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camunda-8-js-sdk

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The Camunda 8 JavaScript SDK for Node.js

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# Camunda 8 JavaScript SDK

[![NPM](https://nodei.co/npm/@camunda8/sdk.png)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@camunda8/sdk)

[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Apache%202.0-blue.svg)](https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0)

[SDK API docs](https://camunda.github.io/camunda-8-js-sdk/).
[Orchestration Cluster API Client full API docs](https://camunda.github.io/orchestration-cluster-api-js/classes/index.CamundaClient.html).

This is the official Camunda 8 JavaScript SDK. It is written in TypeScript and runs on Node.js. See why [this SDK does not run in a web browser](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-8-js-sdk/issues/79).

If you need to run an application in the web browser, then look at using the [@camunda8/orchestration-cluster-api](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@camunda8/orchestration-cluster-api) package directly.

See the [Getting Started Example](https://docs.camunda.io/docs/next/guides/getting-started-example/) in the Camunda Docs for a quick start.

## Which package should I use?

This SDK provides API clients for various versions of Camunda 8. If you are doing a greenfield project on Camunda 8.8 or later, then you should consider directly using the [@camunda8/orchestration-cluster-api](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@camunda8/orchestration-cluster-api) package. That package provides a client for the Camunda 8 Orchestration Cluster API, a REST API with full functionality.

This SDK includes that client, but relying on this SDK package pulls in other API clients, which - if you are not using them - exposes you to several factors:

* Increased dependency size for dependencies that are irrelevant to your application
* Node.js only. The other package runs in the browser.

How to choose?

Use the `@camunda8/sdk` package if:

* You need the gRPC API to do Job Streaming.
* Your server target is 8.7 or earlier.
* You are progressively migrating an existing application to use the 8.8 Orchestration Cluster API.

Use the `@camunda8/orchestration-cluster-api` package directly if:

* You are developing a green-field application.
* Your server target is 8.8 or later.
* You do not need to use the gRPC API.

## Which API should I use?

The SDK provides clients for several Camunda 8 APIs.

If you are doing a greenfield project on Camunda 8.8.0 or later, then you should use the Camunda Orchestration Cluster API with `getOrchestrationClusterApiClient`. This is a REST API that provides complete cluster functionality in one API surface. This client is strongly typed and provides strong types for request and response fields (eg: `ProcessInstanceKey`, `ProcessDefinitionId`, etc).

To progressively adopt this client in existing projects alongside previous clients, you can call `getOrchestrationClusterApiClientLoose` to get a client that does not strongly type the request and response fields (they remain primitive scalar `string` type).

## What does "supported" mean?

This is the official supported-by-Camunda Nodejs SDK for Camunda Platform 8.

The Node.js SDK will not always support all features of Camunda Platform 8 immediately upon their release. Complete API coverage for a platform release will lag behind the platform release.

Prioritisation of implementing features is influenced by customer demand.

## Semantic versioning

The SDK package tracks Camunda Platform 8 minor versioning. Feature releases to support current Platform minor version features result in a patch release of the SDK.

## Using the SDK in your project

Install the SDK as a dependency:

```bash
npm i @camunda8/sdk
```

## Usage

The functionality of Camunda 8 is exposed via dedicated clients for the component APIs. The recommended API client for Camunda 8.8 is the Orchestration Cluster API, using the `CamundaClient` returned by `getOrchestrationClusterApiClient()`.

```typescript
import { Camunda8 } from '@camunda8/sdk'

const c8 = new Camunda8()

// Camunda 8 Orchestration Cluster API (STRICT client) - recommended from 8.8.0
// Provides strongly typed request & response IDs (e.g. ProcessInstanceKey, ProcessDefinitionId)
const orchestration = c8.getOrchestrationClusterApiClient()

// Camunda 8 Orchestration Cluster API (LOOSE client) - progressive adoption variant
// Same methods, but all IDs are plain string. Start here in existing codebases, then
// migrate to the strict client when convenient.
const orchestrationLoose = c8.getOrchestrationClusterApiClientLoose()
```

## Configuration

The configuration for the SDK can be done by any combination of environment variables and explicit configuration passed to the `Camunda8` constructor.

The recommended method of configuration is using the zero-conf constructor, which hydrates the configuration completely from the environment:

```typescript
const camunda = new Camunda8()
```

This allows you to cleanly separate the concern of configuration from your code and locate it purely in environment variable management.

The complete documentation of all configuration parameters (environment variables) can be found [here](https://camunda.github.io/camunda-8-js-sdk/variables/index.CamundaSDKConfiguration.html).

