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Interval scheduling

Interval scheduling runs missions at fixed time intervals.

Syntax​

schedule: every N units

Time units​

UnitExamples
secondsevery 30 seconds
minutesevery 15 minutes
hoursevery 6 hours
daysevery 1 day
weeksevery 1 week

Examples​

Seconds​

// Every 30 seconds (for real-time sync)
schedule: every 30 seconds

Minutes​

// Every 5 minutes
schedule: every 5 minutes

// Every 15 minutes
schedule: every 15 minutes

// Every 30 minutes
schedule: every 30 minutes

Hours​

// Hourly
schedule: every 1 hour

// Every 2 hours
schedule: every 2 hours

// Every 6 hours
schedule: every 6 hours

// Every 12 hours
schedule: every 12 hours

Days​

// Daily
schedule: every 1 day

// Every 2 days
schedule: every 2 days

Weeks​

// Weekly
schedule: every 1 week

// Bi-weekly
schedule: every 2 weeks

Interval vs cron​

Interval​

  • Runs at fixed intervals from start time
  • Simpler to configure
  • Less precise timing
schedule: every 6 hours
// Runs at: start, start+6h, start+12h, ...

cron​

  • Runs at specific times
  • More control
  • Predictable times
schedule: cron "0 */6 * * *"
// Runs at: 0:00, 6:00, 12:00, 18:00

Start time​

Intervals start from:

  1. Daemon start time (for new missions)
  2. Last run time (for existing missions)

First run behavior​

mission ImmediateStart {
  schedule: every 1 hour
  runImmediately: true  // Run once at start
}

mission DelayedStart {
  schedule: every 1 hour
  runImmediately: false  // Wait for first interval
}

Combining with options​

With retry​

mission RobustSync {
  schedule: every 15 minutes

  retryOnFailure: {
    maxAttempts: 3,
    backoff: exponential
  }
}

With concurrency control​

mission ControlledSync {
  schedule: every 5 minutes
  skipIfRunning: true  // Don't overlap
}

With timeout​

mission TimedSync {
  schedule: every 1 hour
  timeout: 1800000  // 30 minute timeout
}

Use cases​

Real-time sync​

mission RealtimeSync {
  schedule: every 30 seconds

  action Sync {
    get "/events" { since: lastSync }
    store response -> events { key: .id }
  }
}

Hourly updates​

mission HourlySync {
  schedule: every 1 hour

  action Sync {
    get "/data"
    store response -> data { key: .id }
  }
}

Daily reports​

mission DailyReport {
  schedule: every 1 day

  action Generate {
    get "/stats/daily"
    store response -> reports { key: formatDate(now(), "YYYY-MM-DD") }
  }
}

Weekly cleanup​

mission WeeklyCleanup {
  schedule: every 1 week

  action Cleanup {
    for item in oldData where .createdAt < addDays(now(), -30) {
      delete oldData[item.id]
    }
  }
}

Best practices​

Choose appropriate intervals​

Data TypeRecommended Interval
Real-time events30 seconds - 5 minutes
Transactional data5-15 minutes
Reference data1-6 hours
ReportsDaily
Cleanup jobsWeekly

Account for execution time​

// If sync takes 10 minutes
schedule: every 15 minutes  // Good: 5 minute buffer

// Not:
schedule: every 5 minutes   // Risk: overlapping runs

Use skipIfRunning​

mission SafeSync {
  schedule: every 5 minutes
  skipIfRunning: true

  action Sync {
    // Long-running sync
  }
}

Add jitter for distributed systems​

mission JitteredSync {
  schedule: every 1 hour
  jitter: 300000  // +/- 5 minutes random delay
}

Troubleshooting​

Runs too frequently​

Check interval unit:

// This runs every 30 SECONDS
schedule: every 30 seconds

// This runs every 30 MINUTES
schedule: every 30 minutes

Runs overlapping​

Add skipIfRunning:

schedule: every 5 minutes
skipIfRunning: true

Missed runs​

Intervals don't backfill. If daemon was down for 2 hours with 30-minute interval, you won't get 4 runs.

Consider:

  • Using runImmediately: true
  • Adding catch-up logic
  • Using incremental sync with since: lastSync