Task Functions

Task functions run on schedules or delays, not in response to user requests. They’re perfect for background work like sending emails, generating reports, data cleanup, and workflow automation.

When to Use

Daily/weekly reports and analytics
Scheduled email campaigns and notifications
Data cleanup and maintenance tasks
Background data processing and syncing

What They Do

Run on fixed schedules (cron-like)
Execute delayed tasks after events
Process queued work items
Maintain system health and data integrity

How Task Functions Work

Schedule triggers at specified intervals (cron expressions or rate limits)
Task function executes without user interaction
Background work runs (emails, reports, cleanup, data processing)
Task completes and returns execution summary

Task Function Examples

Send emails to users who left items in their cart:

Schedule Trigger:

Cron Expression

cron(*/30 * * * *) - Every 30 minutes

[
  {
    "id": "cart_123",
    "userId": "user_456",
    "items": [
      {"productId": "prod_789", "quantity": 1, "price": 199.99}
    ],
    "total": 199.99,
    "lastUpdated": "2024-01-12T08:15:30Z"
  }
]

🚀 See Hub Enhancements

Enhanced Response

{
  "message": "Abandoned cart recovery task completed", 
  "timestamp": "2024-01-12T10:30:45.123Z", 
  "summary": { 
    "processed": 25,
    "emailsSent": 18, 
    "errors": 2, 
    "skipped": 5
  }, 
  "details": { 
    "discoveredCarts": 25, 
    "eligibleForRecovery": 23, 
    "duplicatesPrevented": 5, 
    "totalCartValue": 4750.00, 
    "averageCartValue": 190.00, 
    "topCategories": ["electronics", "clothing", "home"], 
    "emailTemplatesUsed": { 
      "first_reminder": 12, 
      "second_reminder": 4, 
      "final_discount": 2
    } 
  }, 
  "performance": { 
    "executionTime": "2.3s", 
    "cartsPerSecond": 10.9, 
    "emailDeliveryTime": "1.2s"
  }, 
  "nextRun": "2024-01-12T11:00:00.000Z"
}

What Ollie Hub adds:

✅ Intelligent cart discovery with time-based filtering
✅ Personalized email content with user data
✅ Duplicate email prevention system
✅ Revenue impact tracking and analytics
✅ Performance metrics and optimization data
✅ Detailed error handling and reporting
✅ Multi-stage recovery email campaigns

Send emails to users who left items in their cart:

Schedule Trigger:

Cron Expression

cron(*/30 * * * *) - Every 30 minutes

[
  {
    "id": "cart_123",
    "userId": "user_456",
    "items": [
      {"productId": "prod_789", "quantity": 1, "price": 199.99}
    ],
    "total": 199.99,
    "lastUpdated": "2024-01-12T08:15:30Z"
  }
]

🚀 See Hub Enhancements

Enhanced Response

{
  "message": "Abandoned cart recovery task completed", 
  "timestamp": "2024-01-12T10:30:45.123Z", 
  "summary": { 
    "processed": 25,
    "emailsSent": 18, 
    "errors": 2, 
    "skipped": 5
  }, 
  "details": { 
    "discoveredCarts": 25, 
    "eligibleForRecovery": 23, 
    "duplicatesPrevented": 5, 
    "totalCartValue": 4750.00, 
    "averageCartValue": 190.00, 
    "topCategories": ["electronics", "clothing", "home"], 
    "emailTemplatesUsed": { 
      "first_reminder": 12, 
      "second_reminder": 4, 
      "final_discount": 2
    } 
  }, 
  "performance": { 
    "executionTime": "2.3s", 
    "cartsPerSecond": 10.9, 
    "emailDeliveryTime": "1.2s"
  }, 
  "nextRun": "2024-01-12T11:00:00.000Z"
}

What Ollie Hub adds:

✅ Intelligent cart discovery with time-based filtering
✅ Personalized email content with user data
✅ Duplicate email prevention system
✅ Revenue impact tracking and analytics
✅ Performance metrics and optimization data
✅ Detailed error handling and reporting
✅ Multi-stage recovery email campaigns

Generate and email daily sales reports:

Schedule Trigger:

Cron Expression

cron(0 8 * * *) - Daily at 8:00 AM

{
  "date": "2024-01-11",
  "orders": [
    {
      "id": "ord_123",
      "total": 299.99,
      "isNewCustomer": true,
      "timestamp": "2024-01-11T14:30:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "totalRevenue": 15420.75,
  "totalOrders": 47
}

🚀 See Hub Enhancements

Enhanced Response

{
  "message": "Daily sales report generated and sent", 
  "date": "2024-01-11", 
  "metrics": { 
    "totalRevenue": 15420.75, 
    "totalOrders": 47, 
    "averageOrderValue": 328.10, 
    "newCustomers": 12, 
    "returningCustomers": 35
  }, 
  "reportDetails": { 
    "reportId": "sales-2024-01-11", 
    "recipients": 3, 
    "emailsSent": 3, 
    "attachmentSize": "2.4MB", 
    "generationTime": "4.2s"
  }, 
  "insights": { 
    "topSellingProduct": "MacBook Pro 14-inch", 
    "peakSalesHour": "14:00-15:00", 
    "customerRetentionRate": "74.5%", 
    "dayOverDayGrowth": "+12.3%"
  }, 
  "nextReportDue": "2024-01-13T08:00:00.000Z"
}

