Skip to main content
A worker is a process that keeps running beside your app: a Laravel queue worker, Horizon, Sidekiq, Celery, or a Node script that consumes a queue. It runs from your app’s code, with its environment variables and volumes, in its own container.

​
Workers or cron jobs

​
Before you start

  • The app has been deployed at least once. A worker starts from the app’s running version.
  • The app’s server runs agent 2.1.55 or later. Update it from the server’s Settings if Symplax asks you to.
  • The server is online.

​
Add a worker

1

Open Workers

Open your app and go to the Workers tab. Click the + button.
2

Name it

Use lowercase letters, numbers and dashes, like queue or emails. The name cannot be changed later.
3

Enter the start command

Type the command, or pick one of the examples. It runs with sh -c from your app’s working directory, the same way its own start command does.
4

Create it

Click Create Worker. Symplax starts it on your server and shows its status.
An app can have up to 10 workers.

​
How workers run

Each worker is a separate container started from your app’s current image.
  • It gets the app’s environment variables and volumes, and the same memory limit as the app.
  • It joins your server’s private network, so it reaches your managed databases the same way the app does.
  • If it exits, it is restarted automatically.
  • On every deploy and rollback, each worker moves to the new version, picking up new code and changed variables. A worker whose command, image and variables did not change is left running.
  • Restarting the app restarts its workers. Removing the app removes them.

​
Status and logs

Each worker card shows one of these: Click Logs for the worker’s own output. It is separate from the app’s runtime logs.

​
Edit, restart or delete

  • Edit changes the command. The worker is restarted with it.
  • Restart restarts that worker only.
  • Delete stops and removes it.
Anyone on the app’s team can see its workers. Adding, changing, restarting or deleting one needs Developer access or higher, because a worker runs with the app’s secrets.

​
Good to know

  • A worker should keep running. A command that finishes and exits, like a one-off script, will be restarted over and over and show as Crashing. Use a cron job or a release command for that.
  • Each worker uses its own share of the server’s memory and CPU, on top of the app. Check your server’s headroom before adding several.
  • Your app still needs a web process that answers HTTP. An app that is only a worker, with no web server, is not supported yet.