Scheduled functions

Run a Convex function at a future time — once after a delay, or on a recurring cron schedule.

Two ways to schedule:

One-shot delayed

From any mutation or action:

await ctx.scheduler.runAfter(60 * 1000, api.foo.bar, { arg: "value" });
// runs once, 60 seconds from now

Recurring (cron)

In convex/crons.ts:

import { cronJobs } from "convex/server";
import { api } from "./_generated/api";

const crons = cronJobs();

crons.cron(
  "nightly cleanup",
  "0 0 * * *",                    // standard cron, UTC
  api.maintenance.cleanup,
  {},
);

crons.interval(
  "every five minutes",
  { minutes: 5 },
  api.maintenance.poll,
  {},
);

export default crons;

Common uses

Reminder emails

Schedule from the booking creation mutation.

Nightly report

Aggregate yesterday’s data into a dailyMetrics table.

Cleanup

Delete soft-deleted rows after 30 days.

Renewal reminders

“Mark subscription as renewing 24h before period end.”

Cancelling a scheduled run

const id = await ctx.scheduler.runAfter(...);
// later:
await ctx.scheduler.cancel(id);

Related

Background jobs

Job-table pattern for longer work.

Inngest

For complex multi-step workflows.

Actions

What schedules typically call.