Cron Jobs

Nanokit provides a native, declarative way to schedule periodic tasks directly in your nanokit.yml. This system handles the orchestration of a sidecar scheduler and manages the execution of tasks across different environments.

Overview

Cron jobs are defined at the top level of your configuration. Each job specifies a schedule (crontab format) and a command to execute.

cron:
  daily-backup:
    schedule: "0 2 * * *"
    service: db
    command: "/scripts/backup.sh"

Configuration

Execution Modes

Nanokit automatically chooses the best execution mode based on your configuration:

Integrated Mode (job-exec)

When you specify a service without an explicit image, Nanokit executes the command inside the already running container of that service.

• Namespace: Runs within the service container (e.g., nk-project-local-hub).
• Context: Inherits all environment variables, mounted volumes, and the current source code of the service.
• Requirement: The target service must be running.

Standalone Mode (job-run)

When you specify an image (with or without a service), Nanokit creates a new ephemeral container for each execution.

• Namespace: Containers are created with random names but include Nanokit labels for easy filtering.
• Context: Completely isolated. You must specify all necessary environment variables or volumes manually.
• Vantaggio: Runs independently of your other services’ status.

Scheduler Infrastructure

When you define at least one cron job, Nanokit automatically provisions a sidecar scheduler container:

• Local/VPS: Uses an ofelia sidecar managed by the Docker provider.
• Cloud: Integrates with native providers (e.g., AWS EventBridge).

The scheduler is automatically managed:

• Created during nkapp up if jobs are present.
• Updated if the schedules or commands change.
• Pruned if all cron jobs are removed from your configuration.

Best Practices