Automations

Automations are a mechanism in SocialStack to create a task which runs on some defined schedule. They're also known as "background jobs" or "daemons". The schedule is defined using a cron expression.

Usage

First, install the Automations module:

socialstack install Api/Automations

That adds the Events.Automation method to your project, which can then be used like so:

using Api.Automations; // for AutomationRunInfo 

..

// If your automation doesn't need to do anything async:
Events.Automation("once_a_second", "* * * * * ? *")
	.AddEventListener((Context context, AutomationRunInfo info) => {

		System.Console.WriteLine("- Runs once a second -");

		return new ValueTask<AutomationRunInfo>(info);

	});

// With async:
Events.Automation("once_a_second", "* * * * * ? *")
	.AddEventListener(async (Context context, AutomationRunInfo info) => {

		System.Console.WriteLine("- Runs once a second -");
		
		await _someOtherService.DoSomething(context);
		
		return info;

	});

Note that Automation has two args - a name and a schedule. The name is such that your automation can be triggered by hand separately, for example if you need a background job to run "now" rather than waiting for the schedule to trigger it.

Because of the name, it is also possible to add additional handlers to a particular job run. For example if you know a job is called "update_certificate" then you can add an additional handler to the event like so:

Events.Automation("update_certificate")
	.AddEventListener((Context context, AutomationRunInfo info) => {

		System.Console.WriteLine("- This runs immediately after the update_certificate automation. -");

		return new ValueTask<AutomationRunInfo>(info);

	}, 11); // Priority 11 ensures we for certain will happen after the main automations listener(s) occur.

Usage tips

• Online cron expression editors can help you get the expression you need. NOTE: when selecting a cron formater, use one that supports 7 fields - 6 field cron will result in an incomplete expression

• The time is always in UTC, meaning it is not affected by local timezone changes such as daylight savings and it is easier to sync larger jobs within a global cluster.