feat: crons for all bin scripts, new jobs:handle-schedules script, more reliable job system crons

[AlessioGr]

New jobs:handle-schedules bin script

Similarly to payload jobs:run, this PR adds a new jobs:handle-schedules bin script which only handles scheduling.

Allows jobs:run bin script to handle scheduling

Similarly to how payload autoRun handles both running and scheduling jobs by default, you can now set the payload jobs:run bin script to also handle scheduling. This is opt-in:

pnpm payload jobs:run --cron "*/5 * * * *" --queue myQueue --handle-schedules # This will both schedule jobs according to the configuration and run them

Cron schedules for all bin scripts

Previously, only the payload jobs:run bin script accepted a cron flag. The payload jobs:handle-schedules would have required the same logic to also handle a cron flag.

Instead of opting for this duplicative logic, I'm now handling cron logic before we determine which script to run. This means: it's simpler and requires less duplicative code.

This allows all other bin scripts (including custom ones) to use the --cron flag, enabling cool use-cases like scheduling your own custom scripts - no additional config required!

Example:

pnpm payload run ./myScript.ts --cron "0 * * * *"

Video Example:

Screenshot.2025-08-22.at.17.28.07.mp4

More reliable job system crons

When using autorun or --cron, if one cron run takes longer than the cron interval, the second cron would run before the first one finishes.

This can be especially dangerous when running jobs using a bin script, potentially causing race conditions, as the first cron run will take longer due to payload initialization overhead (only for first cron run, consecutive ones use cached payload). Now, consecutive cron runs will wait for the first one to finish by using the { protect: true } property of Croner.

This change will affect both autorun and bin scripts.

Cleanup

• Centralized payload instance cleanup (payload.destroy()) for all bin scripts
• The getPayload function arguments were not properly typed. Arguments like disableOnInit: true are already supported, but the type did not reflect that. This simplifies the type and makes it more accurate.

Fixes

• allQueues argument for payload jobs:run was not respected

---

• To see the specific tasks where the Asana app for GitHub is being used, see below:
  • https://app.asana.com/0/0/1211124797199077

[github-actions]

📦 esbuild Bundle Analysis for payload

This analysis was generated by esbuild-bundle-analyzer. 🤖

Meta File	Out File	Size (raw)	Note
packages/next/meta_index.json	esbuild/index.js	753.94 KB	✅ No change
packages/payload/meta_index.json	esbuild/index.js	1.21 MB	⚠️ +49 B (+0.0%)
packages/payload/meta_shared.json	esbuild/exports/shared.js	161.98 KB	✅ No change
packages/richtext-lexical/meta_client.json	esbuild/exports/client_optimized/index.js	259.50 KB	✅ No change
packages/ui/meta_client.json	esbuild/exports/client_optimized/index.js	1.15 MB	⚠️ +7 B (+0.0%)
packages/ui/meta_shared.json	esbuild/exports/shared_optimized/index.js	14.20 KB	✅ No change

Largest paths

These visualization shows top 20 largest paths in the bundle.

Meta file: packages/next/meta_index.json, Out file: esbuild/index.js

Path	Size
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████████████████████ }}}$ 80.3%, 601.88 KB
dist/views/Version	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▋ }}}$ 6.7%, 50.09 KB
dist/views/Document	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▌ }}}$ 2.0%, 14.91 KB
dist/views/List	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 9.16 KB
dist/views/Root	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 7.08 KB
dist/views/Versions	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 6.30 KB
dist/views/API	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 5.98 KB
dist/views/Account	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 5.32 KB
dist/elements/Nav	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 4.84 KB
dist/elements/DocumentHeader	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 4.81 KB
dist/views/Login	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 4.39 KB
dist/views/Dashboard	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 3.68 KB
dist/views/ForgotPassword	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 3.09 KB
dist/layouts/Root	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 3.09 KB
dist/utilities/initPage	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 3.06 KB
dist/templates/Default	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 2.83 KB
dist/views/CreateFirstUser	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 2.61 KB
dist/views/BrowseByFolder	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 2.60 KB
dist/views/CollectionFolders	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 2.46 KB
dist/views/ResetPassword	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 2.41 KB
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████▉ }}}$ 19.7%, 147.38 KB

