Start a Run - Upstash Documentation

You’ve defined your workflow, and the final step is to trigger the endpoint!

There are two main ways to start your workflow:

Using `client.trigger` (Recommended)

We recommend using client.trigger to start your workflow.

Single Workflow

import { Client } from "@upstash/workflow";const client = new Client({ token: "<QSTASH_TOKEN>" })const { workflowRunId } = await client.trigger({  url: "https://<YOUR_WORKFLOW_ENDPOINT>/<YOUR-WORKFLOW-ROUTE>",  body: "hello there!",         // optional body  headers: { ... },             // optional headers  workflowRunId: "my-workflow", // optional workflow run id  retries: 3                    // optional retries in the initial request  delay: "10s"                  // optional delay value  failureUrl: "https://<YOUR_FAILURE_URL>", // optional failure url  flowControl: { ... }          // optional flow control})console.log(workflowRunId)// prints wfr_my-workflow

Multiple Workflows

import { Client } from "@upstash/workflow";const client = new Client({ token: "<QSTASH_TOKEN>" })const results = await client.trigger([  {    url: "<YOUR_WORKFLOW_ENDPOINT>",    // other options...  },  {    url: "<YOUR_WORKFLOW_ENDPOINT>",    // other options...  },])console.log(results[0].workflowRunId)// prints wfr_my-workflow

2. Sending an HTTP Request

This approach is recommended for quick testing via curl during development.

You should NOT start the workflow run in production by direct calls to your endpoint.

curl -X POST https://<YOUR_WORKFLOW_ENDPOINT>/<YOUR-WORKFLOW-ROUTE> \   -H "my-header: foo" \   -d '{"foo": "bar"}'

If you’ve secured your endpoint with signing keys, only the trigger method will work. Direct calls to the endpoint (e.g., via curl or fetch) will not be possible since Upstash-Signature header is missing.

For more information, read Secure a workflow documentation.