README

A framework-agnostic job scheduling engine that manages future-dated instructions through contracts, delegating execution to domain packages and persistence to the application layer.

Overview

The Nexus\Scheduler package serves as the central repository for future-dated instructions. It manages when an action should happen, but delegates what the action is (domain logic) and how the action is executed (job runner/queue).

Core Principles

Complete Decoupling: Stateless design with all persistence via ScheduleRepositoryInterface
Execution Agnostic: Unaware of runtime environment (Laravel Queue, pure Cron, etc.)
Handler-Based: Domain packages implement JobHandlerInterface for their specific job types
Time Control: Testable via ClockInterface injection
Hybrid Retry: Handlers signal intent, engine manages execution

Architecture

The Scheduling Paradigm

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      DOMAIN PACKAGE                              │
│  (e.g., Nexus\Export, Nexus\Workflow)                           │
│                                                                   │
│  Calls: $scheduler->schedule(ScheduleDefinition)                │
│  Implements: ExportReportHandler implements JobHandlerInterface │
│  Tags: $app->tag([ExportReportHandler::class], 'scheduler.han..│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   NEXUS\SCHEDULER (THIS PACKAGE)                │
│                                                                   │
│  ScheduleManager ──► ExecutionEngine ──► JobHandlerInterface   │
│         │                    │                                   │
│         │                    └──► Interprets JobResult          │
│         │                         (shouldRetry, retryDelay)      │
│         │                                                        │
│         └──► RecurrenceEngine (cron, intervals)                 │
│                                                                   │
│  Contracts: ScheduleRepositoryInterface, JobQueueInterface      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     APPLICATION LAYER                            │
│                      (Nexus\Atomy)                               │
│                                                                   │
│  DbScheduleRepository ──► Eloquent Model                        │
│  LaravelJobQueue ──► Laravel Queue System                       │
│  SystemClock ──► DateTimeImmutable                              │
│  Tagged Handler Discovery ──► Service Provider                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Execution Flow

Scheduling Phase (Domain → Scheduler)
- Domain package calls $scheduler->schedule(ScheduleDefinition)
- ScheduleManager creates ScheduledJob value object
- Persists via ScheduleRepositoryInterface
Execution Phase (Cron → Queue → Handler)
- External cron job calls ProcessScheduledJobs command
- Command retrieves due jobs via $manager->getDueJobs()
- For each job, dispatches to queue via JobQueueInterface
- Queue worker invokes appropriate JobHandlerInterface::handle()
- Handler returns JobResult with retry intent
- ExecutionEngine updates status and re-queues if needed
Retry Strategy (Hybrid Delegation)
- Handler decides: "Should retry? Custom delay?"
- Engine executes: Status update, queue dispatch, exponential backoff
- Clean separation: Domain logic (intent) vs. Infrastructure (mechanism)

Installation

1. Install Package

composer require azaharizaman/nexus-scheduler:*@dev

2. Optional: Install Cron Expression Support

composer require dragonmantank/cron-expression

3. Implement Required Contracts in Your Application

// app/Repositories/DbScheduleRepository.php
class DbScheduleRepository implements ScheduleRepositoryInterface
{
    public function save(ScheduledJobInterface $job): void { /* ... */ }
    public function findDue(DateTimeImmutable $asOf): array { /* ... */ }
    // ... other methods
}

// app/Services/LaravelJobQueue.php
class LaravelJobQueue implements JobQueueInterface
{
    public function dispatch(ScheduledJobInterface $job, ?int $delaySeconds = null): void
    {
        // Dispatch to Laravel queue
    }
}

// app/Services/SystemClock.php
class SystemClock implements ClockInterface
{
    public function now(): DateTimeImmutable
    {
        return new DateTimeImmutable();
    }
}

4. Bind Interfaces in Service Provider

// app/Providers/SchedulerServiceProvider.php
public function register(): void
{
    // Bind infrastructure
    $this->app->singleton(ScheduleRepositoryInterface::class, DbScheduleRepository::class);
    $this->app->singleton(JobQueueInterface::class, LaravelJobQueue::class);
    $this->app->singleton(ClockInterface::class, SystemClock::class);
    $this->app->singleton(CalendarExporterInterface::class, NullCalendarExporter::class);
    
    // Inject tagged handlers into ScheduleManager
    $this->app->singleton(ScheduleManager::class, function ($app) {
        return new ScheduleManager(
            repository: $app->make(ScheduleRepositoryInterface::class),
            queue: $app->make(JobQueueInterface::class),
            clock: $app->make(ClockInterface::class),
            handlers: $app->tagged('scheduler.handlers'),
            logger: $app->make(LoggerInterface::class)
        );
    });
}

