How to Schedule Tasks in Retool

1// Common cron expressions:
2// Every hour at top of hour:  0 * * * *
3// Daily at 8 AM UTC:          0 8 * * *
4// Daily at 9 AM Eastern:      0 14 * * *  (9 AM EST = 14:00 UTC)
5// Weekdays at 8 AM UTC:       0 8 * * 1-5
6// Every Monday at 9 AM:       0 9 * * 1
7// First day of month:         0 8 1 * *
8// Every 15 minutes:           */15 * * * *
9// Twice daily (8 AM + 8 PM):  0 8,20 * * *
10
11// Cron syntax: minute hour day month weekday
12// 0 = Sunday, 1 = Monday, ... 6 = Saturday

1-- Example: daily cleanup query (block name: deleteExpiredSessions)
2DELETE FROM user_sessions
3WHERE expires_at < NOW()
4RETURNING id;
5
6-- Example: daily report query (block name: getDailyStats)
7SELECT
8  DATE_TRUNC('day', created_at)::date AS date,
9  COUNT(*) AS order_count,
10  SUM(total_amount) AS revenue,
11  COUNT(*) FILTER (WHERE status = 'refunded') AS refunds
12FROM orders
13WHERE created_at >= CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL '1 day'
14  AND created_at < CURRENT_DATE
15GROUP BY 1;
16
17-- Example: sync check (block name: getUnsyncedRecords)
18SELECT id, data, created_at
19FROM queue_items
20WHERE synced = false
21  AND created_at < NOW() - INTERVAL '5 minutes'
22ORDER BY created_at ASC
23LIMIT 100;

1// Code block: buildReport
2// Processes getDailyStats.data into a formatted report
3
4const stats = blocks.getDailyStats.data;
5
6if (!stats || stats.length === 0) {
7  return { hasData: false, message: 'No orders yesterday.' };
8}
9
10const day = stats[0];
11const revenueFormatted = Number(day.revenue || 0).toLocaleString('en-US', {
12  style: 'currency', currency: 'USD'
13});
14
15const reportLines = [
16  `Date: ${day.date}`,
17  `Orders: ${day.order_count}`,
18  `Revenue: ${revenueFormatted}`,
19  `Refunds: ${day.refunds}`
20];
21
22return {
23  hasData: true,
24  summary: reportLines.join('\n'),
25  revenue: Number(day.revenue || 0),
26  orderCount: Number(day.order_count || 0)
27};

1// Condition block: hasDataToProcess
2// Expression (True/False):
3{{ blocks.buildReport.data.hasData === true }}
4
5// Connect True branch → notification blocks
6// Connect False branch → End (or a log block)
7
8// Another example: alert only if revenue dropped significantly
9{{ blocks.getDailyStats.data[0]?.revenue < 1000 }}
10// True → send low-revenue alert
11// False → send normal report

1// Webhook trigger URL: https://api.retool.com/v1/workflows/abc123/startTrigger/...
2// POST body (from external system or Retool app):
3{
4  "userId": 456,
5  "reportType": "monthly",
6  "sendTo": "manager@company.com"
7}
8
9// Access in Workflow blocks:
10// {{ trigger.data.userId }}
11// {{ trigger.data.reportType }}
12
13// From a Retool app, trigger via Resource Query:
14// Resource: Retool Workflows
15// Select workflow and configure inputs
16
17// Or via an HTTP Request from a JS Query:
18await fetch('https://api.retool.com/v1/workflows/abc123/startTrigger/...', {
19  method: 'POST',
20  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
21  body: JSON.stringify({ userId: currentUserId.value })
22});

1// Code block with error handling:
2try {
3  const records = blocks.getUnsyncedRecords.data;
4
5  const results = await Promise.allSettled(
6    records.map(async (record) => {
7      // Process each record
8      const response = await fetch('https://api.external.com/sync', {
9        method: 'POST',
10        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json',
11                   'Authorization': `Bearer ${retoolContext.configVars.API_KEY}` },
12        body: JSON.stringify(record.data)
13      });
14      return { id: record.id, success: response.ok };
15    })
16  );
17
18  const successful = results.filter(r => r.status === 'fulfilled' && r.value.success);
19  const failed = results.filter(r => r.status === 'rejected' || !r.value?.success);
20
21  return {
22    synced: successful.length,
23    failed: failed.length,
24    errors: failed.map(f => f.reason?.message || 'Unknown error')
25  };
26} catch (err) {
27  // Return error data instead of throwing (prevents workflow from halting)
28  return { synced: 0, failed: -1, criticalError: err.message };
29}