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Learn/L8 · Convex

Background jobs

Scheduled functions and crons run work later, not during a user request.

Difficulty 2/5
Short

Plain English

Scheduled functions and crons run work later, not during a user request. Picture it like this: Setting an alarm for tomorrow. In the apps you ship (Agentify, wedding portals, CRM), you will bump into this on almost every screen — name it clearly when you prompt your coding agent.

Analogy

Setting an alarm for tomorrow.

Go deeper

Scheduled functions and crons run work later, not during a user request.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the AI rename this concept three different ways in one PR.
  • Building UI before you can say what is stored and who can change it.

AI-agent trap

Agents may invent jargon here. Ask them to explain the concept in plain English first, then map it to your schema and one real screen.

Summary

Scheduled functions and crons run work later, not during a user request. Setting an alarm for tomorrow. Ask yourself: where does this live in the database, which function changes it, and which screen shows it?

Confidence: