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context.notify() notifies workflows that are waiting for a specific event, passing along an optional payload. It is typically used in combination with context.waitForEvent.

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Arguments

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stepName
string
A unique identifier for the step.
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eventId
string
The identifier of the event to notify. Must match the eventId used in context.waitForEvent.
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eventData
any
Data to deliver to the waiting workflow(s). This value will be returned in eventData from the corresponding waitForEvent call.
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workflowRunId
string
The workflow run ID to notify. When provided, enables lookback functionality - the notification will be stored and delivered even if notify is called before waitForEvent.This solves race conditions where notifications might be sent before a workflow reaches its wait step.

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Response

context.notify() returns a list of waiters describing the workflows that were notified.
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notifyResponse
NotifyResponse[]
A list of NotifyResponse objects describing each workflow that was waiting on the event.

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Usage

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Basic Notification

import { serve } from "@upstash/workflow/nextjs";

export const { POST } = serve<{ topic: string }>(async (context) => {
  const payload = context.requestPayload;

  const {
    notifyResponse, // result of notify, which is a list of notified waiters
  } = await context.notify("notify step", "my-event-Id", payload);
});

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Notification with Lookback

To prevent race conditions, you can provide a workflowRunId. This enables lookback - the notification will be stored and delivered even if sent before the target workflow reaches waitForEvent: 
import { serve } from "@upstash/workflow/nextjs";

export const { POST } = serve<{ orderId: string }>(async (context) => {
  const { orderId } = context.requestPayload;

  // Process payment
  await context.run("process-payment", async () => {
    return processPayment(orderId);
  });

  // Notify a specific workflow run with lookback support
  const {
    notifyResponse,
  } = await context.notify(
    "notify payment complete",
    "payment-processed",
    { orderId, status: "success" },
    "wfr_order_processor_123" // Enables lookback for this workflow run
  );
});