

kapa.ai•4mo ago

<@693201794137981049> Kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.

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Long running thread on Nuxt startup

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