Usage

1. Schedule a Job

use Nexus\Scheduler\Services\ScheduleManager;
use Nexus\Scheduler\ValueObjects\ScheduleDefinition;
use Nexus\Scheduler\Enums\JobType;
use Nexus\Scheduler\ValueObjects\ScheduleRecurrence;

$scheduler = app(ScheduleManager::class);

// One-time job
$job = $scheduler->schedule(new ScheduleDefinition(
    jobType: JobType::EXPORT_REPORT,
    targetId: '01JCV9X...',  // ULID of entity
    runAt: new DateTimeImmutable('+1 hour'),
    payload: ['format' => 'pdf', 'templateId' => '01JCV...']
));

// Recurring job (daily at 9 AM)
$job = $scheduler->schedule(new ScheduleDefinition(
    jobType: JobType::DOCUMENT_SHREDDING,
    targetId: '01JCV9Y...',
    runAt: new DateTimeImmutable('tomorrow 09:00'),
    recurrence: new ScheduleRecurrence(
        type: RecurrenceType::DAILY,
        interval: 1
    ),
    payload: ['retentionDays' => 90]
));

// Cron-based recurrence (every Monday at 8 AM)
$job = $scheduler->schedule(new ScheduleDefinition(
    jobType: JobType::WORK_ORDER_START,
    targetId: '01JCV9Z...',
    runAt: new DateTimeImmutable('next Monday 08:00'),
    recurrence: new ScheduleRecurrence(
        type: RecurrenceType::CRON,
        cronExpression: '0 8 * * 1'
    )
));

2. Implement a Job Handler

namespace App\Handlers;

use Nexus\Scheduler\Contracts\JobHandlerInterface;
use Nexus\Scheduler\ValueObjects\ScheduledJob;
use Nexus\Scheduler\ValueObjects\JobResult;
use Nexus\Scheduler\Enums\JobType;

class ExportReportHandler implements JobHandlerInterface
{
    public function __construct(
        private readonly ExportService $exporter
    ) {}
    
    public function supports(JobType $jobType): bool
    {
        return $jobType === JobType::EXPORT_REPORT;
    }
    
    public function handle(ScheduledJob $job): JobResult
    {
        try {
            $this->exporter->generate(
                templateId: $job->payload['templateId'],
                format: $job->payload['format']
            );
            
            return JobResult::success(
                output: ['fileUrl' => 'https://...']
            );
            
        } catch (TemporaryFailureException $e) {
            // Retry with custom 5-minute delay
            return JobResult::failure(
                error: $e->getMessage(),
                shouldRetry: true,
                retryDelaySeconds: 300
            );
            
        } catch (PermanentFailureException $e) {
            // Don't retry
            return JobResult::failure(
                error: $e->getMessage(),
                shouldRetry: false
            );
        }
    }
}

3. Register Handler (Tagged Service)

// app/Providers/ExportServiceProvider.php
public function register(): void
{
    // Tag handler for automatic discovery
    $this->app->tag([ExportReportHandler::class], 'scheduler.handlers');
}

4. Process Scheduled Jobs (Cron)

// app/Console/Commands/ProcessScheduledJobs.php
public function handle(ScheduleManager $scheduler): int
{
    $dueJobs = $scheduler->getDueJobs();
    
    foreach ($dueJobs as $job) {
        // Dispatches to queue, queue worker invokes handler
        $scheduler->executeJob($job->id);
    }
    
    return 0;
}

Add to your cron:

* * * * * php artisan schedule:process

Handler Registration Pattern

The package uses tagged services for handler discovery, avoiding tight coupling to concrete domain classes.

Domain Package Responsibility

Implement JobHandlerInterface
Tag in service provider: $app->tag([YourHandler::class], 'scheduler.handlers')

Scheduler Package Responsibility

Receive iterable $handlers via constructor injection
Build internal JobType => HandlerInterface mapping
Dispatch to appropriate handler based on job type

Zero coupling: The scheduler never knows concrete handler class names.

Retry Strategy

Hybrid Delegation Model

Handler (Domain Logic): Decides retry intent

return JobResult::failure(
    error: 'API rate limit exceeded',
    shouldRetry: true,
    retryDelaySeconds: 300  // Custom 5-minute delay
);

ExecutionEngine (Infrastructure): Manages retry mechanism

Updates job status (FAILED → PENDING)
Increments retry_count
Dispatches to queue with specified delay
Applies exponential backoff if no custom delay
Marks as FAILED_PERMANENT if shouldRetry === false

Decision Flowchart

JobHandler::handle() returns JobResult
              │
              ▼
    ┌─────────────────────┐
    │  shouldRetry: bool  │
    └─────────────────────┘
              │
         ┌────┴────┐
         │         │
        YES        NO
         │         │
         │         └──► Mark FAILED_PERMANENT
         │
         ▼
┌────────────────────────┐
│ retryDelaySeconds: ?int│
└────────────────────────┘
         │
    ┌────┴────┐
    │         │
  NULL     CUSTOM
    │         │
    │         └──► Re-queue with custom delay
    │
    └──► Apply exponential backoff
         (60s, 120s, 240s, ...)

