Replace `node-schedule` with `cron` by gaetansenn · Pull Request #25874 · directus/directus

gaetansenn · 2025-09-22T14:57:05Z

Scope

What's changed:

Replaced node-schedule with node-cron (cron package) library to fix the 25-day execution bug in scheduled flows
Updated scheduling utilities to use native validateCronExpression from the cron package
Improved timezone handling by leveraging the cron package's built-in support for TZ environment variable
Updated test mocks to properly handle the new cron package API
Cleaned up dependencies by removing node-schedule and @types/node-schedule from package catalogs

Potential Risks / Drawbacks

Dependency change introduces a new external library, though it's widely used and actively maintained
Runtime behavior changes in edge cases due to different internal implementations between libraries
Potential timing differences in cron execution, though this should be minimal and within acceptable ranges

Tested Scenarios

Existing scheduled flows continue to work with the same cron expressions (0 23 * * *, etc.)
Multi-instance coordination still functions correctly via SynchronizedClock mechanism
Timezone handling respects system TZ environment variable as expected
Cron validation properly rejects invalid expressions and accepts valid ones
Metrics scheduling continues to work with the updated implementation

Review Notes / Questions

Long-term reliability: The cron package is actively maintained and has no known long-running issues
Performance impact: Should be minimal as both libraries have similar overhead
Migration strategy: No data migration needed as this only affects in-memory scheduling
Backward compatibility: All existing cron expressions remain valid and functional

Checklist

Added or updated tests
Documentation PR created here or not required

Fixes #25855
Docs PR: directus/docs#486

linear · 2025-09-22T14:57:08Z

CMS-1334 API: Schedule Flow not being triggered after some time running

ComfortablyCoding · 2025-09-22T15:54:43Z

Replaced node-schedule with node-cron (cron package) library to fix the 25-day execution bug in scheduled flows

Has this been confirmed or documented as fixed in node-cron?

gaetansenn · 2025-09-22T16:20:03Z

Replaced node-schedule with node-cron (cron package) library to fix the 25-day execution bug in scheduled flows

Has this been confirmed or documented as fixed in node-cron?

No, there isn't explicit documentation confirming that the 25-day bug has been tested and fixed in the cron package (kelektiv/node-cron). However, the migration is justified by several technical and maintenance factors:

Different timer architecture: The cron package uses Luxon DateTime for time calculations instead of internal Node.js timers, which should be more robust for long-running schedules
No similar issues reported: I couldn't find any GitHub issues in the kelektiv/node-cron repository reporting long-running job failures or memory leaks

br41nslug · 2025-09-23T17:11:54Z

How can we test this fix without waiting 25days to verify this new package actually resolves the issue?

gaetansenn · 2025-09-24T08:13:16Z

How can we test this fix without waiting 25days to verify this new package actually resolves the issue?

Unfortunately, as the bug was present in the node-schedule and was probably because of the node internal timer, as the node-cron is now using Luxon for the timing schedule job, the only way to test it is to wait for 25 days or maybe just re-open / create an issue if the problem persists

ComfortablyCoding · 2025-09-25T14:47:37Z

Unfortunately, as the bug was present in the node-schedule and was probably because of the node internal timer, as the node-cron is now using Luxon for the timing schedule job, the only way to test it is to wait for 25 days or maybe just re-open / create an issue if the problem persists

Although it uses luxon to determine the execution date/time, it still appears to rely on setTimeout for scheduling same as node-schedule. Since the problem wasn’t with execution accuracy but rather the execution stopping, I suspect the same issue could occur here as well. However, without a way to test it we cannot confirm it is fixed.

AlexGaillard · 2025-10-08T14:11:12Z

@gaetansenn to attempt to write a test that fails on the old implementation

AlexGaillard · 2025-10-16T15:16:23Z

@gaetansenn docs page for cron points to node-schedule. Will need to open a PR to adjust that link to point at the node-cron equivalent.

Line in question can be found here.

