Using Heroku Scheduler with Node.js

Question

There is literally no tutorial about using Heroku Scheduler with Node.js. Assume that I have a function called sayHello() and I would like to run it every 10 mins. How can I use it in controller. In ruby you write rake function_name() however no explanation made for Node. Can I write '/sayHello' or I should do extra configuration?

Answer 1

Some updates from 2024. I've tried all the methods provided in the previous answer, but they are not working. So here is the solution that combined the previous answer and my success.

• Put your script in the <PROJECT_ROOT>/bin folder.
• Make sure to put #!/usr/bin/env node at the top of your script.
• Make sure your script's file name does not end with .js or .ts, so your script should looks like this in the folder <PROJECT_ROOT>/bin/myScript
• Push the script into Heroku and test:
  • run heroku run bash -a your_app_name in the command line.
  • Run node bin/myScript (note: DO NOT include .ts or .js)
  • if the script runs normally, open the Heroku website and navigate to your app.

Assume you already have Heroku Scheduler add-on installed, click the Heroku Scheduler and choose Add Job. Type the command, please note that although Heroku might give you an example to let you enter something like this node myScript.js, this won't work. You have to enter what you entered in the command line, in this case, node bin/myScript

Click Save Job and that's it.

Answer 2

Create the file <project_root>/bin/say_hello:

#! /app/.heroku/node/bin/node
function sayHello() {
    console.log('Hello');
}
sayHello();
process.exit();

Deploy to Heroku and test it with $ heroku run say_hello then add it to the scheduler with task name say_hello.

Explanation

Take say_hello.js as an example of a Node.js script that you would normally run using $ node say_hello.js.

Turn it into a script by

1. removing the .js ending
2. inserting the 'shebang' at the top: #! /app/bin/node [1][2]
3. moving it into the bin directory [3]

[1] Read about the shebang on Wikipedia.
[2] The node executable is installed in app/bin/node on Heroku. You can check it out by logging into bash on Heroku with $ heroku run bash then asking $ which node.
[3] Heroku requires scripts to be placed in the bin directory. See Defining Tasks in the Heroku Dev Center.

I agree that the Heroku documentation for scheduling tasks is not very clear for anything other than Ruby scripts. I managed to work it out after some trial and error.

Answer 3

Thnks so much for the previous answers here.

I found the following worked for me where feed.js is the script to run as a job on Heroku.:

<PROJECT_ROOT>/bin/feed.js

The contents of feed.js start with:

#!/usr/bin/env node

async function mediumFeed() {

  await fetch('https://medium.com/feed/stokedinfluence')

And end with:

}

mediumFeed();

And on Heroku the job is defined as node bin/medium_feed.js:

To run the node js script locally feed.js you can use from the root of your project directory node bin/feed.js and to run via heroku you can use heroku run feed.js --app <APP_NAME_NOT_PIPELINE_NAME>. When using heroku command, this will run the job from the server where as running node bin/feed.js will run locally. Run locally to test and verify the code works, once deployed verify it works with the heroku run... command

Answer 4

I am confused that nobody tried:

$ heroku run node yourScript.js

So put this in Heroku Scheduler

node yourScript.js

Worked for me.

PS: be sure to import everything your script needs.

Answer 5

Following steps work in my situation.

1. In the root folder add worker.js file.
2. In worker.js. Write an simple function, like above. function sayHello() { console.log('Hello'); } sayHello();
3. Go to heroku Scheduler add-ons. Click 'add new job' and type 'worker' in the field. Then set time interval and click save.

Here are something should notice

1. After update works setting.If using above example, you can use heroku run node worker.js to check if it work. It should be show 'Hello' in your terminal.
2. I use express-babel starter for my node.js project.

Answer 6

Christophe's answer worked for me until I needed to pass a parameter to the script, at which point it failed. The issue is that node should not be specified in the task. Here is how exactly to get it working:

1. In your Procfile, define a process type for your script. See below for a typical Procfile with a web process and, for running "scheduled_job.js", a second process type imaginatively named "worker".

   web: node app.js
   worker: node scheduled_job.js
   

2. In the Heroku scheduler's Task column, just enter the name of the process type ("worker" in this example) with or without parameters. Don't enter 'node' before it. Heroku shows a dollar sign in front of it, so examples of a valid setup would be $ worker (run without arguments) or $ worker 123 abc (to execute scheduled_job.js with arguments "123" and "abc")

Answer 7

A better approach is to define your schedule file called for example worker.js with following content:

function sayHello() {
    console.log('Hello');
}
sayHello();

and then in the heroku schedule, you just write node worker like you define it in the Procfile and that's all!