Jobs

Jobs are typed, executable units of work with strict input/output schemas, automatic retries, timeouts, permission checks, and background execution support. They are designed for operations that need reliability guarantees beyond what a simple tool call provides.

Jobs extend the FrontMCP execution model with persistent state tracking, retry logic, and DAG-based composition via Workflows.

Nx users: Scaffold with nx g @frontmcp/nx:job my-job --project my-app. See Job Generator.

Why Jobs?

Jobs fill the gap between lightweight tool calls and full workflow orchestration:

Aspect	Tool	Job	Workflow
Purpose	Execute a single action	Execute a reliable unit of work	Orchestrate multiple jobs
Retries	None	Automatic with exponential backoff	Per-step retry overrides
Background	No	Yes (with `runId` polling)	Yes (with `runId` polling)
State tracking	None	`pending` / `running` / `completed` / `failed`	Per-step state tracking
Timeout	None	Configurable (default: 5 min)	Configurable (default: 10 min)
Permissions	Auth providers	RBAC with roles, scopes, custom guards	Inherits from job permissions

Jobs are ideal for:

Data processing — ETL pipelines, file parsing, batch operations
External integrations — API calls that may fail and need retries
Long-running operations — background tasks with progress reporting
Auditable actions — operations that need execution logs and state tracking

Creating Jobs

Class Style

Use class decorators for jobs that need dependency injection, lifecycle hooks, or complex logic:

import { Job, JobContext } from '@frontmcp/sdk';
import { z } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

@Job({
  name: 'analyze-text',
  description: 'Analyze text and return sentiment and key phrases',
  inputSchema: {
    text: z.string().describe('Text to analyze'),
    language: z.string().default('en').describe('Language code'),
  },
  outputSchema: {
    sentiment: z.enum(['positive', 'negative', 'neutral']),
    keyPhrases: z.array(z.string()),
    confidence: z.number(),
  },
})
class AnalyzeTextJob extends JobContext {
  async execute(input: { text: string; language: string }) {
    this.log('Starting text analysis');
    const nlp = this.get(NlpServiceToken);

    const result = await nlp.analyze(input.text, input.language);

    this.log(`Analysis complete: ${result.sentiment}`);
    return {
      sentiment: result.sentiment,
      keyPhrases: result.keyPhrases,
      confidence: result.confidence,
    };
  }
}

Function Style

For simpler jobs, use the functional builder:

import { job } from '@frontmcp/sdk';
import { z } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

const GreetJob = job({
  name: 'greet',
  description: 'Generate a personalized greeting',
  inputSchema: {
    name: z.string(),
    formal: z.boolean().default(false),
  },
  outputSchema: {
    message: z.string(),
  },
})((input, ctx) => {
  ctx.log(`Generating greeting for ${input.name}`);
  const prefix = input.formal ? 'Dear' : 'Hello';
  return { message: `${prefix} ${input.name}!` };
});

Registering Jobs

Add jobs to your app via the jobs array:

import { App } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

@App({
  id: 'text-processing',
  name: 'Text Processing',
  jobs: [AnalyzeTextJob, GreetJob],
})
class TextProcessingApp {}

Loading from npm or Remote Servers

Mix local jobs with those loaded from npm or proxied from remote servers:

import { App, Job } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

@App({
  id: 'text-processing',
  name: 'Text Processing',
  jobs: [
    AnalyzeTextJob,                                                 // Local class
    Job.esm('@acme/jobs@^1.0.0', 'cleanup'),                       // Single job from npm
    Job.remote('https://api.example.com/mcp', 'sync-data'),        // Single job from remote
  ],
})
class TextProcessingApp {}

Job.esm() and Job.remote() load individual jobs. For loading entire apps, use App.esm() or App.remote().

To enable the jobs system on your server, configure the top-level jobs option:

import { FrontMcp } from '@frontmcp/sdk';

@FrontMcp({
  info: { name: 'My Server', version: '1.0.0' },
  apps: [TextProcessingApp],
  jobs: {
    enabled: true,
    store: {
      redis: { provider: 'redis', host: 'localhost', port: 6379 },
      keyPrefix: 'mcp:jobs:',
    },
  },
})
export default class MyServer {}

Auto-enabled by @App({ jobs }) (issue #408). Declaring any @App({ jobs: [...] }) (or workflows: [...]) brings the jobs subsystem up with in-memory stores by default — no @FrontMcp({ jobs: { enabled: true } }) required. The SDK registers five MCP tools for job management: list_jobs, execute_job, get_job_status, register_job, and remove_job (plus parallel *_workflow tools). Hyphen aliases (list-jobs, execute-job, …) keep working with a deprecation log line for one release. Set @FrontMcp({ jobs }) explicitly to configure persistent storage or to opt out via jobs: { enabled: false }.

