Trigger Getting Started

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Directory with a first task
• Wire tsconfig and .gitignore
• Set TRIGGERSECRETKEY
• Run the dev server

Example prompts

• “add Trigger.dev”
• “set up Trigger.dev”
• “initialize Trigger.dev”
• “/trigger-getting-started”

Requirements

• Node.js
• A credential in TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

1. 1Authenticate (human step)
2. 2Install the packages
3. 3Write trigger.config.ts
4. 4Add a first task
5. 5Wire tsconfig and gitignore
6. 6Set the secret key (human step)
7. 7Run the dev server

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 19f688d. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • npx
  • npm

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

  • trigger.dev
  • cloud.trigger.dev

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

  • TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Trigger Getting Started loads about 2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 160 tokens; SKILL.md has 804 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~160

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:141

  # .env (or .env.local for Next.js)

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from VladSez/easy-invoice-pdf at commit 19f688d, republished under its AGPL-3.0 licence (© VladSez). 804 words, ~1,960 tokens.

name

trigger-getting-started

description

Bootstrap Trigger.dev into an existing project from scratch: authenticate the CLI, install @trigger.dev/sdk and @trigger.dev/build, write trigger.config.ts with the project ref and task dirs, scaffold a /trigger directory with a first task, wire tsconfig and .gitignore, set TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY, and run the dev server. Load this when a project has no trigger.config.ts yet and the user asks to "add Trigger.dev", "set up Trigger.dev", "initialize Trigger.dev", or get a first task running, including in a monorepo. Once the project is set up and you are writing task code, switch to the trigger-authoring-tasks skill.

type

core

library

trigger.dev

library_version

4.5.6

sources

docs/quick-start.mdx, docs/manual-setup.mdx, docs/config/config-file.mdx, docs/triggering.mdx

npx trigger.dev init

npx trigger.dev login
# self-hosted:
npx trigger.dev login --api-url https://your-trigger-instance.com

npm add @trigger.dev/sdk@latest
npm add --save-dev @trigger.dev/build@latest

import { defineConfig } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export default defineConfig({
  project: "<project ref>", // e.g. "proj_abc123", from the dashboard
  dirs: ["./src/trigger"], // where your tasks live
  maxDuration: 3600,
  retries: {
    enabledInDev: false,
    default: {
      maxAttempts: 3,
      factor: 2,
      minTimeoutInMs: 1000,
      maxTimeoutInMs: 10000,
      randomize: true,
    },
  },
});

// src/trigger/example.ts
import { task } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export const helloWorld = task({
  id: "hello-world",
  run: async (payload: { name: string }) => {
    return { message: `Hello ${payload.name}!` };
  },
});

// tsconfig.json
{ "include": ["trigger.config.ts" /* ...existing */] }

# .gitignore
.trigger

# .env (or .env.local for Next.js)
TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY=tr_dev_xxxxxxxx

npx trigger.dev dev

import { tasks } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";
import type { helloWorld } from "@/trigger/example"; // type-only

const handle = await tasks.trigger<typeof helloWorld>("hello-world", {
  name: "Ada",
});

© VladSez, AGPL-3.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .cursor/skills/trigger-getting-started of VladSez/easy-invoice-pdf.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 19f688d