Value Objects

ScheduledJob

Immutable representation of a scheduled job with business logic methods:

$job->isDue($clock);           // bool: Is it time to run?
$job->isOverdue($clock);       // bool: Past runAt time?
$job->getNextRunTime($clock);  // ?DateTimeImmutable: Next recurrence
$job->canExecute();            // bool: Is status PENDING?

ScheduleRecurrence

Defines repetition rules:

// Simple interval
new ScheduleRecurrence(
    type: RecurrenceType::DAILY,
    interval: 2  // Every 2 days
);

// Cron expression (requires dragonmantank/cron-expression)
new ScheduleRecurrence(
    type: RecurrenceType::CRON,
    cronExpression: '0 9 * * 1-5'  // Weekdays at 9 AM
);

JobResult

Handler's response with retry intent:

// Success
JobResult::success(output: ['recordsProcessed' => 150]);

// Retriable failure
JobResult::failure(
    error: 'Connection timeout',
    shouldRetry: true,
    retryDelaySeconds: 60
);

// Permanent failure
JobResult::failure(
    error: 'Invalid configuration',
    shouldRetry: false
);

Enums

JobType

Extensible enum for domain-specific job types:

enum JobType: string
{
    case EXPORT_REPORT = 'export_report';
    case DOCUMENT_SHREDDING = 'document_shredding';
    case WORK_ORDER_START = 'work_order_start';
    case SEND_REMINDER = 'send_reminder';
    // Domain packages add their own types
}

JobStatus

Lifecycle state with transition validation:

enum JobStatus: string
{
    case PENDING = 'pending';
    case RUNNING = 'running';
    case COMPLETED = 'completed';
    case FAILED = 'failed';
    case FAILED_PERMANENT = 'failed_permanent';
    case CANCELED = 'canceled';
    
    public function canTransitionTo(JobStatus $newStatus): bool;
    public function canExecute(): bool;
    public function isFinal(): bool;
}

Testing

Time Control

Use ClockInterface for deterministic testing:

$mockClock = new class implements ClockInterface {
    private DateTimeImmutable $now;
    
    public function now(): DateTimeImmutable {
        return $this->now;
    }
    
    public function setTime(DateTimeImmutable $time): void {
        $this->now = $time;
    }
};

// Test isDue() logic
$mockClock->setTime(new DateTimeImmutable('2025-01-15 08:55:00'));
$this->assertFalse($job->isDue($mockClock));

$mockClock->setTime(new DateTimeImmutable('2025-01-15 09:00:00'));
$this->assertTrue($job->isDue($mockClock));

Running the Package Test Suite

The Scheduler package now ships with a dedicated PHPUnit 11 smoke suite plus deterministic in-memory adapters under tests/Support/. Run it locally before contributing new functionality:

cd packages/Scheduler
composer install        # once, to pull phpunit/phpunit via require-dev
composer test           # executes phpunit -c phpunit.xml.dist
# composer test:coverage  # optional: generates code coverage when Xdebug/PCOV is enabled

What the suite covers today:

ScheduleManagerTest validates successful dispatch, permanent-failure handling, and recurring job rollover.
Support doubles (MutableClock, InMemoryScheduleRepository, TrackingJobQueue, CallbackJobHandler) keep tests framework-agnostic.

Future work will extend coverage across value objects, the recurrence engine, and execution engine edge cases. Contributions should include corresponding tests that reuse the provided adapters or add new deterministic doubles inside tests/Support/.

Future Features (v2)

Calendar Export

The CalendarExporterInterface is defined but bound to NullCalendarExporter (throws FeatureNotImplementedException) in v1.

Planned v2 features:

Generate iCal files for scheduled jobs
Google Calendar URL generation
Outlook integration

📖 Documentation

Package Documentation

Additional Resources

IMPLEMENTATION_SUMMARY.md - Implementation progress
REQUIREMENTS.md - Requirements
TEST_SUITE_SUMMARY.md - Tests
VALUATION_MATRIX.md - Valuation

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Support

For issues, questions, or contributions, please refer to the main Nexus ERP repository.

azaharizaman / nexus-scheduler

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