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Scheduling runs

Functions can also be scheduled to run at specific times and/or frequency using cron expressions.

The command to schedule function expects a cron expression, a path to a python file containing an @isolated function, and the function name.

fal-serverless function schedule <CRON> <PATH_TO_FILE> <FUNCTION_NAME>

Example​

Let's write a fun example. How about a Slack bot that sends the joke of the day to a Slack channel.

  1. First write your @isolated function:
@isolated(requirements=["pyjokes", "httpx"])
def joke_of_the_day():
    import httpx
    import pyjokes

    joke = pyjokes.get_joke()
    message = f"Hello! I'm the funny bot, here's the joke of the day:\n> {joke}"
    
    slack_token = "<YOUR_SLACK_TOKEN>"
    slack_webhook_url = f"https://hooks.slack.com/services/{slack_token}"
    httpx.post(slack_webhook_url, json={"text": message})
  1. Schedule it so it's executed once a day at 7am UTC:
fal-serverless function schedule "0 7 * * *" jokes.py joke_of_the_day

Voilà! That's all that it takes to have your @isolated function scheduled.

Tip: if you're not familiar with cron expressions, this cron editor can help you get started.

Managing scheduled functions​

Once scheduled, functions can be managed with a few commands. Let's check them out.

List all scheduled functions​

Get a list of all currently scheduled functions with:

fal-serverless crons list

Cancel scheduling​

In order to cancel a scheduled function, run:

fal-serverless crons cancel <CRON_ID>

List activations​

You can get the history of a particular function activation (i.e. execution) with:

fal-serverless crons activations <CRON_ID>

You can also specify --limit=n to list the n most recent activations. It defaults to 15.

Logs​

Since scheduled functions run asynchronously, logs are stored so they can be retrieved later. This is particularly useful for debugging executions. Get the logs for a particular activation with:

fal-serverless crons logs <CRON_ID> <ACTIVATION_ID>