Job Types

Understanding Job Types

Jobs can be either BATCH or PERSISTENT.

BATCH Job:

• Lifecycle: Runs until completion or timeout; automatically terminates.
• Configuration: Requires a valid max_timeout_run_ms value.
• Interaction: Non-interactive; operates solely on initial input arguments.
• Billing: Charged only for actual execution time.
• Best For: Rendering, data processing, or any finite task.

PERSISTENT Job:

• Lifecycle: Runs indefinitely until explicitly stopped by the user.
• Configuration: Requires max_timeout_run_ms to be set to null.
• Interaction: High; supports query-responsive servers and live developer/artist tools.
• Billing: Charged continuously on an hourly basis.
• Best For: SSH access, development environments, or long-running services.

Both job types support the max_timeout_start_ms. This property defines how long the system will wait for the job to initialize before declaring a failure. If a job does not successfully start within this window, it will fail automatically.

When setting the max_timeout_start_msvalue, you must account for image download time. Large container images or custom environment setups require a higher max_timeout_start_ms to prevent the system from timing out and killing the job before it even begins running.

BATCH Jobs

BATCH jobs run until completion or timeout. They are strictly non-interactive, “set-and-forget” workflows. They accept initial input parameters at launch, run independently in the background to process data or render assets, and automatically terminate upon completing the task or hitting a predefined time limit

Property	Value
task	BATCH
max_timeout_run_ms	Required — maximum runtime in milliseconds
Billing	Charged for actual execution time
Use cases	Rendering, data processing, inference tasks

The job automatically stops when:

• Your container exits
• The timeout is reached

{
  "task": "BATCH",
  "max_timeout_run_ms": 3600000,
  "title": "Render Scene"
}

PERSISTENT Jobs

PERSISTENT jobs run indefinitely until you stop them. It is best suited for long-running servers that handle incoming queries, as well as interactive applications where developers and artists require real-time responsiveness.

Property	Value
task	PERSISTENT
max_timeout_run_ms	Must be null
Billing	Charged hourly until stopped
Use cases	SSH access, dev environments, long-running services

Remember to stop PERSISTENT jobs when finished. They continue billing until explicitly cancelled.

{
  "task": "PERSISTENT",
  "max_timeout_run_ms": null,
  "title": "SSH Development Environment"
}