Kmpworkmanager
KMP WorkManager - Unified API for scheduling and managing background tasks—one‑off, periodic, exact and chained jobs—featuring advanced triggers, structured logging, event‑driven completion, demo UI and docs.
**Background task scheduling for Kotlin Multiplatform — including the parts iOS makes hard.** The project is written primarily in Kotlin, distributed under the Apache License 2.0 license, first published in 2026. Key topics include: alarmmanager, backgound-sync, background-app-refresh, background-fetch, background-jobs.
KMP WorkManager
Background task scheduling for Kotlin Multiplatform — including the parts iOS makes hard.
</div>Installation
kotlin// build.gradle.kts commonMain.dependencies { implementation("dev.brewkits:kmpworkmanager:3.0.0") // core engine (no Ktor) // Optional — only if you use the built-in HTTP workers (Http*/ParallelHttp*). implementation("dev.brewkits:kmpworkmanager-http:3.0.0") // Ktor 3 HTTP workers }
<details> <summary><b>Android setup</b></summary>Ktor 3 required only for
kmpworkmanager-http(since v3.0.0). The core artifact no
longer depends on Ktor at all. The HTTP workers live inkmpworkmanager-http, which needs
Ktor 3.1.x. Because Ktor 2 and Ktor 3 share the same Maven coordinates and are
binary-incompatible, an app still on Ktor 2 cannot mix them — if your project is not yet on
Ktor 3, pindev.brewkits:kmpworkmanager:2.5.1until you migrate. See
docs/MIGRATION_V3.0.0.md.
</details> <details> <summary><b>iOS setup</b></summary>kotlinclass MyApplication : Application() { override fun onCreate() { super.onCreate() KmpWorkManager.initialize( context = this, workerFactory = AppWorkerFactory() // Must implement AndroidWorkerFactory ) } }
1. AppDelegate:
swift@main class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate { override init() { super.init() // IOSModuleKt.iosModule calls kmpWorkerModule(workerFactory = IosWorkerFactoryGenerated()) KoinInitializerKt.doInitKoin(platformModule: IOSModuleKt.iosModule) } func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool { let koin = KoinIOS() BGTaskScheduler.shared.register( forTaskWithIdentifier: "kmp_chain_executor_task", using: nil ) { task in IosBackgroundTaskHandler.shared.handleChainExecutorTask( task: task, chainExecutor: koin.getChainExecutor() ) } return true } }
2. Info.plist:
xml<key>BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers</key> <array> <string>kmp_chain_executor_task</string> <!-- Add other worker bgTaskIds here --> </array>
Full setup: docs/platform-setup.md
</details>Quick start
Schedule a task
kotlin// One-time — runs as soon as constraints are met scheduler.enqueue( id = "nightly-sync", trigger = TaskTrigger.OneTime(initialDelayMs = 0), workerClassName = "SyncWorker", constraints = Constraints(requiresNetwork = true) ) // Periodic — every 15 minutes scheduler.enqueue( id = "heartbeat", trigger = TaskTrigger.Periodic(intervalMs = 15 * 60 * 1000L), workerClassName = "SyncWorker" )
Define a worker
You can implement background logic in your commonMain code, but KMP WorkManager expects platform-specific factory registration. We recommend using kmpworker-ksp to auto-generate this boilerplate.
kotlin// commonMain — shared logic class SyncWorker : Worker { override suspend fun doWork(input: String?, env: WorkerEnvironment): WorkerResult { val items = api.fetchPendingItems() database.upsert(items) return WorkerResult.Success("Synced ${items.size} items") } }
kotlin// androidMain import dev.brewkits.kmpworkmanager.annotations.Worker @Worker(name = "SyncWorker") class SyncWorkerAndroid : AndroidWorker { override suspend fun doWork(input: String?, env: WorkerEnvironment) = SyncWorker().doWork(input, env) } // iosMain import dev.brewkits.kmpworkmanager.annotations.Worker @Worker(name = "SyncWorker", bgTaskId = "sync_task") class SyncWorkerIos : IosWorker { override suspend fun doWork(input: String?, env: WorkerEnvironment) = SyncWorker().doWork(input, env) }
The name argument must match the workerClassName you pass to scheduler.enqueue(...) ("SyncWorker" above). Set it explicitly so ProGuard/R8 rename of the wrapper class doesn't break factory lookup.