Input & Output Schemas

Jobs require both input and output schemas using Zod:

@Job({
  name: 'process-order',
  inputSchema: {
    orderId: z.string().describe('Order ID'),
    items: z.array(z.object({
      productId: z.string(),
      quantity: z.number().min(1),
    })),
    priority: z.enum(['low', 'normal', 'high']).default('normal'),
  },
  outputSchema: {
    orderId: z.string(),
    status: z.enum(['processed', 'failed']),
    totalAmount: z.number(),
    processedAt: z.string(),
  },
})

Configuration

Field	Type	Default	Description
`name`	`string`	—	Required. Unique job identifier
`description`	`string`	—	Human-readable description
`inputSchema`	`ZodShape`	—	Required. Zod schema for input validation
`outputSchema`	`ZodShape`	—	Required. Zod schema for output validation
`id`	`string`	`name`	Stable identifier for tracking
`timeout`	`number`	`300000`	Maximum execution time in ms (5 min)
`retry`	`JobRetryConfig`	—	Retry configuration (see below)
`tags`	`string[]`	—	Categorization tags
`labels`	`Record<string, string>`	—	Fine-grained key-value labels
`hideFromDiscovery`	`boolean`	`false`	Hide from `list_jobs`
`permissions`	`JobPermission[]`	—	RBAC permission rules

Retry Configuration

Jobs support automatic retries with exponential backoff:

@Job({
  name: 'fetch-external-data',
  inputSchema: { url: z.string().url() },
  outputSchema: { data: z.unknown() },
  retry: {
    maxAttempts: 5,
    backoffMs: 2000,
    backoffMultiplier: 2,
    maxBackoffMs: 30000,
  },
})
class FetchDataJob extends JobContext {
  async execute(input: { url: string }) {
    this.log(`Attempt ${this.attempt}: Fetching ${input.url}`);
    const response = await this.fetch(input.url);
    if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`);
    return { data: await response.json() };
  }
}

Field	Type	Default	Description
`maxAttempts`	`number`	`3`	Maximum retry attempts
`backoffMs`	`number`	`1000`	Initial backoff delay in ms
`backoffMultiplier`	`number`	`2`	Backoff multiplier per attempt
`maxBackoffMs`	`number`	`60000`	Maximum backoff delay in ms

The backoff schedule for defaults: 1s, 2s, 4s (capped at maxBackoffMs).

Permissions

Jobs support RBAC-style permission checks:

@Job({
  name: 'delete-user-data',
  inputSchema: { userId: z.string() },
  outputSchema: { deleted: z.boolean() },
  permissions: [
    { action: 'execute', roles: ['admin', 'data-officer'] },
    { action: 'execute', scopes: ['data:delete'] },
  ],
})

Field	Type	Description
`action`	`'create' \| 'read' \| 'update' \| 'delete' \| 'execute' \| 'list'`	Permission action type
`roles`	`string[]`	Required roles (at least one must match)
`scopes`	`string[]`	Required OAuth scopes (at least one must match)
`custom`	`(authInfo) => boolean \| Promise<boolean>`	Custom guard function

When no permissions are defined, the job is accessible to all authenticated users.

Background Execution

Jobs can run in background mode, returning a runId for status polling:

// Via the execute_job MCP tool
const result = await client.callTool('execute_job', {
  name: 'analyze-text',
  input: { text: 'Hello world', language: 'en' },
  background: true,
});
// result: { runId: 'run-abc-123', state: 'running' }

// Poll for status
const status = await client.callTool('get_job_status', {
  runId: 'run-abc-123',
});
// status: { runId: 'run-abc-123', state: 'completed', result: { ... }, logs: [...] }

Via DirectClient

const { runId } = await client.executeJob('analyze-text', {
  text: 'Hello world',
}, { background: true });