Any configuration passed in to the `Camunda8` constructor is merged over any configuration in the environment. The configuration object fields and the environment variables have exactly the same names.

## Orchestration Cluster API: Strict vs Loose Clients

From Camunda 8.8 onwards the unified Orchestration Cluster API is the preferred interface. This SDK exposes it via two factory methods to enable smooth, incremental migration:

| Factory | Purpose | ID / Key Types | Recommended Use |
| ------- | ------- | -------------- | --------------- |
| `getOrchestrationClusterApiClient()` | Strict (strongly typed) client | Branded TypeScript types (e.g. `ProcessInstanceKey`, `ProcessDefinitionId`) | Greenfield projects or code already prepared for branded types |
| `getOrchestrationClusterApiClientLoose()` | Loose client | Plain `string` | Progressive adoption in existing code expecting raw string IDs |

### Why two clients?

Branded (nominal) types significantly reduce accidental mixing of unrelated IDs (for example passing a decision definition id where a process instance key is expected). However, adopting them in an existing codebase can require refactors across many modules. The loose client lets you start calling the new endpoints immediately without touching those modules. You can then migrate incrementally to the strict client as you update code.

### Migration Path
1. Introduce the loose client alongside existing v1 component clients: `const ocaLoose = c8.getOrchestrationClusterApiClientLoose()`.
2. Replace calls to older clients (Operate / Tasklist / Optimize for read operations, Zeebe REST for workflow interactions) with equivalent Orchestration API calls using the loose client.
3. When convenient, switch a module to the strict client: change imports to use `getOrchestrationClusterApiClient()` and address TypeScript compile errors by adopting the branded ID types (usually by propagating the type instead of `string`).
4. Remove the loose client usage once all modules compile cleanly with the strict client.

### REST Address Normalization (/v2)

Set `ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS` without the version suffix; the SDK will append `/v2` exactly once:

```bash
export ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS='http://localhost:8888'
```

Results in effective base URL: `http://localhost:8888/v2`.

If you include `/v2` already:

```bash
export ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS='http://localhost:8888/v2'
```

It is preserved (not duplicated). Trailing slashes are stripped before normalization (`http://localhost:8888/` -> `http://localhost:8888/v2`).

### Choosing Between Clients

Use the strict client for new code, libraries, or examples where type safety improves clarity. Use the loose client when:
- You need a rapid drop-in replacement without changing existing function signatures.
- You are migrating many modules gradually.
- You want to defer adoption of branded ID types until later.

Both clients expose identical method names and behaviors; only the TypeScript surface differs. Runtime semantics and responses are otherwise equivalent.

### Example (Strict vs Loose)

```typescript
import { Camunda8 } from '@camunda8/sdk'
const c8 = new Camunda8()

// Strict client (preferred once migrated)
const oca = c8.getOrchestrationClusterApiClient()
const proc = await oca.createProcessInstance({
  processDefinitionId: ProcessDefinitionId.assumeExists('order-process'),
  variables: { orderId: 'A123' },
})
// proc.processInstanceKey is a branded type (not a plain string)

// Loose client (progressive adoption)
const ocaLoose = c8.getOrchestrationClusterApiClientLoose()
const procLoose = await ocaLoose.createProcessInstance({
  processDefinitionId: 'order-process',
  variables: { orderId: 'B456' },
})
// procLoose.processInstanceKey is a plain string
```

When converting code from loose to strict, remove unnecessary casts like `(key as string)` and allow the compiler to guide corrections where branded types surface.

### Lifting Legacy String IDs

To migrate existing code that uses plain strings for identifiers without immediately switching every module to the strict client, you can "lift" those strings into branded key types incrementally.

All branded key lifter namespaces are grouped under `OrchestrationLifters` so the root SDK export surface stays tidy:

```typescript
import { OrchestrationLifters } from '@camunda8/sdk'

// Suppose you previously passed raw strings:
const rawProcessInstanceKey = '2251799813685249'

// Lift it to the branded type (runtime value is still a string, but type safety now applies):
const processInstanceKey = OrchestrationLifters.ProcessInstanceKey.assumeExists(rawProcessInstanceKey)

// Use with strict client
const c8 = new Camunda8()
const oca = c8.getOrchestrationClusterApiClient()
await oca.cancelProcessInstance({ processInstanceKey })
```

Common helper: `assumeExists(value: string)` turns a known-valid legacy identifier into its branded equivalent. Use this when you are certain the ID refers to an existing entity (the lifter does not perform a network validation; it is purely nominal typing).

Suggested incremental approach:
1. Start by replacing output values first (e.g. responses from `createProcessInstance`) where the strict client already returns branded types.
2. Introduce lifters at the boundaries where you still receive legacy strings (configuration, environment, persistence layer, legacy SDK modules).
3. Remove lifters once those boundaries natively produce branded types.