Meta file: packages/payload/meta_index.json, Out file: esbuild/index.js

Path	Size
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █████████████████▍ }}}$ 69.8%, 841.07 KB
dist/fields/hooks	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▊ }}}$ 3.3%, 40.21 KB
dist/collections/operations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▊ }}}$ 3.0%, 35.98 KB
dist/auth/operations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.3%, 15.22 KB
dist/queues/operations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 12.00 KB
dist/utilities/configToJSONSchema.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 11.54 KB
dist/globals/operations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 11.12 KB
dist/fields/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 10.82 KB
dist/fields/validations.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 9.38 KB
dist/bin/generateImportMap	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 8.27 KB
dist/database/migrations	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.79 KB
dist/collections/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.79 KB
dist/uploads/fetchAPI-multipart	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.74 KB
dist/collections/endpoints	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.20 KB
dist/index.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.16 KB
dist/config/orderable	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 6.25 KB
dist/auth/strategies	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 5.50 KB
dist/config/sanitize.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 5.44 KB
dist/auth/endpoints	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 5.41 KB
dist/utilities/telemetry	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 5.31 KB
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ███████▌ }}}$ 30.2%, 363.75 KB

Meta file: packages/payload/meta_shared.json, Out file: esbuild/exports/shared.js

Path	Size
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████████████████████ }}}$ 80.0%, 126.93 KB
dist/fields/validations.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▍ }}}$ 5.9%, 9.38 KB
dist/fields/baseFields	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.8%, 2.79 KB
dist/utilities/deepCopyObject.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.6%, 2.48 KB
dist/auth/cookies.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 1.55 KB
dist/utilities/flattenTopLevelFields.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 1.41 KB
dist/fields/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 1.28 KB
dist/utilities/flattenAllFields.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 943 B
dist/utilities/fieldSchemaToJSON.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 917 B
dist/folders/utils	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 916 B
dist/utilities/unflatten.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.5%, 779 B
dist/utilities/sanitizeUserDataForEmail.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 713 B
dist/collections/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 570 B
dist/bin/generateImportMap	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 559 B
dist/auth/sessions.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 545 B
dist/utilities/getSafeRedirect.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 423 B
dist/utilities/deepMerge.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.3%, 413 B
dist/utilities/getFieldPermissions.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.2%, 391 B
dist/utilities/formatLabels.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.2%, 380 B
dist/utilities/transformColumnPreferences.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.2%, 348 B
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █████ }}}$ 20.0%, 31.82 KB

Meta file: packages/richtext-lexical/meta_client.json, Out file: esbuild/exports/client_optimized/index.js

Path	Size
dist/lexical/plugins	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ███ }}}$ 12.1%, 30.91 KB
dist/features/experimental_table	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▍ }}}$ 9.6%, 24.60 KB
dist/lexical/ui	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▎ }}}$ 9.2%, 23.47 KB
dist/features/blocks	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▏ }}}$ 8.7%, 22.43 KB
dist/packages/@lexical	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▊ }}}$ 7.4%, 18.99 KB
dist/features/link	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▊ }}}$ 7.0%, 17.96 KB
dist/features/toolbars	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▋ }}}$ 6.9%, 17.68 KB
dist/features/textState	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █ }}}$ 4.3%, 10.98 KB
dist/features/upload	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▉ }}}$ 3.7%, 9.60 KB
dist/features/relationship	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▉ }}}$ 3.7%, 9.41 KB
dist/lexical/utils	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▊ }}}$ 3.1%, 8.08 KB
dist/features/debug	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.9%, 7.39 KB
dist/features/converters	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.7%, 7.04 KB
dist/utilities/fieldsDrawer	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.7%, 7.01 KB
dist/lexical/config	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▌ }}}$ 2.0%, 5.10 KB
dist/features/lists	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.9%, 4.95 KB
dist/lexical/theme	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.6%, 4.01 KB
dist/features/format	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.4%, 3.46 KB
dist/lexical/LexicalEditor.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.3%, 3.23 KB
dist/features/indent	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 2.50 KB
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █████████████████████▉ }}}$ 87.9%, 225.57 KB

