Pinstripe JS

generate-background-job Command

Interface

The command creates a new background job with the following signature:

pinstripe generate-background-job <name>

Parameters

  • name (required) - The name of the background job to create (in snake_case)

Examples

# Create a data cleanup job
pinstripe generate-background-job cleanup_old_data

# Create an email notification job
pinstripe generate-background-job send_daily_reports

# Create a backup job
pinstripe generate-background-job database_backup

Description

The generate-background-job command is a code generation tool that creates scheduled background jobs for your Pinstripe application. This command:

  1. Creates job file - Generates a new background job file in lib/background_jobs/
  2. Sets up scheduling - Includes cron-style schedule configuration (defaults to every minute)
  3. Provides template - Creates boilerplate code with meta() and run() methods
  4. Ensures directory structure - Creates the background_jobs directory and file importer if needed

Generated File Structure

lib/background_jobs/
├── _file_importer.js     # Auto-generated importer (created once)
└── job_name.js           # Your new background job

Generated Code Template

export default {
    meta(){
        this.schedule('* * * * *'); // run every minute
    },

    run(){
        console.log('job-name background job coming soon!')
    }
};

Key Features

Cron Scheduling

  • Default schedule: * * * * * (every minute)
  • Customizable: Modify the cron expression in the meta() method
  • Standard format: Uses standard cron syntax (minute, hour, day, month, weekday)

Naming Convention

  • Input normalization: Converts input to snake_case automatically
  • File naming: Creates files with snake_case names
  • Console output: Uses dasherized names in generated console.log statements

Directory Management

  • Auto-creation: Creates lib/background_jobs/ directory if it doesn't exist
  • File importer: Generates _file_importer.js once to enable job discovery
  • Skip existing: Won't overwrite existing file importer

Common Schedule Patterns

// Every minute
this.schedule('* * * * *');

// Every hour at minute 0
this.schedule('0 * * * *');

// Daily at 3:30 AM
this.schedule('30 3 * * *');

// Weekly on Monday at 2:00 AM
this.schedule('0 2 * * 1');

// Monthly on the 1st at midnight
this.schedule('0 0 1 * *');
  • list-background-jobs - List all available background jobs in the project
  • run-background-job - Execute a specific background job by name
  • generate-service - Create business logic services that jobs can use
  • generate-command - Create CLI commands for manual job execution