All available lifters (examples): `ProcessInstanceKey`, `ProcessDefinitionId`, `JobKey`, `ElementInstanceKey`, `DecisionDefinitionKey`, `FormKey`, `UserTaskKey`, `VariableKey`, etc. See `OrchestrationLifters` export for the complete list.

## A note on how int64 is handled in the JavaScript SDK

Entity keys in Camunda 8.6 and earlier are stored and represented as `int64` numbers. The range of `int64` extends to numbers that cannot be represented by the JavaScript `number` type. To deal with this, `int64` keys are serialised by the SDK to the JavaScript `string` type. See [this issue](https://github.com/camunda/camunda-8-js-sdk/issues/78) for more details.

For `int64` values whose type is not known ahead of time, such as job variables, you can pass an annotated data transfer object (DTO) to decode them reliably. See the section on [Process Variable Typing](#process-variable-typing). If no DTO is specified, the default behavior of the SDK is to serialise all numbers to JavaScript `number`, and to throw an exception if a number value is detected at a runtime that cannot be accurately represented as the JavaScript `number` type (that is, a value greater than 2^53-1).

## Authorization

Calls to APIs can be authorized using a number of strategies. The most common is OAuth - a token that is obtained via a client id/secret pair exchange.

- Camunda SaaS and Self-Managed by default are configured to use OAuth with token exchange. In most cases, you will use the `OAUTH` strategy and provide configuration only. The token exchange and its lifecycle are managed by the SDK in this strategy. This passes the token in the `authorization` header of requests.
- If you secure the gateway behind an Nginx reverse-proxy secured with basic authentication, you will use the `BASIC` strategy. This adds the login credentials as the `authorization` header on requests.
- For C8Run 8.7, you will need to use the `COOKIE` strategy. This manages a session cookie obtained from a login endpoint, and adds it as a cookie header to requests.
- For more customisation, you can use the `BEARER` strategy. This is a strategy that allows you to dynamically provide the `Bearer` token directly. The currently set token is added as the `authorization` header on requests.
- If you have a even more advanced use-case (for example, the need to add specific headers with specific values to authenticate with a proxy gateway), you can construct your own AuthProvider and pass it to the constructor.
- You can also disable header auth completely and use mTLS (client certificate) — or no authentication at all — with the `NONE` strategy.

For more details on each of these scenarios, see the relevant section below.

### Disable Auth

To disable Auth, set the environment variable `CAMUNDA_AUTH_STRATEGY=NONE`. You can use this when running against a minimal Zeebe broker in a development environment, for example. You can also use this when your authentication is being done using an x509 mTLS certificate (see the section on mTLS).

### OAuth

If your platform is secured with OAuth token exchange (Camunda SaaS or Self-Managed with Identity), provide the following configuration fields at a minimum, either via the `Camunda8` constructor or in environment variables:

```bash
CAMUNDA_AUTH_STRATEGY=OAUTH
ZEEBE_GRPC_ADDRESS=...
ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS=...
ZEEBE_CLIENT_ID=...
ZEEBE_CLIENT_SECRET=...
CAMUNDA_OAUTH_URL=...
```

To get a token for the Camunda SaaS Administration API or the Camunda SaaS Modeler API, set the following:

```bash
CAMUNDA_AUTH_STRATEGY=OAUTH
CAMUNDA_CONSOLE_CLIENT_ID=...
CAMUNDA_CONSOLE_CLIENT_SECRET=...
```

### Token caching

OAuth tokens are cached in-memory and on-disk. The disk cache is useful to prevent token endpoint saturation when restarting or rolling over workers, for example. They can all hit the cache instead of requesting new tokens.

You can turn off the disk caching by setting `CAMUNDA_TOKEN_DISK_CACHE_DISABLE` to true. This will cache tokens in-memory only.

By default, the token cache directory is `$HOME/.camunda`. You can specify a different directory by providing a full file path value for `CAMUNDA_TOKEN_CACHE_DIR`.

Here is an example of specifying a different cache directory via the constructor:

```typescript
import { Camunda8 } from '@camunda8/sdk'

const c8 = new Camunda8({
  CAMUNDA_TOKEN_CACHE_DIR: '/tmp/cache',
})
```

If the cache directory does not exist, the SDK will attempt to create it (recursively). If the SDK is unable to create it, or the directory exists but is not writeable by your application, the SDK will throw an exception.

