v4.5.0

## Upgrade

```sh
npx trigger.dev@latest update  # npm
pnpm dlx trigger.dev@latest update  # pnpm
yarn dlx trigger.dev@latest update  # yarn
bunx trigger.dev@latest update  # bun
```

Self-hosted Docker image: [`ghcr.io/triggerdotdev/trigger.dev:v4.5.0`](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/trigger.dev/pkgs/container/trigger.dev/994321050?tag=v4.5.0)

## Release notes

Read the full release notes: https://trigger.dev/changelog/v4-5-0

## What's changed

## AI Agents (`chat.agent`)

Run Vercel AI SDK chat completions as durable Trigger.dev tasks instead of fragile API routes. A conversation runs as one long-lived task keyed on `chatId`, so it survives page refreshes, network blips, redeploys, and crashes, and every turn is a span in the dashboard.

```ts
import { chat } from "@trigger.dev/sdk/ai";
import { streamText, stepCountIs } from "ai";
import { anthropic } from "@ai-sdk/anthropic";

export const myChat = chat.agent({
  id: "my-chat",
  run: async ({ messages, signal }) => {
    return streamText({
      ...chat.toStreamTextOptions(), // system prompt, compaction, steering, telemetry
      model: anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5"),
      messages,
      abortSignal: signal,
      stopWhen: stepCountIs(15),
    });
  },
});
```

## Sessions

The durable primitive underneath `chat.agent`, usable on its own: a run-aware, bidirectional stream channel keyed on a stable `externalId` whose `.in` / `.out` streams survive run boundaries (suspend, crash, idle-timeout, redeploy). One Session spans many runs, which makes it a good fit for agent inboxes and approval flows.

```ts
import { sessions } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

// Create the session and trigger its first run (idempotent on externalId)
await sessions.start({
  type: "inbox",
  externalId: userId,
  taskIdentifier: "inbox-agent",
});

const session = sessions.open(userId);
await session.in.send({ text: "hello" });

const stream = await session.out.read({ signal: AbortSignal.timeout(30_000) });
for await (const chunk of stream) console.log(chunk); // durable across run swaps
```

## AI Prompts

Define prompt templates as code, versioned on every deploy, and override the text or model from the dashboard without redeploying (environment-scoped). Each generation links back to its prompt version for usage, cost, and latency.

```ts
import { prompts } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";
import { z } from "zod";

export const supportPrompt = prompts.define({
  id: "customer-support",
  model: "gpt-4o",
  variables: z.object({ customerName: z.string(), issue: z.string() }),
  content: `You are a support agent for Acme.
Customer: {{customerName}}
Issue: {{issue}}`,
});

// Honors any active dashboard override, else the current deployed version
const resolved = await supportPrompt.resolve({ customerName: "Alice", issue: "Can't log in" });
// resolved.text, resolved.model, resolved.version
```

## `useChat` integration

`useTriggerChatTransport` is a Vercel AI SDK `ChatTransport` that runs `useChat` over Trigger.dev realtime with no API routes. Text, tool calls, reasoning, and `data-*` parts stream natively, and it works with AI SDK v5, v6, and now v7.

## First-turn fast path (`chat.headStart`)

Runs the first turn in your warm server process while the agent boots in parallel, cutting cold-start time-to-first-chunk roughly in half (measured ~2.8s to ~1.2s). Available via the new `@trigger.dev/sdk/chat-server` subpath.

## Human-in-the-loop, stop, and steering

The agent control surface: tool approvals (`needsApproval` + `addToolApprovalResponse`), client-driven stop-generation, mid-execution steering (`pendingMessages`), and between-turn context injection (`chat.inject` / `chat.defer`), all durable across the conversation.

## Agent Skills

`skills.define({ id, path })` bundles a `SKILL.md` folder into your deploy image. The agent gets a one-line summary up front and loads the full instructions plus scoped `bash` / `readFile` tools on demand (progressive disclosure), so a capability is something the model reaches for rather than a pre-declared typed tool.

## `trigger skills` for coding assistants

`trigger skills` installs version-pinned Trigger.dev skills plus a bundled docs snapshot into Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Codex, so your assistant's Trigger.dev knowledge stays current with your installed SDK version. `trigger init` now offers to set up the MCP server and skills too.

## Model library

A new Models page in the dashboard: a catalog of models grouped by provider with context window, capabilities, and input / output pricing per 1M tokens, plus a "Your models" tab showing per-model usage, cost, and cache-hit sparklines from your actual traffic.

## Dev branches

Run multiple local `trigger dev` sessions in parallel (separate git worktrees or coding agents) without runs colliding, each isolated with its own dashboard, via `trigger dev --branch <name>`.

## `TriggerClient`

An instantiable client so one process can trigger and read across projects, environments, and preview branches, each with its own auth and baseURL, with no shared global state.

```ts
import { TriggerClient } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

const prod = new TriggerClient({ accessToken: process.env.TRIGGER_PROD_KEY });
const preview = new TriggerClient({
  accessToken: process.env.TRIGGER_PREVIEW_KEY,
  previewBranch: "signup-flow",
});

await prod.tasks.trigger("send-email", { to: "user@example.com" });
await preview.runs.list({ status: ["COMPLETED"] });
```

## SDK and runtime

- AI SDK 7 support (v5 and v6 still supported), with OpenTelemetry telemetry auto-wired
- Large trigger-payload offload: trigger payloads at or above 128KB upload to object storage automatically, using the same auth and baseURL as the trigger call
- Region support on the runs API: filter runs by region and read each run's executing region (also on MCP `list_runs`)
- Duplicate task-id detection: `dev` and `deploy` fail with a clear error instead of silently overwriting
- `envvars.upload` gains an `isSecret` flag to import redacted secret variables
- Retry hardening: `TASK_MIDDLEWARE_ERROR` now retries under the task's retry policy

## All packages: v4.5.0

@trigger.dev/build, @trigger.dev/core, @trigger.dev/python, @trigger.dev/react-hooks, @trigger.dev/redis-worker, @trigger.dev/rsc, @trigger.dev/schema-to-json, @trigger.dev/sdk, trigger.dev

**Full changelog**: https://github.com/triggerdotdev/trigger.dev/compare/v4.4.0...v4.5.0