DelayKit

Wake an agent after a timeout

Schedule a timeout for an agent run waiting on human input. The handler resumes the run if approval doesn't arrive.

Use this to
  • Resume an agent run if a human reviewer doesn't approve a step within 24 hours
  • Time out an agent waiting on a tool call that may never return
  • Fail over a long-running agent task that has been idle past its deadline
  • Wake a paused agent at a specific future time without holding a worker
Code
Schedule the timeout when the agent pauses
// agent run pauses, waiting on human approval
await dk.schedule("agent-timeout", {
  key: "run_789",
  delay: "24h",
});
Cancel when approval arrives
await dk.unschedule("agent-timeout", "run_789");
When the time comes, resume the run
dk.handle("agent-timeout", async ({ key }) => {
  const run = await db.runs.find(key);
  if (run.status !== "awaiting_approval") return; // already resolved
  await agents.resume(key, { outcome: "timed_out" });
});
npm install delaykit
bun add delaykit
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Related patterns

Expire something

Run a side effect (email, cleanup, notification) when an invitation, checkout hold, or magic link expires. Handler reads current state and skips if the user already acted.

dk.schedule("expire-invitation", { delay: "7d" })
handler skips if the user already accepted

Send a reminder

Schedule a notification for later. The handler checks current state when it fires.

dk.schedule("remind", { delay: "24h" })
handler decides whether to send

Poll until done

Wait on an async job by checking back periodically until it's done, or until you give up. Useful for Replicate predictions, OpenAI batch jobs, and Mux transcodes.

dk.schedule("check-prediction", { delay: "2m" })
handler reschedules itself until status is terminal