### Basic Auth

To use basic auth, set the following values either via the environment or explicitly in code via the constructor:

```bash
CAMUNDA_AUTH_STRATEGY=BASIC
CAMUNDA_BASIC_AUTH_USERNAME=....
CAMUNDA_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=...
```

### Cookie Auth

For C8Run with 8.7, you need to use [Cookie Authentication](https://docs.camunda.io/docs/apis-tools/camunda-api-rest/camunda-api-rest-authentication/#authentication-via-cookie-c8run-only).

To use cookie auth, set the following value:

```
CAMUNDA_AUTH_STRATEGY=COOKIE

# Optional configurable values - these are the defaults
CAMUNDA_COOKIE_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:8080/api/login
CAMUNDA_COOKIE_AUTH_USERNAME=demo
CAMUNDA_COOKIE_AUTH_PASSWORD=demo
```

### Bearer Token Auth

The BEARER auth strategy is provided as a low-level primitive for advanced use-cases that are not covered by the others. In this case, you need to pass an `authorization` header with a `Bearer` token on requests, but it is not issued by a supported OAuth token exchange endpoint. In this case, you can implement a token exchange mechanism and manage the lifecycle of the token, and dynamically inject it as a header through a `BearerAuthProvider`.

To use a Bearer token that you have already obtained, and that does not need to be dynamically updated during the lifetime of the application, simply set the following values:

```bash
CAMUNDA_AUTH_STRATEGY=BEARER
CAMUNDA_OAUTH_TOKEN=....
```

To refresh the bearer token dynamically at runtime (for example, when it has expired and your obtain a new one), you pass in a `BearerAuthProvider` that you control:

```typescript
import { Camunda8, Auth } from '@camunda8/sdk'

const bearerAuth = new Auth.BearerAuthProvider()
const c8 = new Camunda8({ oauthProvider: bearerAuth }) // All clients and workers will use bearerAuth
// ... after obtaining a new token
bearerAuth.setToken('SOMETOKENVALUE....') // Dynamically update the bearer token value
```

### Advanced Custom Headers

You can add arbitrary headers to all requests by implementing `IOAuthProvider`:

```typescript
import { Camunda8, Auth } from '@camunda8/sdk'

class MyCustomAuthProvider implements Auth.IOAuthProvider {
  async getToken(audience: string) {
    // here we give a static example, but this class may read configuration,
    // exchange credentials with an endpoint, manage token lifecycles, and so forth...
    // Return an object which will be merged with the headers on the request
  return {
    'x-custom-auth-header': 'someCustomValue',
    }
  }
}

const customAuthProvider = new MyCustomAuthProvider()
const c8 = new Camunda8({ oauthProvider: customAuthProvider })
```

### Camunda SaaS persistent 401 tarpit

Camunda SaaS continues returning `401 Unauthorized` for a misconfigured credential & audience pair, but with a 30-second delay for subsequent requests (server-side cooldown). The SDK proactively creates a persistent "tarpit" marker on the first SaaS `401` to prevent network call delays.

Behavior:

- First `401` for `(clientId, clientSecret, audienceType)` creates `oauth-401-tarpit-<clientId>-<audience>-<hash>.json` in the cache directory (`$HOME/.camunda` by default). `<hash>` is a truncated PBKDF2 (100K iterations) hash of the secret.
- Subsequent `getHeaders()` calls for that tuple immediately throw a tarpit error without hitting the token endpoint.
- The tarpit does not auto-expire.

Isolation & rotation:

- Keyed on clientId + secret hash + audience; different audiences are independent.
- Rotating the secret produces a new hash (old tarpit file can be removed manually if desired).

Clearing a tarpit:

```typescript
import { Auth } from '@camunda8/sdk'
Auth.OAuthProvider.clear401Tarpit({
  clientId: 'myClientId',
  clientSecret: 'currentSecret',
  audienceType: 'ZEEBE',
})
```

After clearing, the next call attempts a real token request.

Backoff interaction:

- Token endpoint backoff/failure counters are suppressed for tarpit 401s to surface configuration issues quickly.
- Other error types retain normal backoff behavior.

Observability:

- `DEBUG=camunda:oauth` logs creation: `Created persistent 401 tarpit file ...`
- Inspect cache dir for `oauth-401-tarpit-*` files.

Remediation steps:

1. Fix credential / audience configuration.
2. Clear the tarpit file via helper (or delete manually).
3. Retry token acquisition.

This persistent tarpit behavior is automatic for SaaS environments in this SDK version.

## TLS

If you are using self-signed certificates, you can provide the self-signed certificate path using the configuration parameter / environment variable: `CAMUNDA_CUSTOM_ROOT_CERT_PATH`.

