Temporal TypeScript SDK (temporalio/sdk-typescript)

Temporal TypeScript SDK

https://github.com/temporalio/sdk-typescript
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Temporal TypeScript SDK

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# Temporal TypeScript SDK

Temporal is a distributed, scalable, durable, and highly available orchestration engine used to execute asynchronous, long-running business logic in a scalable and resilient way. The Temporal TypeScript SDK provides the framework for authoring Workflows and Activities using TypeScript or JavaScript, enabling developers to build fault-tolerant distributed applications that automatically handle failures, retries, and state persistence.

The SDK consists of several core packages: `@temporalio/client` for starting and interacting with Workflows, `@temporalio/worker` for running Workflows and Activities, `@temporalio/workflow` for authoring Workflow code, `@temporalio/activity` for Activity context and utilities, and `@temporalio/testing` for testing Workflows. The SDK requires Node.js 20, 22, or 24 and connects to a Temporal Server to orchestrate durable executions.

## Installation

```bash
# Client-level features (starting/interacting with Workflows)
npm install @temporalio/client @temporalio/common

# Worker-level features (running Workflows, Activities, Nexus Operations)
npm install @temporalio/worker @temporalio/workflow @temporalio/activity @temporalio/common
```

---

## Client - Starting and Managing Workflows

The Client class provides the primary interface for starting Workflow executions, sending signals, queries, and updates to running Workflows, and managing Workflow lifecycle.

```typescript
import { Client, Connection } from '@temporalio/client';
import { myWorkflow } from './workflows';

async function main() {
  // Connect to Temporal Server (defaults to localhost:7233)
  const connection = await Connection.connect({ address: 'localhost:7233' });

  const client = new Client({
    connection,
    namespace: 'default',
  });

  // Start a workflow and get a handle
  const handle = await client.workflow.start(myWorkflow, {
    taskQueue: 'my-task-queue',
    workflowId: 'workflow-' + Date.now(),
    args: ['argument1', 42],
  });

  console.log(`Started workflow ${handle.workflowId}`);

  // Wait for the workflow result
  const result = await handle.result();
  console.log('Workflow result:', result);

  // Or execute workflow and wait for result in one call
  const directResult = await client.workflow.execute(myWorkflow, {
    taskQueue: 'my-task-queue',
    workflowId: 'workflow-direct-' + Date.now(),
    args: ['arg1'],
  });
}

main().catch(console.error);
```

---

## Worker - Running Workflows and Activities

The Worker connects to Temporal Server and polls for tasks, executing Workflows and Activities. Workers must register both Workflow code (via path or bundle) and Activity functions.

```typescript
import { NativeConnection, Worker } from '@temporalio/worker';
import * as activities from './activities';

async function run() {
  // Create a connection to Temporal Server
  const connection = await NativeConnection.connect({
    address: 'localhost:7233',
  });

  try {
    const worker = await Worker.create({
      connection,
      namespace: 'default',
      taskQueue: 'my-task-queue',
      // Path to workflow file(s) - will be bundled automatically
      workflowsPath: require.resolve('./workflows'),
      // Register activities directly
      activities,
    });

    console.log('Worker started, polling for tasks...');

    // Run until shutdown signal received
    await worker.run();
  } finally {
    await connection.close();
  }
}

run().catch((err) => {
  console.error('Worker failed:', err);
  process.exit(1);
});
```

---

## Defining Workflows

Workflows are deterministic functions that orchestrate Activities and other Workflows. They use special APIs for timers, Activities, signals, queries, and updates that maintain determinism during replay.

```typescript
import {
  proxyActivities,
  sleep,
  defineSignal,
  defineQuery,
  defineUpdate,
  setHandler,
  condition,
  workflowInfo,
} from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from './activities';

// Proxy activities with timeout configuration
const { sendEmail, processPayment, updateInventory } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({
  startToCloseTimeout: '5 minutes',
  retry: {
    maximumAttempts: 3,
  },
});

// Define signals, queries, and updates
export const cancelOrderSignal = defineSignal<[string]>('cancelOrder');
export const getStatusQuery = defineQuery<string>('getStatus');
export const updateQuantityUpdate = defineUpdate<number, [number]>('updateQuantity');

export async function orderWorkflow(orderId: string, items: string[]): Promise<string> {
  let status = 'processing';
  let quantity = items.length;
  let cancelled = false;

  // Set up signal handler
  setHandler(cancelOrderSignal, (reason: string) => {
    status = `cancelled: ${reason}`;
    cancelled = true;
  });

  // Set up query handler
  setHandler(getStatusQuery, () => status);

  // Set up update handler with validator
  setHandler(
    updateQuantityUpdate,
    (newQuantity: number) => {
      quantity = newQuantity;
      return quantity;
    },
    {
      validator: (newQuantity: number) => {
        if (newQuantity < 0) throw new Error('Quantity cannot be negative');
      },
    }
  );

  // Wait for either cancellation or 30 seconds
  const shouldCancel = await condition(() => cancelled, '30 seconds');
  if (shouldCancel) {
    return `Order ${orderId} was cancelled`;
  }

  // Process order steps
  status = 'validating payment';
  await processPayment(orderId, quantity * 10);

  status = 'updating inventory';
  await updateInventory(items);

  status = 'sending confirmation';
  await sendEmail(`order-${orderId}@example.com`, 'Order confirmed!');

  // Sleep for demonstration
  await sleep('5 seconds');

  status = 'completed';
  return `Order ${orderId} completed with ${quantity} items`;
}
```

