Schedule and run recurring workflows with the Recurrence trigger in Azure Logic Apps

Applies to: Azure Logic Apps (Consumption + Standard)

To start and run your workflow on a schedule, you can use the generic Recurrence trigger as the first step. You can set a date, time, and time zone for starting the workflow and a recurrence for repeating that workflow. The following list includes some patterns that this trigger supports along with more advanced recurrences and complex schedules:

• Run at a specific date and time, then repeat every n number of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months.

• Run immediately and repeat every n number of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months.

• Run immediately and repeat daily at one or more specific times, such as 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM.

• Run immediately and repeat weekly on specific days, such as Saturday and Sunday.

• Run immediately and repeat weekly on specific days and times, such as Monday through Friday at 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM.

The Recurrence trigger isn't associated with any specific service, so you can use the trigger with almost any workflow, such as Consumption logic app workflows and Standard logic app stateful workflows. This trigger is currently unavailable for Standard logic app stateless workflows.

The Recurrence trigger is part of the built-in Schedule connector and runs natively on the Azure Logic Apps runtime. For more information about the built-in Schedule triggers and actions, see Schedule and run recurring automated, tasks, and workflows with Azure Logic Apps.

Prerequisites

• An Azure account and subscription. If you don't have a subscription, sign up for a trial Azure subscription.

• A Consumption or Standard logic app resource with a blank workflow.

  Note

  If you created a Standard logic app workflow, make sure to create a stateful workflow. The Recurrence trigger is currently unavailable for stateless workflows.

Add the Recurrence trigger

Based on whether your workflow is Consumption or Standard, follow the corresponding steps:

Workflow definition - Recurrence

You can view how the Recurrence trigger definition appears with your chosen options by reviewing the underlying JSON definition for your workflow in Consumption logic apps and Standard logic apps (stateful only).

Based on whether your logic app is Consumption or Standard, choose one of the following options:

• Consumption: On the designer toolbar, select Code view. To return to the designer, on the code view editor toolbar, select Designer.

• Standard: On the workflow menu, select Code view. To return to the designer, on the workflow menu, select Designer.

The following example shows how a Recurrence trigger definition might appear in the workflow's underlying JSON definition:

"triggers": {
   "Recurrence": {
      "type": "Recurrence",
      "recurrence": {
         "frequency": "Week",
         "interval": 1,
         "schedule": {
            "hours": [
               10,
               12,
               14
            ],
            "minutes": [
               30
            ],
            "weekDays": [
               "Monday"
            ]
         },
         "startTime": "2020-09-07T14:00:00Z",
         "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
      }
   }
}

The following example shows how to update the trigger definition so that the trigger runs only once on the last day of each month:

"triggers": {
    "Recurrence": {
        "recurrence": {
            "frequency": "Month",
            "interval": 1,
            "schedule": {
                "monthDays": [-1]
            }
        },
        "type": "Recurrence"
    }
}

Run one time only

To run your workflow only at one time in the future, you can apply the Scheduler: Run once jobs workflow template, which is available only for Consumption logic app workflows. This template uses the Request trigger and HTTP action, rather than the Recurrence trigger, which doesn't support this recurrence pattern.

1. In the Azure portal, create a Consumption logic app.

2. In the designer, open the blank workflow. On the designer toolbar, select Enable Legacy Designer.

3. On the designer toolbar, select Templates.

4. On the page that opens, scroll past the video to the Templates section.

5. From the Category list, select Schedule, and then select the following template:

   

6. On the designer toolbar, select Generally Available Designer.

7. Follow these general steps to add the Schedule action named Delay until, and provide the time for when the next action starts running.

Or, you can start your workflow with the Request trigger named When a HTTP request is received, and pass the start time as a parameter for the trigger.

Run one time on last day of the month

For this task, you have to edit the Recurrence trigger in the workflow's underlying JSON definition using code view, not the designer, by using the following example:

"triggers": {
    "Recurrence": {
        "recurrence": {
            "frequency": "Month",
            "interval": 1,
            "schedule": {
                "monthDays": [-1]
            }
        },
        "type": "Recurrence"
    }
}

Trigger recurrence shift and drift

To schedule jobs, Azure Logic Apps puts the message for processing into the queue and specifies when that message becomes available, based on the UTC time when the last job ran and the UTC time when the next job is scheduled to run. If you specify a start time with your recurrence, make sure that you select a time zone so that your logic app workflow runs at the specified start time. Recurring triggers honor the schedule that you set, including any time zone that you specify.

Otherwise, if you don't select a time zone, the schedule events might affect when triggers run. However, some time windows might cause problems when the time shifts. For more information and examples, see Recurrence for daylight saving time and standard time.

Next steps

• Pause workflows with delay actions
• Managed connectors for Azure Logic Apps
• Built-in connectors for Azure Logic Apps