### mTLS

The Zeebe gRPC client supports mTLS. You can provide the mTLS certificate and key with:

```
CAMUNDA_CUSTOM_CERT_CHAIN_PATH # path to mTLS certificate
CAMUNDA_CUSTOM_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH # path to mTLS (client-side) key
```

## Connection configuration examples

### Camunda 8 Run 8.8

This is the configuration for [Camunda 8 Run](https://developers.camunda.com/install-camunda-8/) - a local Camunda 8 instance that is the best way to get started.

```bash
export ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS='http://localhost:8080'
export ZEEBE_GRPC_ADDRESS='grpc://localhost:26500'
export CAMUNDA_AUTH_STRATEGY=NONE
```

### Self-Managed

This is the complete environment configuration needed to run against the Dockerised Self-Managed stack in the `docker` subdirectory:

```bash
# Self-Managed
export ZEEBE_GRPC_ADDRESS='grpc://localhost:26500'
export ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS='http://localhost:8080'
export ZEEBE_CLIENT_ID='zeebe'
export ZEEBE_CLIENT_SECRET='zecret'
export CAMUNDA_OAUTH_STRATEGY='OAUTH'
export CAMUNDA_OAUTH_URL='http://localhost:18080/auth/realms/camunda-platform/protocol/openid-connect/token'
export CAMUNDA_TASKLIST_BASE_URL='http://localhost:8082'
export CAMUNDA_OPERATE_BASE_URL='http://localhost:8081'
export CAMUNDA_OPTIMIZE_BASE_URL='http://localhost:8083'
export CAMUNDA_MODELER_BASE_URL='http://localhost:8070/api'

# Turn off the tenant ID, which may have been set by multi-tenant tests
# You can set this in a constructor config, or in the environment if running multi-tenant
export CAMUNDA_TENANT_ID=''
```

If you are using an OIDC that requires a `scope` parameter to be passed with the token request, set the following variable:

```
CAMUNDA_TOKEN_SCOPE
```

Here is an example of doing this via the constructor, rather than via the environment:

```typescript
import { Camunda8 } from '@camunda8/sdk'

const c8 = new Camunda8({
  ZEEBE_GRPC_ADDRESS: 'grpc://localhost:26500',
  ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS: 'http://localhost:8080',
  ZEEBE_CLIENT_ID: 'zeebe',
  ZEEBE_CLIENT_SECRET: 'zecret',
  CAMUNDA_OAUTH_STRATEGY: 'OAUTH',
  CAMUNDA_OAUTH_URL:
    'http://localhost:18080/auth/realms/camunda-platform/protocol/openid-connect/token',
  CAMUNDA_TASKLIST_BASE_URL: 'http://localhost:8082',
  CAMUNDA_OPERATE_BASE_URL: 'http://localhost:8081',
  CAMUNDA_OPTIMIZE_BASE_URL: 'http://localhost:8083',
  CAMUNDA_MODELER_BASE_URL: 'http://localhost:8070/api',
  CAMUNDA_TENANT_ID: '', // We can override values in the env by passing an empty string value
  CAMUNDA_SECURE_CONNECTION: false,
})
```

### Camunda SaaS

Here is a complete configuration example for connection to Camunda SaaS:

```bash
export ZEEBE_GRPC_ADDRESS='grpcs://5c34c0a7-7f29-4424-8414-125615f7a9b9.syd-1.zeebe.camunda.io:443'
export ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS='https://syd-1.zeebe.camunda.io/5c34c0a7-7f29-4424-8414-125615f7a9b9'
export ZEEBE_CLIENT_ID='yvvURO9TmBnP3zx4Xd8Ho6apgeiZTjn6'
export ZEEBE_CLIENT_SECRET='iJJu-SHgUtuJTTAMnMLdcb8WGF8s2mHfXhXutEwe8eSbLXn98vUpoxtuLk5uG0en'

export CAMUNDA_TASKLIST_BASE_URL='https://syd-1.tasklist.camunda.io/5c34c0a7-7f29-4424-8414-125615f7a9b9'
export CAMUNDA_OPTIMIZE_BASE_URL='https://syd-1.optimize.camunda.io/5c34c0a7-7f29-4424-8414-125615f7a9b9'
export CAMUNDA_OPERATE_BASE_URL='https://syd-1.operate.camunda.io/5c34c0a7-7f29-4424-8414-125615f7a9b9'
export CAMUNDA_OAUTH_URL='https://login.cloud.camunda.io/oauth/token'
export CAMUNDA_AUTH_STRATEGY='OAUTH'

# Admin Console and Modeler API Client
export CAMUNDA_CONSOLE_CLIENT_ID='e-JdgKfJy9hHSXzi'
export CAMUNDA_CONSOLE_CLIENT_SECRET='DT8Pe-ANC6e3Je_ptLyzZvBNS0aFwaIV'
export CAMUNDA_CONSOLE_BASE_URL='https://api.cloud.camunda.io'
export CAMUNDA_CONSOLE_OAUTH_AUDIENCE='api.cloud.camunda.io'
```

## Logging

The SDK uses a Winston / Pino compatible logging setup. By default it uses Winston.

