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Cancellation Scopes

In the TypeScript SDK, Workflows are represented internally by a tree of Cancellation Scopes, each with cancellation behaviors you can specify. Everything runs in the "root" scope by default.

Scopes are created using the CancellationScope constructor, or one of 3 static helpers:

  • cancellable(fn): children are automatically cancelled when their containing scope is cancelled.
    • Equivalent to new CancellationScope().run(fn).
  • nonCancellable(fn): prevents cancellation from propagating to children.
    • Equivalent to new CancellationScope({ cancellable: false }).run(fn).
  • withTimeout(timeoutMs, fn): if timeout triggers before fn resolves the scope will be cancelled, triggering cancellation of enclosed operations, such as activities and timers.
    • Equivalent to new CancellationScope({ cancellable: true, timeout: timeoutMs }).run(fn).

Cancellations are applied to cancellation scopes, which can encompass an entire workflow or just part of one. Scopes can be nested, and cancellation propagates from outer scopes to inner ones. A Workflow's main function runs in the outermost scope. Cancellations are handled by catching CancelledFailures thrown by cancellable operations (see below).

CancellationScope.run() and the static helpers mentioned above all return native JS Promises, so you can use the familiar Promise APIs like Promise.all and Promise.race to model your async logic. Other APIs you can use:

  • CancellationScope.current(): get the current scope
  • scope.cancel(): cancel all operations inside a scope
  • scope.run(fn): run an async function within a scope, returns the result of fn
  • scope.cancelRequested: a promise that resolves when a scope cancellation is requested, e.g. when Workflow code calls cancel() or the entire Workflow is cancelled by an external client.

When a CancellationScope is cancelled, it propagates cancellation in any child scopes and of any cancellable operations created within it, such as:

CancelledFailure​

Timers and Triggers throw CancelledFailure when cancelled while Activities and Child Workflows throw ActivityFailure and ChildWorkflowFailure with cause set to CancelledFailure. One exception is when an Activity or Child Workflow is scheduled in an already cancelled scope (or workflow) in which case they'll propagate the CancelledFailure that was thrown to cancel the scope.

In order to simplify checking for cancellation, use the isCancellation(err) function.

Internal cancellation example​

packages/test/src/workflows/cancel-timer-immediately.ts

import { CancelledFailure, CancellationScope, sleep } from '@temporalio/workflow';

export async function cancelTimer(): Promise<void> {
  // Timers and Activities are automatically cancelled when their containing scope is cancelled.
  try {
    await CancellationScope.cancellable(async () => {
      const promise = sleep(1); // <-- Will be cancelled because it is attached to this closure's scope
      CancellationScope.current().cancel();
      await promise; // <-- Promise must be awaited in order for `cancellable` to throw
    });
  } catch (e) {
    if (e instanceof CancelledFailure) {
      console.log('Timer cancelled 👍');
    } else {
      throw e; // <-- Fail the workflow
    }
  }
}

Alternatively, the preceding can be written as:

packages/test/src/workflows/cancel-timer-immediately-alternative-impl.ts

import { CancelledFailure, CancellationScope, sleep } from '@temporalio/workflow';

export async function cancelTimerAltImpl(): Promise<void> {
  try {
    const scope = new CancellationScope();
    const promise = scope.run(() => sleep(1));
    scope.cancel(); // <-- Cancel the timer created in scope
    await promise; // <-- Throws CancelledFailure
  } catch (e) {
    if (e instanceof CancelledFailure) {
      console.log('Timer cancelled 👍');
    } else {
      throw e; // <-- Fail the workflow
    }
  }
}

External cancellation example​

Handle Workflow cancellation by an external client while an Activity is running:

packages/test/src/workflows/handle-external-workflow-cancellation-while-activity-running.ts

import { CancellationScope, proxyActivities, isCancellation } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from '../activities';

const { httpPostJSON, cleanup } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({
  startToCloseTimeout: '10m',
});

export async function handleExternalWorkflowCancellationWhileActivityRunning(url: string, data: any): Promise<void> {
  try {
    await httpPostJSON(url, data);
  } catch (err) {
    if (isCancellation(err)) {
      console.log('Workflow cancelled');
      // Cleanup logic must be in a nonCancellable scope
      // If we'd run cleanup outside of a nonCancellable scope it would've been cancelled
      // before being started because the Workflow's root scope is cancelled.
      await CancellationScope.nonCancellable(() => cleanup(url));
    }
    throw err; // <-- Fail the Workflow
  }
}

nonCancellable example​

CancellationScope.nonCancellable prevents cancellation from propagating to children:

packages/test/src/workflows/non-cancellable-shields-children.ts

import { CancellationScope, proxyActivities } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from '../activities';

const { httpGetJSON } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({ startToCloseTimeout: '10m' });

export async function nonCancellable(url: string): Promise<any> {
  // Prevent Activity from being cancelled and await completion.
  // Note that the Workflow is completely oblivious and impervious to cancellation in this example.
  return CancellationScope.nonCancellable(() => httpGetJSON(url));
}

withTimeout example​

A very common operation is to cancel one or more activities if a deadline elapses, withTimeout creates a CancellationScope that is automatically cancelled after a given timeout.

