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title: Task Groups - EasyTask Documentation description: Learn how to create and manage task groups in EasyTask with shared scheduling, dependencies between groups, and coordinated task execution. keywords: - easytask task groups - easytask - task dependencies - group scheduling - task orchestration - workflow automation

📦 Introduction to Task Group

📄 What is a Task Group?

A Task Group is a logical collection of tasks organized under shared configurations. It allows you to group multiple tasks, define execution dependencies, and control their execution order. You can also set dependencies between groups, where one group becomes eligible to run based on the completion or status of another.

Tasks that are not part of any group are treated as single tasks and operate independently.

Important

⚠️ Tasks within a group can only depend on tasks inside the same group — they cannot reference tasks from another group.

💾 Sample Task Group JSON

{
  "gid": 3000003,
  "name": "TG3",
  "day_of_week": "1111111",
  "trigger_times": "11:15",
  "description": "Run an ls command",
  "timezone": "US/Eastern",
  "dependency": "(S:TG1) and (S:TG2)",
  "active": true,
  "instance": "default"
}

🗂️ Task Group Definition

Field Type Mandatory Description Examples
name String Yes Group name "TG1"
description String Yes Group description "Daily tasks group"
day_of_week String Yes 7-digit binary for weekdays (Mon-Sun) "1111100"
run_day_of_week Boolean Yes Run on working days true
trigger_times String Yes Execution times "14:52, 05:51"
timezone String Yes Local timezone "US/Eastern"
active Boolean Yes Group active status true
dependency String No Dependency on other groups "(S:TG1) and (S:TG2)"
🚫 run_on_host — Cannot Have ❌ Invalid in task groups —
🚫 run_as_user — Cannot Have ❌ Invalid in task groups —
🚫 profile — Cannot Have ❌ Invalid in task groups —
🚫 max_run_time — Cannot Have ❌ Invalid in task groups —

📅 Understanding day_of_week Format

The day_of_week field uses a 7-digit binary string to specify which days of the week a task group should run.

Format Structure

Position:  1    2    3    4    5    6    7
Day:       Mon  Tue  Wed  Thu  Fri  Sat  Sun
Binary:    1    1    1    1    1    0    0
  • 1 = Run on this day
  • 0 = Do not run on this day
  • Position 1 = Monday (first day)
  • Position 7 = Sunday (last day)

Common Examples

Binary String Days Selected Description
"1111111" Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu-Fri-Sat-Sun Every day
"1111100" Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu-Fri Weekdays only (Monday-Friday)
"0000011" Sat-Sun Weekends only
"1000000" Mon Mondays only
"0100000" Tue Tuesdays only
"0010000" Wed Wednesdays only
"0001000" Thu Thursdays only
"0000100" Fri Fridays only
"0000010" Sat Saturdays only
"0000001" Sun Sundays only
"1111000" Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu First 4 days of week
"0111110" Tue-Wed-Thu-Fri Mid-week (Tuesday-Thursday)
"1010101" Mon-Wed-Fri-Sun Alternate days

Important Notes

Day Order

The binary string always starts with Monday as position 1 and ends with Sunday as position 7. This order is fixed and cannot be changed.

Common Mistakes

  • ❌ Don't use "0111110" thinking it means Monday-Friday (it actually means Tuesday-Saturday)
  • ❌ Don't reverse the order (Sunday-Saturday)
  • ✅ Always use Monday-Sunday order: "1111100" for weekdays

Practical Examples

Business Hours Task Group (Weekdays Only)

{
  "name": "business_hours_group",
  "day_of_week": "1111100",  // Monday-Friday only
  "trigger_times": "09:00, 13:00, 17:00",
  "timezone": "US/Eastern"
}

Weekend Maintenance Group

{
  "name": "weekend_maintenance",
  "day_of_week": "0000011",  // Saturday-Sunday only
  "trigger_times": "02:00",
  "timezone": "US/Eastern"
}

Mid-Week Processing Group

{
  "name": "mid_week_reports",
  "day_of_week": "0011110",  // Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
  "trigger_times": "10:00",
  "timezone": "US/Eastern"
}

🛠️ Task Part of a Group

Field Type Mandatory Description Examples
id Integer Yes Unique task ID 200001
name String Yes Task name "run_ls_task"
task_owner String Yes Owner of the task "admin"
cmd String Yes Command to run "ls -a"
run_on_host String Yes Host where the task runs "12.18.28.91"
run_as_user String Yes User executing the task "evolveadmin"
description String Yes Task description "Run an ls command"
active Boolean Yes Task active status true
stdout String Yes Path for standard output "/tmp/ls.out"
stderr String Yes Path for standard error "/tmp/ls.err"
retry_attempts Integer No Number of retry attempts on failure —
profile String No Path to task profile "~/.profile"
calendar Integer No Calendar information —
max_run_time Integer No Maximum runtime (max 82800 sec) 3600
🚫 day_of_week — Cannot Have ❌ Invalid in tasks —
🚫 run_day_of_week — Cannot Have ❌ Invalid in tasks —
🚫 trigger_times — Cannot Have ❌ Invalid in tasks —

📌 Dependency Format

{
  "dependency": "(S:TG1) and (S:TG2)"
}

This means the group only runs if TG1 and TG2 complete with a SUCCESS state.

📊 Dependency Diagram

graph TD
    TG1[Task Group TG1]
    TG2[Task Group TG2]
    TG3[Task Group TG3]
    TG1 --> TG3
    TG2 --> TG3

✅ Expression Syntax

  • Format: (STATE:TASK_GROUP_NAME)
  • Operators: and, or, ()

🔁 Task States

Code State Description
I IDLE Inactive task
P PASSIVE Waiting to activate
A ACTIVE Ready but not running
Z TRIGGER Marked for triggering
D STARTED Beginning execution
R RUNNING In progress
E REJECTED Rejected, won’t run
F FAILED Execution failed
S SUCCESS Completed successfully
G RESTARTING Restarting process
T TERMINATED Manually stopped
O FREEZE Paused
U UNFREEZE Resumed from freeze

🔒 Integrity Requirements

  • All referenced task names must exist.
  • Invalid task names or states will block dependency resolution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can tasks in one group depend on tasks in another group? No. Tasks within a group can only depend on other tasks in the same group. However, groups themselves can depend on other groups using the dependency field.

Why can't I use run_frequency for task groups? Task groups only support trigger_times for scheduling. This ensures deterministic execution order when managing dependencies between tasks within the group.

Do tasks in a group inherit scheduling from the parent group? Yes. Tasks in a group cannot define their own day_of_week, trigger_times, timezone, or ordinal_day — these are all inherited from the parent task group definition.

Next Steps