---

## Defining Activities

Activities are regular async functions that perform side effects like API calls, database operations, or file I/O. They run outside the Workflow sandbox and can use any Node.js APIs.

```typescript
import { Context, heartbeat, log, sleep, cancellationSignal } from '@temporalio/activity';

// Simple activity
export async function sendEmail(to: string, body: string): Promise<void> {
  log.info('Sending email', { to });
  // Actual email sending logic here
  await someEmailService.send({ to, body });
}

// Activity with heartbeating for long-running operations
export async function processLargeFile(fileId: string): Promise<number> {
  const info = Context.current().info;
  log.info('Processing file', { fileId, attempt: info.attempt });

  // Resume from last heartbeat if retrying
  let processedBytes = info.heartbeatDetails ?? 0;

  const totalBytes = 1000000;
  while (processedBytes < totalBytes) {
    // Process chunk
    processedBytes += 10000;

    // Report progress - enables cancellation detection
    heartbeat(processedBytes);

    // Simulate work
    await sleep(100);
  }

  return processedBytes;
}

// Activity with cancellation support using AbortSignal
export async function fetchWithCancellation(url: string): Promise<string> {
  const response = await fetch(url, {
    signal: cancellationSignal(),
  });
  return response.text();
}

// Activity that accesses workflow context
export async function getWorkflowContext(): Promise<object> {
  const info = Context.current().info;
  return {
    activityId: info.activityId,
    workflowId: info.workflowExecution.workflowId,
    runId: info.workflowExecution.runId,
    attempt: info.attempt,
    taskQueue: info.taskQueue,
  };
}
```

---

## Signals, Queries, and Updates

Workflows can receive external input through Signals (fire-and-forget), Queries (read-only), and Updates (synchronous mutations with return values).

```typescript
// In workflow file
import { defineSignal, defineQuery, defineUpdate, setHandler, condition } from '@temporalio/workflow';

export const addItemSignal = defineSignal<[string]>('addItem');
export const getItemsQuery = defineQuery<string[]>('getItems');
export const removeItemUpdate = defineUpdate<boolean, [string]>('removeItem');

export async function shoppingCartWorkflow(): Promise<string[]> {
  const items: string[] = [];

  setHandler(addItemSignal, (item: string) => {
    items.push(item);
  });

  setHandler(getItemsQuery, () => [...items]);

  setHandler(removeItemUpdate, (item: string) => {
    const index = items.indexOf(item);
    if (index > -1) {
      items.splice(index, 1);
      return true;
    }
    return false;
  });

  // Wait until checkout signal or timeout
  await condition(() => false, '1 hour');
  return items;
}

// In client code
import { Client } from '@temporalio/client';
import { addItemSignal, getItemsQuery, removeItemUpdate } from './workflows';

async function interactWithWorkflow(client: Client, workflowId: string) {
  const handle = client.workflow.getHandle(workflowId);

  // Send a signal (fire-and-forget)
  await handle.signal(addItemSignal, 'laptop');
  await handle.signal(addItemSignal, 'mouse');

  // Query current state (read-only, immediate response)
  const items = await handle.query(getItemsQuery);
  console.log('Current items:', items); // ['laptop', 'mouse']

  // Execute an update (synchronous mutation with return value)
  const removed = await handle.executeUpdate(removeItemUpdate, { args: ['laptop'] });
  console.log('Item removed:', removed); // true

  // Start update and wait for acceptance only
  const updateHandle = await handle.startUpdate(removeItemUpdate, {
    args: ['mouse'],
    waitForStage: 'ACCEPTED',
  });
  const result = await updateHandle.result();
  console.log('Update result:', result);
}
```