When using the default logging library, you can set the logging level of the SDK via the environment variable (or constructor configuration property) `CAMUNDA_LOG_LEVEL`. This defaults to 'info'. Values (in order of priority): `error`, `warn`, `info`, `http`, `verbose`, `debug`, `silly`.

### Custom logger

You can supply a custom logger via the constructor. For example, to use the [Pino](https://getpino.io/) logging library:

```typescript
import pino from 'pino'

import { Camunda8 } from '@camunda8/sdk'

const level = process.env.CAMUNDA_LOG_LEVEL ?? 'trace'
const logger = pino({ level }) // Logging level controlled via the logging library

logger.info('Pino logger created')
const c8 = new Camunda8({
  logger,
})
c8.log.info('Using pino logger')
```

## Awaiting Asynchronous Query Data

Camunda 8 uses an eventually-consistent data architecture. When you start a process instance, data related to this process instance is not immediately available in the datastore. This leads to data synchronisation issues you need to manage in your application. To aid you with this, the SDK provides a utility: `PollingOperation`. You can pass a query API operation to this utility with a polling interval and a timeout.

The `PollingOperation` will execute the query repeatedly until the expected data is available in the data store, or the timeout is reached.

The following example will return the query response for a newly-created process instance as soon as the element instance data is available:

```typescript
import { Camunda8, PollingOperation } from '@camunda8/sdk'

const c8 = new Camunda8()

const elementInstances = await PollingOperation({
  operation: () =>
  c8.searchElementInstances({
    sort: [{ field: 'processInstanceKey' }],
    filter: {
      processInstanceKey: processInstance.processInstanceKey,
      type: 'SERVICE_TASK',
    },
  }),
  interval: 500,
  timeout: 10000,
})
```

By default, the `PollingOperation` waits for a query response from the Orchestration Cluster API that has one or more results in the `items` array. If you have a more specific predicate, or are using one of the v1 component APIs, you can pass in a custom predicate function.

The following example waits for a process instance to be available to a query over the Operate API:

```typescript
import { Camunda8, PollingOperation } from '@camunda8/sdk'

const c8 = new Camunda8()
const c = c8.getOperateApiClient()

const process = await PollingOperation({
  operation: () => c.getProcessInstance(p.processInstanceKey),
  predicate: (res) => res.key === p.processInstanceKey,
  interval: 500,
  timeout: 15000,
})
```
## Subscribing to queries

You can subscribe to queries using a `QuerySubscription`. This is an event emitter that emits a `data` event when new data is available. You pass a predicate function that takes a `previous` and `current` query result set. In this predicate function you can examine the two states to see whether or not to emit a data event, and also perform data-processing — for example, removing items that were emitted in the last update.

Note that this is an experimental feature and may change in future releases. We are looking for feedback on this feature, please report issues in the GitHub repo or via a JIRA ticket if you have an account with Camunda.

Here is an example of using `QuerySubscription`:

```typescript
import { Camunda8, QuerySubscription } from '@camunda8/sdk'

const c8 = new Camunda8()

const query = () =>
 c8.searchProcessInstances({
  filter: {
    processDefinitionKey: key,
    state: 'ACTIVE',
  },
  sort: [{ field: 'startDate', order: 'ASC' }],
})

const subscription = QuerySubscription({
  query,
  predicate: (previous, current) => {
    // This is the default predicate, provided here as an example
	const previousItems = (previous?.items ?? []) as Array<unknown>
	const currentItems = current.items.filter(
		(item) =>
			!previousItems.some((prevItem) => isDeepStrictEqual(prevItem, item))
	)
	if (currentItems.length > 0) {
		return {
			...current,
			items: currentItems,
			page: { ...current.page, totalItems: currentItems.length },
		}
	}
	return false // No new items, do not emit
  },
  interval: 5000,
  trackingWindow: 5, // Remember emitted items from last 5 poll cycles (default)
})

subscription.on('data', data => {
    // new process instances
})
//...
subscription.cancel() // close subscription and free resources
// You can also use subscription.pause() and subscription.resume() to pause and resume the subscription
```

**Note**:
- `QuerySubscription` uses a rolling window approach to prevent memory leaks when tracking emitted items. By default, it remembers items from the last 5 poll cycles to prevent duplicates. You can adjust this with the `trackingWindow` parameter:

```typescript
const subscription = QuerySubscription({
  query,
  predicate: myCustomPredicate,
  interval: 5000,
  trackingWindow: 10, // Remember items from the last 10 polling cycles
})
```

If you implement a custom predicate, your predicate determines what data should be emitted, and then the rolling window mechanism prevents duplicate emissions across multiple poll cycles.