Note: Use AndroidWorkerFactoryGenerated() and IosWorkerFactoryGenerated() in your DI/Initialization if you use KSP. Otherwise, manually implement AndroidWorkerFactory and IosWorkerFactory.
Chain tasks
kotlin// Multi-step workflows that survive process death. // If step 47 of 100 was running when iOS killed the app — // the next BGTask invocation resumes at step 47, not step 0. scheduler.beginWith(TaskRequest("DownloadWorker", inputJson = """{"url":"$fileUrl"}""")) .then(TaskRequest("ValidateWorker")) .then(TaskRequest("TranscodeWorker")) .then(TaskRequest("UploadWorker", inputJson = """{"bucket":"processed"}""")) .withId("transcode-pipeline", policy = ExistingPolicy.KEEP) .enqueue()
Why KMP WorkManager?
Most KMP libraries wrap the happy path — iOS BGTaskScheduler is not just "a different API."
It has a credit system that punishes apps overrunning their time budget, an opaque scheduling policy,
and no recovery mechanism for incomplete work. Getting it wrong means your tasks silently stop running.
| Android | iOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | Deterministic via WorkManager | Opportunistic — OS decides when |
| Exact timing | ✅ AlarmManager | ⚠️ Best-effort |
| Chain recovery | ✅ WorkContinuation | ✅ Step-level persistence |
| Time budget enforcement | — | ✅ Adaptive (reserves 15–30% safety margin) |
| Queue integrity | ✅ | ✅ CRC32-verified binary format |
| Thread-safe expiry | ✅ | ✅ AtomicInt shutdown flag |
Triggers
| Trigger | Android | iOS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
OneTime(delayMs) | WorkManager | BGTaskScheduler | Minimum delay may be enforced by OS |
Periodic(intervalMs) | WorkManager | BGTaskScheduler | Min 15 min on both platforms |
Exact(epochMs) | AlarmManager | Best-effort | iOS cannot guarantee exact timing |
Windowed(earliest, latest) | WorkManager with delay | BGTaskScheduler | Preferred over Exact on iOS |
ContentUri(uri) | WorkManager ContentUriTrigger | — | Android only |
What's new in v3.0.0
Ktor 3 support (Issue #33). The HTTP layer now targets Ktor 3.1.x.
- ⚠️ Breaking — requires Ktor 3. Ktor 2 and Ktor 3 share the same Maven coordinates
and are binary-incompatible, so a single app classpath can hold only one of them. Apps
still on Ktor 2 should stay on2.5.1until they migrate to Ktor 3. - ⚠️ Breaking — HTTP workers moved to
kmpworkmanager-http. The core artifact no
longer depends on Ktor. If you use the built-inHttp*/ParallelHttp*workers, add
implementation("dev.brewkits:kmpworkmanager-http:3.0.0")and register
HttpWorkerRegistry. Worker names/config unchanged; see the migration guide. - EOF handling fix — Ktor 3 moved its IO layer to
kotlinx-io, where
ByteReadChannel.readAvailable()returns-1at end-of-stream (Ktor 2 returned0).
The built-inHttpDownloadWorker/ParallelHttpDownloadWorkerread loops now honor
this, preventing a potential spin / stale-buffer read at EOF. - No public API changes beyond the Ktor version itself — worker constructors, configs,
andHttpClientProviderare unchanged.
Upgrade notes: docs/MIGRATION_V3.0.0.md.
