Inngest is an open-source durable workflow engine for building reliable applications. It provides event-driven functions with automatic retries, scheduling, fan-out, and a built-in dashboard for monitoring and debugging.

Services

inngest: Inngest server with API, Dashboard, and Connect WebSocket gateway (ports 8288, 8289)
postgres: PostgreSQL database for persistence
redis: Redis for queue and run state management

Quick Start

# Copy environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Start all services
docker compose up -d

After startup, access the Inngest Dashboard at http://localhost:8288.

Environment Variables

Variable Name	Description	Default Value
`GLOBAL_REGISTRY`	Global registry prefix for all images	`""`
`INNGEST_VERSION`	Inngest image version	`v1.16.3`
`INNGEST_EVENT_KEY`	Event key for authenticating event submissions (hex)	`deadbeef...`
`INNGEST_SIGNING_KEY`	Signing key for server-app communication (hex)	`01234567...`
`INNGEST_LOG_LEVEL`	Log level (trace, debug, info, warn, error)	`info`
`INNGEST_PORT_OVERRIDE`	Host port for API and Dashboard	`8288`
`INNGEST_GATEWAY_PORT_OVERRIDE`	Host port for Connect WebSocket gateway	`8289`
`INNGEST_PG_VERSION`	PostgreSQL image version	`17.6-alpine`
`INNGEST_PG_USER`	PostgreSQL username	`inngest`
`INNGEST_PG_PASSWORD`	PostgreSQL password	`inngest`
`INNGEST_PG_DB`	PostgreSQL database name	`inngest`
`INNGEST_REDIS_VERSION`	Redis image version	`7.4-alpine`
`TZ`	Timezone	`UTC`
`INNGEST_CPU_LIMIT`	CPU limit for Inngest	`1.00`
`INNGEST_CPU_RESERVATION`	CPU reservation for Inngest	`0.50`
`INNGEST_MEMORY_LIMIT`	Memory limit for Inngest	`512M`
`INNGEST_MEMORY_RESERVATION`	Memory reservation for Inngest	`256M`
`INNGEST_PG_CPU_LIMIT`	CPU limit for PostgreSQL	`0.50`
`INNGEST_PG_CPU_RESERVATION`	CPU reservation for PostgreSQL	`0.25`
`INNGEST_PG_MEMORY_LIMIT`	Memory limit for PostgreSQL	`256M`
`INNGEST_PG_MEMORY_RESERVATION`	Memory reservation for PostgreSQL	`128M`
`INNGEST_REDIS_CPU_LIMIT`	CPU limit for Redis	`0.50`
`INNGEST_REDIS_CPU_RESERVATION`	CPU reservation for Redis	`0.25`
`INNGEST_REDIS_MEMORY_LIMIT`	Memory limit for Redis	`128M`
`INNGEST_REDIS_MEMORY_RESERVATION`	Memory reservation for Redis	`64M`

Please modify the .env file as needed for your use case.

Volumes

inngest_pg_data: Named volume for PostgreSQL data
inngest_redis_data: Named volume for Redis data

Configuring Inngest SDKs

To connect your application to a self-hosted Inngest server, set the following environment variables in your app:

INNGEST_EVENT_KEY=<your_event_key>
INNGEST_SIGNING_KEY=<your_signing_key>
INNGEST_DEV=0
INNGEST_BASE_URL=http://<inngest_host>:8288

For example, with a Node.js app:

INNGEST_EVENT_KEY=deadbeefcafebabe0123456789abcdef \
INNGEST_SIGNING_KEY=0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef \
INNGEST_DEV=0 \
INNGEST_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8288 \
node ./server.js

Security Notes

Change default keys before production use. The event key and signing key must be valid hex strings with an even number of characters. Generate secure keys with openssl rand -hex 32.
Change the default PostgreSQL password in .env before production deployment.
The Inngest image supports both amd64 and arm64 architectures.
Consider using TLS/SSL termination (e.g., via a reverse proxy) for production deployments.

References

License

Inngest is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0 (ELv2) with some components under Apache-2.0.