What Ollie Hub adds:

✅ Comprehensive revenue and customer metrics
✅ Top-performing products analysis
✅ Customer acquisition and retention insights
✅ Day-over-day growth comparisons
✅ PDF attachment with charts and graphs
✅ Historical data storage and trends
✅ Executive dashboard integration

Clean up expired sessions and temporary data:

Schedule Trigger:

Cron Expression

cron(0 */6 * * *) - Every 6 hours

{
  "expiredSessions": {
    "cutoffHours": 24,
    "estimatedCount": 1200
  },
  "temporaryFiles": {
    "cutoffHours": 1,
    "estimatedSizeMB": 450
  },
  "oldLogs": {
    "cutoffDays": 30,
    "estimatedCount": 50000
  }
}

🚀 See Hub Enhancements

Enhanced Response

{
  "message": "Data cleanup completed successfully", 
  "timestamp": "2024-01-12T10:30:45.123Z", 
  "results": { 
    "expiredSessions": 1200, 
    "temporaryFiles": 450, 
    "oldLogs": 50000, 
    "failedUploads": 75, 
    "totalSpaceFreed": 524288000
  }, 
  "summary": { 
    "totalItemsProcessed": 51725, 
    "spaceFreedMB": 500, 
    "executionTime": "45.2s", 
    "performanceGain": "15% faster DB queries"
  }, 
  "systemHealth": { 
    "diskUsageAfterCleanup": "68%", 
    "sessionTableSize": "12.3MB", 
    "cacheHitRateImprovement": "+5.2%", 
    "nextCleanupDue": "2024-01-12T16:00:00.000Z"
  } 
}

What Ollie Hub adds:

✅ Intelligent expired session detection and removal
✅ Temporary file cleanup with size optimization
✅ Log archival and rotation management
✅ Failed upload cleanup and recovery
✅ Storage space optimization tracking
✅ System health metrics and performance impact
✅ Database query performance improvements

Send personalized weekly newsletters to subscribers:

Schedule Trigger:

Cron Expression

cron(0 9 * * MON) - Every Monday at 9:00 AM

[
  {
    "id": "sub_123",
    "email": "john@example.com",
    "preferences": {
      "categories": ["tech", "business"],
      "frequency": "weekly"
    },
    "unsubscribeToken": "tok_abc123"
  }
]

🚀 See Hub Enhancements

Enhanced Response

{
  "message": "Weekly newsletter campaign completed", 
  "campaignId": "newsletter-2024-w02", 
  "weekOf": "2024-01-08", 
  "results": { 
    "emailsSent": 5420, 
    "errors": 12, 
    "unsubscribes": 3, 
    "bounces": 8
  }, 
  "performance": { 
    "totalSubscribers": 5435, 
    "successRate": "99.7%", 
    "deliveryTime": "12.4 minutes", 
    "batchesProcessed": 55
  }, 
  "engagement": { 
    "expectedOpenRate": "24.5%", 
    "expectedClickRate": "4.2%", 
    "topContent": "Weekly Tech Roundup", 
    "personalizationScore": "High"
  }, 
  "nextCampaign": "2024-01-15T09:00:00.000Z"
}

What Ollie Hub adds:

✅ Batch processing for scalability and deliverability
✅ Personalized content based on subscriber preferences
✅ Unsubscribe link management and tracking
✅ Campaign performance metrics and analytics
✅ Error handling with detailed reporting
✅ Rate limiting to prevent spam flags
✅ Engagement prediction and optimization

Best Practices

Keep Tasks Idempotent

Design tasks to handle being run multiple times safely. Check for existing work before processing.

Process in Batches

For large datasets, process items in small batches to avoid timeouts and memory issues.

Monitor and Alert

Set up monitoring for task failures and send notifications when critical tasks fail.

Handle Failures Gracefully

Implement retry logic with exponential backoff. Store failed items for manual review.

Next Steps

Best Practices

Task patterns, error handling, and scheduling tips

Request Functions

Learn to handle user requests and API calls

Response Functions

Customize responses with analytics and enhancements

Pro Tip: Task functions can trigger Request functions to process data, and Response functions can enhance the results. They work great together! Check out our Best Practices guide for implementation patterns.

Overview

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Development

Task Functions

When to Use

What They Do

How Task Functions Work

Task Function Examples

Best Practices

Keep Tasks Idempotent

Process in Batches

Monitor and Alert

Handle Failures Gracefully

Next Steps

Best Practices

Request Functions

Response Functions

Overview

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Development

When to Use

What They Do

​How Task Functions Work

​Task Function Examples

​Best Practices

Keep Tasks Idempotent

Process in Batches

Monitor and Alert

Handle Failures Gracefully

​Next Steps

Best Practices

Request Functions

Response Functions

How Task Functions Work

Task Function Examples

Best Practices

Next Steps