// Poll for completion
const status = await client.getJobStatus(runId);

Progress Reporting

Jobs can report progress and log messages during execution:

@Job({
  name: 'batch-import',
  inputSchema: {
    records: z.array(z.record(z.string(), z.unknown())),
  },
  outputSchema: {
    imported: z.number(),
    failed: z.number(),
  },
})
class BatchImportJob extends JobContext {
  async execute(input: { records: Record<string, unknown>[] }) {
    const total = input.records.length;
    let imported = 0;
    let failed = 0;

    for (let i = 0; i < total; i++) {
      this.log(`Processing record ${i + 1}/${total}`);
      await this.progress(i + 1, total, `Importing record ${i + 1}`);

      try {
        await this.importRecord(input.records[i]);
        imported++;
      } catch {
        failed++;
      }
    }

    return { imported, failed };
  }
}

Method	Signature	Description
`this.log(message)`	`log(message: string): void`	Append a timestamped log entry
`this.progress(pct, total?, msg?)`	`progress(pct: number, total?: number, msg?: string): Promise<boolean>`	Send progress notification to client
`this.getLogs()`	`getLogs(): readonly string[]`	Retrieve all log entries
`this.attempt`	`get attempt(): number`	Current retry attempt (1-based)

Job Stores

Jobs use two stores for persistence:

State Store

Tracks execution state (JobRunRecord): run ID, state, input, result, error, logs, timing.

Definition Store

Persists dynamic job definitions registered at runtime via the register_job tool.

Memory (Default)

Suitable for development. Data is lost on restart.

Redis

For production, configure Redis storage:

@FrontMcp({
  jobs: {
    enabled: true,
    store: {
      redis: { provider: 'redis', host: 'localhost', port: 6379 },
      keyPrefix: 'mcp:jobs:',
    },
  },
})

MCP Tools

When jobs are enabled, the following MCP tools are automatically registered:

Tool	Description
`list_jobs`	List registered jobs with optional tag/label filtering
`execute_job`	Execute a job (inline or background)
`get_job_status`	Get execution status by `runId`
`register_job`	Register a dynamic job at runtime (`hideFromDiscovery: true`)
`remove_job`	Remove a dynamic job (`hideFromDiscovery: true`)

Hyphen aliases (list-jobs, execute-job, …) still resolve with a deprecation log line for one release — agents and code that hardcoded the old form keep working.

Best Practices

Do:

Define clear input and output schemas with .describe() on each field
Use retries for operations that call external services
Set appropriate timeouts based on expected execution time
Use background mode for long-running operations
Log meaningful progress messages for debugging

Don’t:

Use jobs for simple, synchronous operations (use tools instead)
Set maxAttempts too high for non-idempotent operations
Skip output schemas — they enable validation and type safety
Forget to handle the retry attempt number in your logic

Next Steps

Workflows

Compose jobs into multi-step pipelines

JobContext

Context class API reference

@Job

Decorator reference

JobRegistry

Registry API reference

Get Started

Concepts

Build

Deploy

Plugins

Adapters

Extensibility

Testing

React SDK

Guides

Why Jobs?

Creating Jobs

Class Style

Function Style

Registering Jobs

Loading from npm or Remote Servers

Input & Output Schemas

Configuration

Retry Configuration

Permissions

Background Execution

Via DirectClient

Progress Reporting

Job Stores

State Store

Definition Store

Memory (Default)

Redis

MCP Tools

Best Practices

Next Steps

Workflows

JobContext

@Job

JobRegistry

​Why Jobs?

​Creating Jobs

​Class Style

​Function Style

​Registering Jobs

​Loading from npm or Remote Servers

​Input & Output Schemas

​Configuration

​Retry Configuration

​Permissions

​Background Execution

​Via DirectClient

​Progress Reporting

​Job Stores

​State Store

​Definition Store

​Memory (Default)

​Redis

​MCP Tools

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

Workflows

JobContext

@Job

JobRegistry

Why Jobs?

Creating Jobs

Class Style

Function Style

Registering Jobs

Loading from npm or Remote Servers

Input & Output Schemas

Configuration

Retry Configuration

Permissions

Background Execution

Via DirectClient

Progress Reporting

Job Stores

State Store

Definition Store

Memory (Default)

Redis

MCP Tools

Best Practices

Next Steps