Meta file: packages/ui/meta_client.json, Out file: esbuild/exports/client_optimized/index.js

Path	Size
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████████████▌ }}}$ 50.3%, 572.93 KB
dist/elements/FolderView	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.7%, 30.39 KB
dist/elements/BulkUpload	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▌ }}}$ 2.2%, 24.57 KB
dist/elements/WhereBuilder	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.4%, 16.26 KB
dist/fields/Relationship	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.4%, 16.11 KB
dist/views/Edit	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.4%, 15.43 KB
dist/elements/Table	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.3%, 15.26 KB
dist/forms/Form	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.3%, 14.82 KB
dist/fields/Blocks	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.1%, 12.43 KB
dist/fields/Upload	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 11.94 KB
dist/fields/Array	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 9.30 KB
dist/elements/QueryPresets	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 9.08 KB
dist/elements/PublishButton	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.8%, 8.57 KB
dist/providers/Folders	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 8.38 KB
dist/elements/LivePreview	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 8.20 KB
dist/elements/ListHeader	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 7.98 KB
dist/views/CollectionFolder	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 7.89 KB
dist/elements/HTMLDiff	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.7%, 7.81 KB
dist/views/List	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 7.18 KB
dist/elements/ReactSelect	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 6.91 KB
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████████████▍ }}}$ 49.7%, 566.08 KB

Meta file: packages/ui/meta_shared.json, Out file: esbuild/exports/shared_optimized/index.js

Path	Size
dist/graphics/Logo	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █████▋ }}}$ 22.9%, 3.12 KB
../../node_modules	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ████▉ }}}$ 19.5%, 2.65 KB
dist/graphics/Icon	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▊ }}}$ 11.2%, 1.52 KB
dist/utilities/formatDocTitle	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ██▍ }}}$ 9.7%, 1.32 KB
dist/providers/TableColumns	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▌ }}}$ 6.3%, 862 B
dist/utilities/groupNavItems.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▌ }}}$ 6.0%, 814 B
dist/utilities/api.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ █▍ }}}$ 5.6%, 756 B
dist/elements/Translation	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▉ }}}$ 3.6%, 493 B
dist/elements/withMergedProps	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▋ }}}$ 2.5%, 339 B
dist/utilities/handleTakeOver.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.8%, 251 B
dist/elements/WithServerSideProps	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▍ }}}$ 1.7%, 232 B
dist/utilities/handleGoBack.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 168 B
dist/fields/mergeFieldStyles.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.2%, 159 B
dist/forms/Form	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.1%, 147 B
dist/utilities/abortAndIgnore.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.1%, 146 B
dist/utilities/hasSavePermission.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▎ }}}$ 1.0%, 136 B
dist/utilities/handleBackToDashboard.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.9%, 129 B
dist/utilities/findLocaleFromCode.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 84 B
dist/utilities/sanitizeID.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ▏ }}}$ 0.6%, 77 B
dist/utilities/isEditing.js	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ }}}$ 0.4%, 59 B
(other)	${{\color{Goldenrod}{ ███████████████████▎ }}}$ 77.1%, 10.49 KB

Details

Next to the size is how much the size has increased or decreased compared with the base branch of this PR.

• ‼️: Size increased by 20% or more. Special attention should be given to this.
• ⚠️: Size increased in acceptable range (lower than 20%).
• ✅: No change or even downsized.
• 🗑️: The out file is deleted: not found in base branch.
• 🆕: The out file is newly found: will be added to base branch.