**Important:** The rolling window mechanism operates by serializing each emitted item to a string and tracking it for the specified number of poll cycles. This means that if an entity changes state and then returns to a previous state within the tracking window timeframe, the second appearance in the original state might not trigger an emission. For example, if a process instance transitions from "READY" to "NOT_READY" and back to "READY" within the tracking window, the second "READY" state might not be emitted. If you need to track all state transitions regardless of previous states, consider:

1. Setting a smaller `trackingWindow` value to reduce the tracking period
2. Implementing a custom state tracking mechanism in your application
3. Including a timestamp or version field in your item identification logic

## Debugging

The SDK uses the [`debug`](https://github.com/debug-js/debug) library to help you debug specific issues. This produces verbose, low-level output from specific components to the console.

To enable debugging output, set a value for the `DEBUG` environment variable. The value is a comma-separated list of debugging namespaces. The SDK has the following namespaces:

| Value                       | Component                                 |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| `camunda:adminconsole`      | Administration API                        |
| `camunda:modeler`           | Modeler API                               |
| `camunda:operate`           | Operate API                               |
| `camunda:optimize`          | Optimize API                              |
| `camunda:tasklist`          | Tasklist API                              |
| `camunda:oauth`             | OAuth Token Exchange                      |
| `camunda:querySubscription` | QuerySubscription debugging               |
| `camunda:grpc`              | Zeebe gRPC channel                        |
| `camunda:worker`            | Zeebe Worker                              |
| `camunda:worker:verbose`    | Zeebe Worker (additional detail)          |
| `camunda:zeebeclient`       | Zeebe Client                              |
| `camunda:orchestration-rest`              | Camunda Orchestration Cluster API Client  |

Here is an example of turning on debugging for the OAuth and Operate components:

```bash
DEBUG=camunda:oauth,camunda:operate node app.js
```

This is intended for development debugging and it should not be enabled in production. The debug trace can include sensitive information such as secrets.

## Diagnostic Trace file

You can output a diagnostic trace file to use with Camunda technical support by setting the environment variable `CAMUNDA_SUPPORT_LOG_ENABLED` to true. This will output a file `camunda-support.log` containing diagnostic information and tracing calls. This information is useful for debugging. Be aware that this log file will contain secrets such as bearer tokens, as well as exposing urls.

## Process Variable Typing

Process variables - the `variables` of Zeebe messages, jobs, and process instance creation requests and responses - are stored in the broker as key:value pairs. They are transported as a JSON string. The SDK parses the JSON string into a JavaScript object.

Various Zeebe methods accept DTO classes for variable input and output. These DTO classes are used to provide design-time type information on the `variables` object. They are also used to safely decode 64-bit integer values that cannot be accurately represented by the JavaScript `number` type.

To create a DTO to represent the expected shape and type of the `variables` object, extend the `LosslessDto` class:

```typescript
class myVariableDTO extends LosslessDto {
	firstName!: string
	lastName!: string
	age!: number
	optionalValue?: number
	@Int64String
	veryBigInteger?: string
	constructor(data: Partial<myVariableDTO>) {
		super(data)
	}
}
```

## Typing of Zeebe worker variables

The variable payload in a Zeebe worker task handler is available as an object `job.variables`. By default, this is of type `any` for the gRPC API, and `unknown` for the REST API.

The `ZBClient.createWorker()` method accepts an `inputVariableDto` to control the parsing of number values and provide design-time type information. Passing an `inputVariableDto` class to a Zeebe worker is optional. If a DTO class is passed to the Zeebe worker, it is used for two purposes:

- To provide design-time type information on the `job.variables` object.
- To specify the parsing of JSON number fields. These can potentially represent `int64` values that cannot be represented accurately by the JavaScript `number` type. With a DTO, you can specify that a specific JSON number fields be parsed losslessly to a `string` or `BigInt`.

With no DTO specified, there is no design-time type safety. At run-time, all JSON numbers are converted to the JavaScript `number` type. If a variable field has a number value that cannot be safely represented using the JavaScript number type (a value greater than 2^53 -1), an exception is thrown.