---

## Child Workflows

Workflows can start and manage child Workflows for decomposing complex business logic or implementing fan-out patterns.

```typescript
import { executeChild, startChild, ParentClosePolicy } from '@temporalio/workflow';

// Child workflow definition
export async function processItemWorkflow(itemId: string): Promise<string> {
  // Process individual item
  return `Processed ${itemId}`;
}

// Parent workflow that orchestrates children
export async function batchProcessWorkflow(itemIds: string[]): Promise<string[]> {
  const results: string[] = [];

  // Sequential execution with executeChild
  for (const itemId of itemIds.slice(0, 3)) {
    const result = await executeChild(processItemWorkflow, {
      args: [itemId],
      workflowId: `process-${itemId}`,
    });
    results.push(result);
  }

  // Parallel execution with startChild
  const handles = await Promise.all(
    itemIds.slice(3).map((itemId) =>
      startChild(processItemWorkflow, {
        args: [itemId],
        workflowId: `process-${itemId}`,
        // Child continues if parent is terminated
        parentClosePolicy: ParentClosePolicy.ABANDON,
      })
    )
  );

  // Wait for all parallel children to complete
  const parallelResults = await Promise.all(handles.map((h) => h.result()));
  results.push(...parallelResults);

  return results;
}
```

---

## Continue-As-New

For long-running Workflows that accumulate history, use Continue-As-New to start a fresh execution with the same Workflow ID.

```typescript
import { continueAsNew, workflowInfo, sleep } from '@temporalio/workflow';

export async function longRunningWorkflow(iteration: number = 0): Promise<void> {
  const info = workflowInfo();

  // Check if history is getting too large
  if (info.historyLength > 10000 || info.continueAsNewSuggested) {
    // Continue as new with current state
    await continueAsNew<typeof longRunningWorkflow>(iteration);
  }

  // Do some work
  console.log(`Iteration ${iteration}`);
  await sleep('1 minute');

  // Continue with next iteration
  await continueAsNew<typeof longRunningWorkflow>(iteration + 1);
}
```

---

## Schedules

Schedules allow you to run Workflows on a recurring basis with cron-like specifications.

```typescript
import { Client } from '@temporalio/client';

async function createSchedule(client: Client) {
  // Create a schedule that runs a workflow every hour
  const handle = await client.schedule.create({
    scheduleId: 'hourly-report-schedule',
    spec: {
      // Run at minute 0 of every hour
      calendars: [{ hour: { start: 0, end: 23 }, minute: 0 }],
      // Or use cron syntax
      // cronExpressions: ['0 * * * *'],
    },
    action: {
      type: 'startWorkflow',
      workflowType: 'generateReportWorkflow',
      taskQueue: 'reports',
      args: ['daily-metrics'],
    },
    policies: {
      overlap: 'SKIP', // Skip if previous run still executing
      catchupWindow: '1 hour',
    },
  });

  console.log(`Created schedule: ${handle.scheduleId}`);

  // Describe the schedule
  const description = await handle.describe();
  console.log('Next run:', description.info.nextActionTimes[0]);

  // Trigger manually
  await handle.trigger();

  // Pause/unpause
  await handle.pause('Maintenance window');
  await handle.unpause();

  // Update schedule
  await handle.update((schedule) => ({
    ...schedule,
    spec: {
      calendars: [{ hour: 9, minute: 0 }], // Change to 9 AM daily
    },
  }));

  // List all schedules
  for await (const schedule of client.schedule.list()) {
    console.log(`Schedule: ${schedule.scheduleId}, paused: ${schedule.state.paused}`);
  }

  // Delete when done
  await handle.delete();
}
```

---

## Testing Workflows

The testing package provides utilities for unit testing Workflows with time manipulation and Activity mocking.

```typescript
import { TestWorkflowEnvironment } from '@temporalio/testing';
import { Worker } from '@temporalio/worker';
import { myWorkflow } from './workflows';

describe('Workflow Tests', () => {
  let testEnv: TestWorkflowEnvironment;

  beforeAll(async () => {
    // Create test environment with time-skipping server
    testEnv = await TestWorkflowEnvironment.createTimeSkipping();
  });

  afterAll(async () => {
    await testEnv.teardown();
  });

  it('should complete workflow', async () => {
    const { client, nativeConnection } = testEnv;

    // Create worker with mocked activities
    const worker = await Worker.create({
      connection: nativeConnection,
      taskQueue: 'test-queue',
      workflowsPath: require.resolve('./workflows'),
      activities: {
        // Mock activities for testing
        sendEmail: async () => { /* mock */ },
        processPayment: async () => true,
      },
    });

    // Run worker and workflow together
    const result = await worker.runUntil(
      client.workflow.execute(myWorkflow, {
        taskQueue: 'test-queue',
        workflowId: 'test-workflow-1',
        args: ['test-order', ['item1']],
      })
    );

    expect(result).toContain('completed');
  });

  it('should handle time-based logic', async () => {
    const { client } = testEnv;

    const handle = await client.workflow.start(myWorkflow, {
      taskQueue: 'test-queue',
      workflowId: 'test-workflow-2',
      args: ['order-1', []],
    });

    // Skip time forward
    await testEnv.sleep('1 hour');

    const result = await handle.result();
    expect(result).toBeDefined();
  });
});
```