What's new in v2.5.0
v2.5.0 is a hardening release driven by a production architecture review for camera-app workloads. Highlights:
- Parallel HTTP download/upload workers —
ParallelHttpDownloadWorkersplits one
file into N HTTPRangechunks (default 4, up to 16) with per-chunk.partNresume;
ParallelHttpUploadWorkerruns one POST per file under amaxConcurrentsemaphore. - Checksum verification for
HttpDownloadWorker—expectedChecksum+
ChecksumAlgorithm(MD5 / SHA-1 / SHA-256 / SHA-512) via Okio'sHashingSource. - DuplicatePolicy on
HttpDownloadConfig—OVERWRITE(default, preserves
pre-v2.5 behaviour),SKIP(return Success without network),RENAME(append_1,
_2, … to the stem). - iOS background URLSession download —
IosBackgroundDownloadWorkersurvives
full app termination; persisted state store ensures cold-launch completion events
are delivered to the rightsavePath(the P0 bug fixed in this release). - iOS chain retry honoring —
WorkerResult.Retry(delayMs, attemptCap)is now
honored at the chain executor level on iOS viaChainProgress.stepRetryCounts+
ChainExecutor.requestedNextBgTaskDelayMs. - Android FGS type configurable —
KmpHeavyWorker.foregroundServiceTypeis
overrideable. Companion-object aliases (FGS_DATA_SYNC,FGS_MEDIA_PROCESSING,
FGS_CAMERA, …) make camera-app workloads first-class. - Adversarial test coverage — collision proof for
PendingIntentrequest codes
(CRC32 vsString.hashCode),BroadcastReceiverlifecycle (Robolectric), iOS
per-step retry counter, backward-compat with v2.4.3-shaped JSON files, cold-launch
survival for background URLSession state. - Hard-limit docs —
docs/IOS_BGTASK_LIMITS.md,
docs/ANDROID_FGS_GUIDE.md,
docs/APPLE_APP_STORE_REVIEW_GUIDELINES.md.
Full breakdown: CHANGELOG.md. Upgrade notes for users on v2.4.x:
docs/MIGRATION_V2.5.0.md.
What's new in the v2.4.x line
iOS Dynamic Task IDs (no more Info.plist for every task) — v2.4.1+
Previously, every task ID had to be declared in BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers before scheduling. v2.4.1 removes that constraint: only the two library dispatcher IDs need to be in Info.plist. All other task IDs are routed through an internal AppendOnlyQueue and executed when the OS fires the master dispatcher slot.
kotlin// This ID does NOT need to be in Info.plist scheduler.enqueue( id = "user-${userId}-daily-sync", // dynamic, per-user ID trigger = TaskTrigger.Periodic(intervalMs = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000), workerClassName = "DailySyncWorker" )
xml<!-- Info.plist — only these two entries are needed --> <key>BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers</key> <array> <string>kmp_master_dispatcher_task</string> <string>kmp_chain_executor_task</string> </array>
Both dispatchers must also be registered in your
AppDelegatewith
IosBackgroundTaskHandler.shared.handleMasterDispatcherTask(...)and
handleChainExecutorTask(...)respectively — see the
Quickstart for the full snippet. Declaring an
identifier inBGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifierswithout registering its
handler causesBGTaskSchedulerto raiseNSInternalInconsistencyException.
Periodic Task Improvements
Added granular control over the first execution of periodic tasks. You can now defer the initial run or set a specific delay, ensuring your app doesn't choke on heavy sync tasks immediately upon startup.
kotlin// Run every 1 hour, but defer the very first run by 1 hour TaskTrigger.Periodic( intervalMs = 3600_000, runImmediately = false )
Swift Interop 2.0
iOS developers can now use idiomatic Double (seconds) instead of Long (milliseconds) for all triggers, making the API feel native to the Apple ecosystem.
swift// Swift let trigger = createTaskTriggerPeriodicSeconds( intervalSeconds: 3600, initialDelaySeconds: 600 )
iOS Native Background Task Handler
The host application no longer needs to copy and maintain 150+ lines of Swift boilerplate to handle iOS background tasks. The library exposes three native handlers via IosBackgroundTaskHandler.shared:
swift// AppDelegate.swift — register the two dispatchers once in didFinishLaunching. let scheduler = koinIos.getScheduler() let dispatcher = koinIos.getDynamicTaskDispatcher() let chainExecutor = koinIos.getChainExecutor() BGTaskScheduler.shared.register(forTaskWithIdentifier: "kmp_master_dispatcher_task", using: nil) { task in IosBackgroundTaskHandler.shared.handleMasterDispatcherTask( task: task, dispatcher: dispatcher, scheduler: scheduler ) } BGTaskScheduler.shared.register(forTaskWithIdentifier: "kmp_chain_executor_task", using: nil) { task in IosBackgroundTaskHandler.shared.handleChainExecutorTask( task: task, chainExecutor: chainExecutor ) }
These handlers automatically:
- Set up the
expirationHandlerfor graceful shutdown. - Resolve worker metadata (
workerClassName,inputJson) from file storage. - Execute the worker with timeout protection via
SingleTaskExecutor. - Auto-reschedule periodic tasks and the chain executor if the queue is not empty.
