Tasks API

Asynchronous task queue management with Google Cloud Tasks integration.

What It Does

The Tasks API provides a fluent, builder-pattern interface for enqueueing asynchronous tasks using Google Cloud Tasks. It enables services to queue work for later processing without blocking requests, with support for scheduling, deduplication, and secure service-to-service communication via OIDC authentication.

Key Capabilities

Capability	Description
Task Queue Management	Enqueue tasks to Google Cloud Tasks queues with exponential backoff retry
Scheduling Support	Schedule tasks up to 30 days in advance with time validation
Deduplication	MD5-based deduplication keys prevent duplicate task processing
Builder Pattern	Fluent API for constructing and posting tasks
Multi-Service Communication	Reliable message passing between microservices
Cloud Function Support	Enqueue tasks to Google Cloud Functions with automatic URI resolution
OIDC Authentication	Secure service-to-service authentication via OIDC tokens
Payload Validation	Validate required fields before posting tasks
Event-Based Deduplication	Deduplication from Engineering11 event IDs
Cross-Project Support	Route tasks across GCP projects

Configuration

Default Configuration

Queue Location: us-central1
Retry Attempts: 5
Deduplication: MD5 hashing
Authentication: OIDC tokens

Cloud Tasks Limits

Schedule Limit: 30 days in advance
Named Task Limit: Automatic deduplication
Payload Size: 100KB max (Cloud Tasks limit)

Required Environment Variables

GCP Project: Auto-detected from environment
Service Account: Retrieved from GCP metadata

Exports

Classes

TaskService - Core task management
TaskBuilder - Fluent task construction
MockTaskService - Testing mock
TaskOptions - Task configuration
TaskBody - Task payload

Functions

sendToTask() - High-level task sending
allKeys() - CRC-32 based deduplication

Types and Interfaces

ICloudTaskSpec - Task specification
DedupKeySpec - Deduplication configuration
ITaskPayload - Base payload interface
IFunctionTaskOptions - Function task configuration

Constants

Error types and defaults

Common Use Cases

Async processing: Queue long-running operations without blocking requests
Email sending: Queue email tasks for batch processing
Data processing: Schedule ETL jobs and batch operations
Notifications: Send delayed or scheduled notifications
Webhooks: Reliable webhook delivery with retries
Cross-service communication: Message passing between microservices
Scheduled jobs: Cron-like task scheduling
Rate limiting: Queue tasks to prevent API rate limits

Roadmap

Multi-Cloud Support

This API currently supports Google Cloud Platform. Future versions will add support for additional cloud providers and container-based deployment options, enabling greater flexibility in infrastructure choices.

What Customers Don’t Have to Build

Google Cloud Tasks integration
Fluent builder pattern interfaces
Deduplication key generation (MD5, CRC-32)
Task scheduling validation
Cloud Function URI resolution
OIDC authentication setup
Exponential backoff retry logic
Payload validation framework
Base64 payload encoding
App Engine routing
Cross-project task routing
Service account management
Named task creation
Time-window deduplication
Task payload serialization
Error handling for transient failures
Queue location management
Cross-organization routing