---

## Error Handling and Retries

Configure retry policies for Activities and handle failures appropriately in Workflows.

```typescript
import { proxyActivities, ApplicationFailure } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from './activities';

const { riskyActivity } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({
  startToCloseTimeout: '30 seconds',
  retry: {
    initialInterval: '1 second',
    backoffCoefficient: 2,
    maximumInterval: '1 minute',
    maximumAttempts: 5,
    nonRetryableErrorTypes: ['InvalidInputError', 'AuthenticationError'],
  },
});

export async function workflowWithErrorHandling(input: string): Promise<string> {
  try {
    return await riskyActivity(input);
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof ApplicationFailure) {
      if (error.type === 'InvalidInputError') {
        // Handle specific error type
        return 'Invalid input provided';
      }
    }
    // Re-throw unknown errors
    throw error;
  }
}

// In activity file - throwing retryable vs non-retryable errors
import { ApplicationFailure } from '@temporalio/activity';

export async function riskyActivity(input: string): Promise<string> {
  if (!input) {
    // Non-retryable error
    throw ApplicationFailure.create({
      type: 'InvalidInputError',
      message: 'Input cannot be empty',
      nonRetryable: true,
    });
  }

  if (Math.random() < 0.3) {
    // Retryable error (default)
    throw ApplicationFailure.create({
      type: 'TransientError',
      message: 'Temporary failure, please retry',
    });
  }

  return `Processed: ${input}`;
}
```

---

## Workflow Versioning with Patching

Use patching to safely update Workflow code while maintaining compatibility with running executions.

```typescript
import { patched, deprecatePatch } from '@temporalio/workflow';

export async function myWorkflow(input: string): Promise<string> {
  // Phase 1: Add new code path with patch
  if (patched('my-patch-v2')) {
    // New code path
    return await newImplementation(input);
  } else {
    // Old code path for existing executions
    return await oldImplementation(input);
  }
}

// Phase 2: After all old executions complete, deprecate the patch
export async function myWorkflowV2(input: string): Promise<string> {
  deprecatePatch('my-patch-v2');
  // Only new implementation
  return await newImplementation(input);
}

// Phase 3: Remove patch entirely when safe
export async function myWorkflowV3(input: string): Promise<string> {
  return await newImplementation(input);
}
```

---

## Search Attributes and Visibility

Add searchable metadata to Workflows for filtering and querying.

```typescript
import { upsertSearchAttributes, workflowInfo, defineSearchAttributeKey } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import { Client } from '@temporalio/client';

// Define typed search attribute keys
const orderStatusKey = defineSearchAttributeKey<string>('OrderStatus');
const orderAmountKey = defineSearchAttributeKey<number>('OrderAmount');

export async function orderWorkflow(orderId: string, amount: number): Promise<void> {
  // Set initial search attributes
  upsertSearchAttributes([
    { key: orderStatusKey, value: 'pending' },
    { key: orderAmountKey, value: amount },
  ]);

  // Process order...

  // Update status
  upsertSearchAttributes([
    { key: orderStatusKey, value: 'completed' },
  ]);
}

// Query workflows by search attributes
async function queryWorkflows(client: Client) {
  // List workflows with specific status
  for await (const workflow of client.workflow.list({
    query: 'OrderStatus = "pending" AND OrderAmount > 100',
  })) {
    console.log(`Pending order: ${workflow.workflowId}`);
  }

  // Count workflows
  const count = await client.workflow.count('OrderStatus = "completed"');
  console.log(`Completed orders: ${count.count}`);
}
```

---

The Temporal TypeScript SDK enables building resilient distributed applications by handling the complexity of state management, retries, and failure recovery automatically. Workflows define business logic as deterministic code, while Activities perform actual work with built-in retry capabilities. The separation allows for clean, testable code that survives process restarts, infrastructure failures, and long-running operations.

Common integration patterns include: using Signals for external event handling and workflow coordination, Queries for exposing workflow state without side effects, Updates for synchronous state mutations, Child Workflows for decomposing complex logic, Continue-As-New for infinite workflows, and Schedules for recurring tasks. The SDK's replay-based execution model ensures that workflows can be safely updated and will recover their exact state after any failure, making it ideal for critical business processes like order processing, payment handling, and multi-step orchestrations.