- Perform deadline checks for windowed tasks.
A third handler, handleSingleTask(task:, scheduler:, executor:), is available
if you opt into giving a specific task its own dedicated identifier in
BGTaskSchedulerPermittedIdentifiers (rather than going through the master
dispatcher). Most apps don't need it.
Hardened iOS Persistence & Safety
We've overhauled the iOS storage engine to ensure industrial-grade reliability:
- Okio Streaming: All file operations (Events, History, Queue) now use Okio. Peak RAM usage is now constant (O(1)) regardless of file size, preventing OOM kills on older devices.
- Race Condition Fixes: Critical fix in
IosFileCoordinatorusingAtomicIntto ensure background blocks are executed exactly once, even during high-concurrency stress or timeouts. - Self-Healing Queue: We now detect CRC32 checksum mismatches and automatically recover/reset corrupted records to prevent persistent job stalls.
- UTF-8 Safety: Guaranteed safety against multi-byte character corruption (Emoji/CJK) at chunk boundaries.
Execution history (v2.3.8)
Every chain execution is persisted locally. Collect, upload, clear:
kotlinlifecycleScope.launch { val records = scheduler.getExecutionHistory(limit = 200) if (records.isNotEmpty()) { analyticsService.uploadBatch(records) scheduler.clearExecutionHistory() } }
Each ExecutionRecord carries chainId, status (SUCCESS / FAILURE / ABANDONED / SKIPPED / TIMEOUT), durationMs, step counts, error message, retry count, and platform. Up to 500 records kept; older ones pruned automatically.
Telemetry hook
Route task lifecycle events to Sentry, Crashlytics, or Datadog:
kotlinKmpWorkManagerConfig( telemetryHook = object : TelemetryHook { override fun onTaskFailed(event: TelemetryHook.TaskFailedEvent) { Sentry.captureMessage("Task failed: ${event.taskName} — ${event.error}") } override fun onChainFailed(event: TelemetryHook.ChainFailedEvent) { analytics.track("chain_failed", mapOf( "chainId" to event.chainId, "failedStep" to event.failedStep )) } } )
Six events: onTaskStarted, onTaskCompleted, onTaskFailed, onChainCompleted, onChainFailed, onChainSkipped. All have default no-op implementations.
Task priority
LOW, NORMAL, HIGH, CRITICAL. On Android, HIGH/CRITICAL map to expedited work. On iOS, the queue is sorted by priority before each BGTask window:
kotlinscheduler.beginWith( TaskRequest(workerClassName = "PaymentSyncWorker", priority = TaskPriority.CRITICAL) ).enqueue()
Battery guard
kotlinKmpWorkManagerConfig(minBatteryLevelPercent = 10) // defer when < 10% and not charging
Default 5%. Works on both platforms.
KSP: BGTask ID validation
kotlin// iosMain @Worker("SyncWorker", bgTaskId = "com.example.sync-task") class SyncWorker : IosWorker { ... } // kmpWorkerModule() automatically validates bgTaskId against Info.plist at startup kmpWorkerModule(workerFactory = IosWorkerFactoryGenerated())
Add to build.gradle.kts:
kotlinplugins { id("com.google.devtools.ksp") } dependencies { ksp("dev.brewkits:kmpworker-ksp:3.0.0") commonMain.implementation("dev.brewkits:kmpworker-annotations:3.0.0") }
Built-in workers
| Worker | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
HttpRequestWorker | Stable | One-shot HTTP with configurable method, headers, body. SSRF-validated. |
HttpDownloadWorker | Stable (v2.5+) | Resumable download via HTTP Range. <savePath>.partial survives process kill; a process kill resumes from last byte. Supports SHA-256/SHA-1/SHA-512/MD5 checksum verification and DuplicatePolicy (overwrite / skip / rename). |
ParallelHttpDownloadWorker | New in v2.5 | Splits a single file into N (1..16, default 4) HTTP Range chunks downloaded concurrently with per-chunk .partN resume. Automatic sequential fallback when the server does not advertise Accept-Ranges: bytes. Same checksum verification surface as HttpDownloadWorker. |