AlexGaillard

Nice work @gaetansenn. Just some small suggestions here. Functionally this seems to work the same.

api/src/schedules/metrics.ts

api/src/utils/schedule.test.ts

api/src/utils/schedule.ts

gaetansenn · 2025-10-17T12:56:10Z

I’ve created a pull request for the document update: directus/docs#486

…triggered-after-some-time

.changeset/replace-node-schedule-with-cron.md

Co-authored-by: daedalus <[email protected]>

stale

api/src/utils/schedule.ts

ComfortablyCoding

LGTM 🚀

AlexGaillard · 2025-10-17T21:59:30Z

Seems we maybe have a broken test? 🤔

…triggered-after-some-time

gaetansenn added 5 commits September 22, 2025 15:52

feat: replace cron-parser with node-cron library

c716b4c

fix: fix linter

e2bb1f2

build: fix duplicate cron import

687a97f

fix(test): fix metrics test

6716424

feat: add changeset

a5052f5

gaetansenn requested a review from a team as a code owner September 22, 2025 14:57

gaetansenn self-assigned this Sep 22, 2025

fix: fix linter

10157a6

ComfortablyCoding added the Run Blackbox label Sep 22, 2025

feat: update changeset

8f038d7

fix: fix tests and add new for schedule

887c79c

gaetansenn force-pushed the gaetan/cms-1334-api-schedule-flow-not-being-triggered-after-some-time branch 2 times, most recently from 551e1dd to 887c79c Compare October 9, 2025 11:03

tests: integrate schedule delayed test

c7796d6

AlexGaillard requested review from AlexGaillard and removed request for a team October 16, 2025 14:43

rijkvanzanten changed the title ~~Gaetan/cms 1334 api schedule flow not being triggered after some time~~ Fix api schedule flow not being triggered after some time Oct 16, 2025

AlexGaillard previously requested changes Oct 16, 2025

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api/src/utils/schedule.test.ts Show resolved Hide resolved

api/src/utils/schedule.ts Show resolved Hide resolved

api/src/utils/schedule.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

refactor: handle feedbacks

6f90099

gaetansenn mentioned this pull request Oct 17, 2025

Replace node-schedule with cron directus/docs#486

Merged

gaetansenn requested a review from ComfortablyCoding October 17, 2025 12:57

gaetansenn requested a review from AlexGaillard October 17, 2025 12:57

Merge branch 'main' into gaetan/cms-1334-api-schedule-flow-not-being-…

0d5730e

…triggered-after-some-time

ComfortablyCoding reviewed Oct 17, 2025

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.changeset/replace-node-schedule-with-cron.md Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Update .changeset/replace-node-schedule-with-cron.md

aa8df31

Co-authored-by: daedalus <[email protected]>

ComfortablyCoding changed the title ~~Fix api schedule flow not being triggered after some time~~ Replace node-schedule with cron Oct 17, 2025

ComfortablyCoding reviewed Oct 17, 2025

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gaetansenn requested a review from ComfortablyCoding October 17, 2025 16:34

fix: optimise request

a179f2a

ComfortablyCoding approved these changes Oct 17, 2025

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AlexGaillard and others added 2 commits October 17, 2025 17:59

Merge branch 'main' into gaetan/cms-1334-api-schedule-flow-not-being-…

acb1f99

…triggered-after-some-time

fix: remove first runOnlyPendingTimersAsync

497c924

AlexGaillard merged commit 006d171 into main Oct 20, 2025
72 checks passed

AlexGaillard deleted the gaetan/cms-1334-api-schedule-flow-not-being-triggered-after-some-time branch October 20, 2025 14:55

github-actions bot added this to the Next Release milestone Oct 20, 2025

the-other-dev mentioned this pull request Dec 3, 2025

Document valid TZ is required for cron directus/docs#512

Open

ComfortablyCoding mentioned this pull request Dec 11, 2025

feat(api): replace ldapjs with ldapts for LDAP authentication #26363

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gaetansenn commented Sep 22, 2025 •

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