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Azure Functions warmup trigger

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  • 5 minutes to read

This article explains how to work with the warmup trigger in Azure Functions. A warmup trigger is invoked when an instance is added to scale a running function app. The warmup trigger lets you define a function that's run when a new instance of your function app is started. You can use a warmup trigger to pre-load custom dependencies during the pre-warming process so your functions are ready to start processing requests immediately. Some actions for a warmup trigger might include opening connections, loading dependencies, or running any other custom logic before your app begins receiving traffic.

The following considerations apply when using a warmup trigger:

  • The warmup trigger isn't available to apps running on the Consumption plan.
  • The warmup trigger isn't supported on version 1.x of the Functions runtime.
  • Support for the warmup trigger is provided by default in all development environments. You don't have to manually install the package or register the extension.
  • There can be only one warmup trigger function per function app, and it can't be invoked after the instance is already running.
  • The warmup trigger is only called during scale-out operations, not during restarts or other non-scale startups. Make sure your logic can load all required dependencies without relying on the warmup trigger. Lazy loading is a good pattern to achieve this goal.
  • Dependencies created by warmup trigger should be shared with other functions in your app. To learn more, see Static clients.

Example

A C# function can be created using one of the following C# modes:

  • In-process class library: compiled C# function that runs in the same process as the Functions runtime.
  • Isolated worker process class library: compiled C# function that runs in a worker process that is isolated from the runtime. Isolated worker process is required to support C# functions running on non-LTS versions .NET and the .NET Framework.
  • C# script: used primarily when creating C# functions in the Azure portal.

The following example shows a C# function that runs on each new instance when it's added to your app.

using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;

namespace WarmupSample
{

    //Declare shared dependencies here

    public static class Warmup
    {
        [FunctionName("Warmup")]
        public static void Run([WarmupTrigger()] WarmupContext context,
            ILogger log)
        {
            //Initialize shared dependencies here

            log.LogInformation("Function App instance is warm 🌞🌞🌞");
        }
    }
}

The following example shows a warmup trigger that runs when each new instance is added to your app.

@FunctionName("Warmup")
public void warmup( @WarmupTrigger Object warmupContext, ExecutionContext context) {
    context.getLogger().info("Function App instance is warm 🌞🌞🌞");
}

The following example shows a warmup trigger in a function.json file and a JavaScript function that runs on each new instance when it's added to your app.

Here's the function.json file:

{
    "bindings": [
        {
            "type": "warmupTrigger",
            "direction": "in",
            "name": "warmupContext"
        }
    ]
}

The configuration section explains these properties.

Here's the JavaScript code:

module.exports = async function (context, warmupContext) {
    context.log('Function App instance is warm 🌞🌞🌞');
};

Here's the function.json file:

{
    "bindings": [
        {
            "type": "warmupTrigger",
            "direction": "in",
            "name": "warmupContext"
        }
    ]
}

PowerShell example code pending.

The following example shows a warmup trigger in a function.json file and a Python function that runs on each new instance when it'is added to your app.

Your function must be named warmup (case-insensitive) and there may only be one warmup function per app.

Here's the function.json file:

{
    "bindings": [
        {
            "type": "warmupTrigger",
            "direction": "in",
            "name": "warmupContext"
        }
    ]
}

For more information, see Configuration.

Here's the Python code:

import logging
import azure.functions as func


def main(warmupContext: func.Context) -> None:
    logging.info('Function App instance is warm 🌞🌞🌞')

Attributes

Both in-process and isolated worker process C# libraries use the WarmupTrigger attribute to define the function. C# script instead uses a function.json configuration file.

Use the WarmupTrigger attribute to define the function. This attribute has no parameters.

Annotations

Annotations aren't required by a warmup trigger. Just use a name of warmup (case-insensitive) for the FunctionName annotation.

Configuration

The following table explains the binding configuration properties that you set in the function.json file.

function.json property Description
type Required - must be set to warmupTrigger.
direction Required - must be set to in.
name Required - the variable name used in function code. A name of warmupContext is recommended for the binding parameter.

See the Example section for complete examples.

Usage

The following considerations apply to using a warmup function in C#:

  • Your function must be named warmup (case-insensitive) using the FunctionName attribute.
  • A return value attribute isn't required.
  • You must be using version 3.0.5 of the Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Extensions package, or a later version.
  • You can pass a WarmupContext instance to the function.

Your function must be named warmup (case-insensitive) using the FunctionName annotation.

The function type in function.json must be set to warmupTrigger.

Next steps