HttpUploadWorker | ⚠️ Experimental | Streaming multipart upload. No resumable / chunked upload yet (see ParallelHttpUploadWorker for multi-file uploads). |
ParallelHttpUploadWorker | New in v2.5 | One POST per file with per-host maxConcurrent limit (1..16, default 3) and per-file retry on 5xx / network errors (maxRetries 0..5). Per-file outcomes exposed via WorkerResult.Success.data.fileResults. |
IosBackgroundDownloadWorker | iOS-only, experimental (v2.5+) | Hands the download to URLSessionConfiguration.background so the transfer survives full app termination. Host AppDelegate must wire application(_:handleEventsForBackgroundURLSession:completionHandler:) — see docs/IOS_BACKGROUND_URL_SESSION.md. |
HttpSyncWorker | Stable | Fetch-and-persist data sync. |
FileCompressionWorker | ✅ Android · 🚧 iOS | iOS has no ZIP codec in Kotlin/Native. The default behavior on iOS is to fail fast with an explicit error. Set FileCompressionConfig.allowIosUncompressedFallback = true to accept an uncompressed copy at the output path (useful for demo chains; the output is not a real ZIP). For real iOS compression, integrate ZIPFoundation via cinterop. |
Camera / media-app advisory. For burst upload (50 photos at once), use
ParallelHttpUploadWorkerinstead of one chain step per file. For RAW / video
downloads over cellular, preferIosBackgroundDownloadWorkeron iOS so the
transfer survives swipe-to-quit.HttpUploadWorkeris the only stable worker
without resumable/chunked semantics — pin those uploads to Wi-Fi
(Constraints(requiresUnmeteredNetwork = true)) until v2.6.
Security
SSRF protection — all built-in worker HTTP calls are validated before dispatch. Blocked:
169.254.169.254 AWS/GCP/Azure IMDS
fd00:ec2::254 AWS EC2 (IPv6)
100.100.100.200 Alibaba Cloud metadata
localhost, 0.0.0.0/8, [::1], 10.x, 172.16–31.x, 192.168.x
100.64.0.0/10 CGNAT (Tailscale, carrier-grade NAT)
fc00::/7, fe80::/10
RFC 3986 UserInfo bypass and multi-@ authority attacks are both handled. DNS rebinding is a known limitation — use certificate pinning or an egress proxy for high-trust environments.
Input size validation — inputs exceeding WorkManager's 10 KB Data limit throw IllegalArgumentException at enqueue time.
Testing
600+ tests across commonTest, iosTest, androidInstrumentedTest
QA_PersistenceResilienceTest— 100-step chain killed at step 50, resumes at exactly step 50V236ChainExecutorTest— time budget, shutdown propagation, batch loop correctnessIosExecutionHistoryStoreTest— save/get/clear, auto-pruning, all status variantsAppendOnlyQueueTest— CRC32 corruption detection, truncation recovery, concurrent accessSecurityValidatorTest— SSRF, IPv6 compressed loopback, multi-@UserInfo bypass
Documentation
| Quick Start | Running in 5 minutes |
| Platform Setup | Android & iOS configuration |
| API Reference | Full public API |
| Task Chains | Chain API and recovery semantics |
| Built-in Workers | Worker reference and input schema |
| Constraints & Triggers | All scheduling options |
| iOS Best Practices | BGTask gotchas and recommendations |
| iOS BGTask Hard Limits | Opportunistic scheduling, time budget, headless DI |
| App Store Review Compliance | §2.5.4 — what gets rejected and how to ship safely |
| Android FGS Type Guide | mediaProcessing / camera / dataSync setup |
| iOS Background URLSession | Surviving app termination during long downloads |
| Troubleshooting | Common issues |
| CHANGELOG | Release history |
Migration: v2.2.2 → v2.3.0 · v2.3.3 → v2.3.4 · v2.4.x → v2.5.0 · v2.5.x → v3.0.0
Requirements
| Kotlin | 2.1.0+ |
| Android | 8.0+ (API 26) |
| iOS | 13.0+ |
| Gradle | 8.0+ |
Contributing
bash./gradlew :kmpworker:allTests # all platforms must pass before opening a PR
Commit messages follow Conventional Commits.
License
Apache 2.0. See LICENSE.
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