> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.specific.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Temporal

> Managed Temporal workflow engines for durable workflows and background tasks.

Define managed [Temporal](https://temporal.io) workflow engines for durable workflows, background tasks, AI agents, batch jobs, and more.

<Note>
  To simply run a command on a schedule, prefer the built-in [`cron`](/guides/crons) block. Each run is a one-off job, so there's no persistent worker to keep running. Reach for Temporal's own schedule support when you need complex or long-running scheduled workflows (durable, multi-step, with retries), or when you already run a Temporal worker.
</Note>

Temporal has SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go, Java, .NET, and PHP. See the [Temporal documentation](https://docs.temporal.io/) for language-specific guides on workers, workflows, and activities. This page covers the Specific integration.

## Configuration

Define a `temporal` block and reference it from services:

```hcl specific.hcl theme={null}
temporal "tasks" {}

build "app" {
  base = "node"
}

service "worker" {
  build   = build.app
  command = "node worker.js"

  env = {
    TEMPORAL_ADDRESS   = temporal.tasks.url
    TEMPORAL_NAMESPACE = temporal.tasks.namespace
    TEMPORAL_API_KEY   = temporal.tasks.api_key
  }

  dev {
    command = "node --watch worker.js"
  }
}
```

## Reference attributes

| Attribute                   | Description                         | Dev value                    | Production value            |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| `temporal.<name>.url`       | gRPC address of the Temporal server | `localhost:<port>`           | Temporal Cloud gRPC address |
| `temporal.<name>.namespace` | Temporal namespace                  | `default`                    | Managed namespace ID        |
| `temporal.<name>.api_key`   | API key for authentication          | `""` (empty, no auth in dev) | Auto-generated API key      |

These can be used in service `env` blocks, both standalone and inside interpolated strings.

## Local development

Running `specific dev` automatically:

1. Downloads the Temporal CLI (first run only).
2. Starts a Temporal dev server with persistent storage.
3. Makes the Temporal Web UI available in the [local dashboard](/concepts/dashboard#the-local-dashboard) sidebar under **Workflows**.

Workflow data persists across dev server restarts in a SQLite database under `.specific/keys/<key>/data/`.

The `api_key` attribute is an empty string in dev since the Temporal dev server doesn't require authentication. This is safe: Temporal SDKs apply authentication only when a non-empty key is provided.

## Production

Running `specific deploy` automatically provisions a managed [Temporal Cloud](https://temporal.io/cloud) namespace for each `temporal` block, with no manual setup:

1. A dedicated Temporal Cloud namespace is created.
2. A service account with write access is provisioned.
3. An API key is generated for authentication.
4. Credentials are securely injected into your services.

The same references resolve to the Temporal Cloud values in production, so no environment-specific overrides are needed.