To provide a DTO, extend the `LosslessDto` class like so:

```typescript
class MyVariableDto extends LosslessDto {
	name!: string
	maybeAge?: number
	@Int64String
	veryBigNumber!: string
	@BigIntValue
	veryBigInteger!: bigint
}
```

In this case, `veryBigNumber` is an `int64` value. It is transferred as a JSON number on the wire, but the parser will parse it into a `string` so that no loss of precision occurs. Similarly, `veryBigInteger` is a very large integer value. In this case, we direct the parser to parse this variable field as a `bigint`.

You can nest DTOs like this:

```typescript
class MyLargerDto extends LosslessDto {
	id!: string
	@ChildDto(MyVariableDto)
	entry!: MyVariableDto
}
```

## Typing of custom headers

The Zeebe worker receives custom headers as `job.customHeaders`. The `ZBClient.createWorker()` method accepts a `customHeadersDto` to control the behavior of custom header parsing of number values and provide design-time type information.

This follows the same strategy as the job variables, as previously described.

## Zeebe User Tasks

From 8.5, you can use Zeebe user tasks. See the documentation on [how to migrate to Zeebe user tasks](https://docs.camunda.io/docs/apis-tools/tasklist-api-rest/migrate-to-zeebe-user-tasks/).

The SDK supports the Zeebe REST API. Be sure to set the `ZEEBE_REST_ADDRESS` either via environment variable or configuration field.

## Job Streaming

The Zeebe gRPC API supports streaming available jobs, rather than polling for them.

The ZeebeGrpcClient method `streamJobs` allows you to use this API.

When `streamJobs` is called, it first opens a stream to receive any newly created jobs, then performs an initial poll (via `activateJobs`) to pick up any jobs that were already queued before the stream was established. This "subscribe then backfill" approach ensures no jobs are missed — the stream catches anything created after it opens, the poll catches anything that existed before, and the broker's single-activation guarantee prevents duplicates.

### Sidecar polling

After the initial backfill, a low-frequency sidecar poll runs alongside the stream as a safety net. This catches edge cases the stream alone cannot handle — for example, jobs that are re-queued after a worker fails to complete them within the timeout, or jobs that arrive during a brief stream reconnect.

Each poll is a command on the broker, so the default interval is deliberately long (30 seconds) to minimise server load. The stream remains the primary delivery mechanism.

Configure the sidecar poll with:

- **`pollInterval`** — milliseconds between sidecar poll cycles. Defaults to `30000` (30 s). Set to `0` or `-1` to disable recurring polling entirely (the initial backfill poll still runs).
- **`pollMaxJobsToActivate`** — maximum jobs per poll cycle (both initial and recurring). Defaults to `32`.

You can optionally pass a `jitter` parameter (in milliseconds) to delay the start by a random period up to that value. This is useful when starting multiple stream workers simultaneously, to avoid saturating the gateway at application startup.

Example:

```typescript
client.streamJobs({
	type: 'payment-service',
	worker: 'my-worker',
	timeout: 30000,
	tenantIds: ['<default>'],
	taskHandler: async (job) => {
		// business logic
		return job.complete()
	},
	// Optional: stagger startup across workers
	jitter: 2000,
	// Optional: control poll batch size (default: 32)
	pollMaxJobsToActivate: 64,
	// Optional: sidecar poll every 60 s instead of the default 30 s
	pollInterval: 60_000,
})
```

## Multi-tenant workers

Workers, both polling and streaming, can be multi-tenanted, requesting jobs from more than one tenant.

Example:

```typescript
client.createWorker({
	taskHandler: (job) => {
		console.log(job.tenantId) // '<default>' | 'green'
		return job.complete()
	},
	taskType: 'multi-tenant-work',
	tenantIds: ['<default>', 'green'],
})

client.streamJobs({
	taskHandler: async (job) => {
		console.log(job.tenantId) // '<default>' | 'green'
		return job.complete()
	},
	type: 'multi-tenant-stream-work',
	tenantIds: ['<default>', 'green'],
	worker: 'stream-worker',
	timeout: 2000,
})
```

## Polling worker backoff in error conditions

When a polling worker encounters an error, including not being authenticated, the worker will back off subsequent polls by +2 seconds with each subsequent failure, up to a maximum of `CAMUNDA_JOB_WORKER_MAX_BACKOFF_MS`, which is 15000 by default (15 seconds). If the failure is due to invalid credentials and occurs during the token request, then the worker backoff will be compounded with a token endpoint backoff, which is +1000ms for each subsequent failure up to a maximum of 15s.

This means that if you start a worker with invalid credentials, then the polling backoff will look like this, by default (times in seconds): 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 30, 30...

If the worker is backing off for a reason other than invalid credentials - for example a backpressure signal from the gateway - it will be: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 15, 15.....

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