packages/test/src/workflows/multiple-activities-single-timeout.ts

import { CancellationScope, proxyActivities } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from '../activities';

export function multipleActivitiesSingleTimeout(urls: string[], timeoutMs: number): Promise<any> {
  const { httpGetJSON } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({
    startToCloseTimeout: timeoutMs,
  });

  // If timeout triggers before all activities complete
  // the Workflow will fail with a CancelledError.
  return CancellationScope.withTimeout(timeoutMs, () => Promise.all(urls.map((url) => httpGetJSON(url))));
}

scope.cancelRequested​

You can await cancelRequested to make Workflow aware of cancellation while waiting on nonCancellable scopes:

packages/test/src/workflows/cancel-requested-with-non-cancellable.ts

import { CancellationScope, CancelledFailure, proxyActivities } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from '../activities';

const { httpGetJSON } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({
  startToCloseTimeout: '10m',
});

export async function resumeAfterCancellation(url: string): Promise<any> {
  let result: any = undefined;
  const scope = new CancellationScope({ cancellable: false });
  const promise = scope.run(() => httpGetJSON(url));
  try {
    result = await Promise.race([scope.cancelRequested, promise]);
  } catch (err) {
    if (!(err instanceof CancelledFailure)) {
      throw err;
    }
    // Prevent Workflow from completing so Activity can complete
    result = await promise;
  }
  return result;
}

CancellationScopes and callbacks​

Callbacks are not particularly useful in Workflows because all meaningful asynchronous operations return Promises. In the rare case that user code utilizes callbacks and needs to handle cancellation, a callback can be used to consume the CancellationScope.cancelRequested Promise.

packages/test/src/workflows/cancellation-scopes-with-callbacks.ts

import { CancellationScope } from '@temporalio/workflow';

function doSomething(callback: () => any) {
  setTimeout(callback, 10);
}

export async function cancellationScopesWithCallbacks(): Promise<void> {
  await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
    doSomething(resolve);
    CancellationScope.current().cancelRequested.catch(reject);
  });
}

Nesting Cancellation Scopes​

Complex flows may be achieved by nesting cancellation scopes:

packages/test/src/workflows/nested-cancellation.ts

import { CancellationScope, proxyActivities, isCancellation } from '@temporalio/workflow';

import type * as activities from '../activities';

const { setup, httpPostJSON, cleanup } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({
  startToCloseTimeout: '10m',
});

export async function nestedCancellation(url: string): Promise<void> {
  await CancellationScope.cancellable(async () => {
    await CancellationScope.nonCancellable(() => setup());
    try {
      await CancellationScope.withTimeout(1000, () => httpPostJSON(url, { some: 'data' }));
    } catch (err) {
      if (isCancellation(err)) {
        await CancellationScope.nonCancellable(() => cleanup(url));
      }
      throw err;
    }
  });
}

Sharing promises between scopes​

Operations like timers and Activities are cancelled by the cancellation scope they were created in. Promises returned by these operations can be awaited in different scopes.

packages/test/src/workflows/shared-promise-scopes.ts

import { CancellationScope, proxyActivities } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from '../activities';

const { httpGetJSON } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({ startToCloseTimeout: '10m' });

export async function sharedScopes(): Promise<any> {
  // Start activities in the root scope
  const p1 = httpGetJSON('http://url1.ninja');
  const p2 = httpGetJSON('http://url2.ninja');

  const scopePromise = CancellationScope.cancellable(async () => {
    const first = await Promise.race([p1, p2]);
    // Does not cancel activity1 or activity2 as they're linked to the root scope
    CancellationScope.current().cancel();
    return first;
  });
  return await scopePromise;
  // The Activity that did not complete will effectively be cancelled when
  // Workflow completes unless the Activity is awaited:
  // await Promise.all([p1, p2]);
}

packages/test/src/workflows/shield-awaited-in-root-scope.ts

import { CancellationScope, proxyActivities } from '@temporalio/workflow';
import type * as activities from '../activities';

const { httpGetJSON } = proxyActivities<typeof activities>({ startToCloseTimeout: '10m' });

export async function shieldAwaitedInRootScope(): Promise<any> {
  let p: Promise<any> | undefined = undefined;

  await CancellationScope.nonCancellable(async () => {
    p = httpGetJSON('http://example.com'); // <-- Start activity in nonCancellable scope without awaiting completion
  });
  // Activity is shielded from cancellation even though it is awaited in the cancellable root scope
  return p;
}