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

# Astro

> Add Nelkap to an Astro app rendered on demand, from your keys to your first run.

This guide adds Nelkap to an Astro app. By the end, your app will run a workflow that creates a new user's profile, waits a day, and sends them a welcome email, and you'll follow each step in your project.

Nelkap calls your app on every run, so the route it calls must be rendered on demand. You need an [adapter](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/on-demand-rendering/) that runs on Node.js, like `@astrojs/node` or `@astrojs/vercel`. You also need a Nelkap project with its endpoint, an API key, and its secret. If you don't have them yet, follow the first three steps of the [quickstart](https://docs.nelkap.com/quickstart.md).

**1. Install the SDK**

```bash npm theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
npm install @nelkap/sdk
```

```bash pnpm theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
pnpm add @nelkap/sdk
```

```bash yarn theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
yarn add @nelkap/sdk
```

**2. Add your keys**

Add your project's API key and secret to `.env`:

```bash .env theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
NELKAP_API_KEY=your-api-key
NELKAP_SECRET=your-project-secret
```

The API key lets your app start runs and save steps. The secret lets your app check that each call really comes from Nelkap. When you deploy, set the same two variables in your host's settings.

**3. Create your client and your first workflow**

Create `src/lib/nelkap.ts`:

```ts src/lib/nelkap.ts theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
import { Nelkap } from '@nelkap/sdk';
import { getSecret } from 'astro:env/server';

import {
  createProfile,
  sendWelcomeEmail,
} from './activities';

export const nelkap = new Nelkap({
  apiKey: getSecret('NELKAP_API_KEY'),
  secret: getSecret('NELKAP_SECRET'),
});

export async function onboardUser(userId: string) {
  await nelkap.step.run('profile', () =>
    createProfile(userId),
  );

  await nelkap.step.sleep('1 day');

  await nelkap.step.run('welcome', () =>
    sendWelcomeEmail(userId),
  );
}

nelkap.registerWorkflows([
  { name: 'onboardUser', handler: onboardUser },
]);
```

* [`getSecret`](https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/environment-variables/) reads your keys from the server's environment, or from `.env` while you develop. They never reach the browser.
* `onboardUser` is your workflow: an async function that takes the run's payload, here a user ID.
* Each `step.run` saves what its function returns. When the run picks up after the sleep, the profile step gives back its saved result instead of creating the profile again.
* `step.sleep` pauses the run for a day. Nothing runs in your app during that day.
* `registerWorkflows` tells Nelkap which workflows your app runs, as soon as the file is loaded.

Replace `createProfile` and `sendWelcomeEmail` with your own functions.

**4. Add the route Nelkap calls**

Create an endpoint at the path of your endpoint, and export a `POST` handler that passes each request to `nelkap.handle`:

```ts src/pages/api/nelkap.ts theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
import type { APIRoute } from 'astro';

import { nelkap } from '../../lib/nelkap';

export const prerender = false;

export const POST: APIRoute = ({ request }) =>
  nelkap.handle(request);
```

`prerender = false` renders the endpoint on each request instead of once at build time. `handle` checks the secret, answers Nelkap at once, and runs the workflow in the background. If your app checks sign-in on every route, for example in a middleware, leave `/api/nelkap` out: `handle` checks Nelkap's secret instead.

**5. Deploy your app**

Deploy your app with its two environment variables, so Nelkap can reach the route over the internet. Your project's endpoint must be the route's exact URL, like `https://your-app.com/api/nelkap`.

**6. Start a run**

Start the workflow from any server code. Here, a sign-up endpoint starts it once the user is created:

```ts src/pages/api/sign-up.ts theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
import type { APIRoute } from 'astro';

import { nelkap, onboardUser } from '../../lib/nelkap';
import { createUser } from '../../lib/users';

export const prerender = false;

export const POST: APIRoute = async ({
  request,
  redirect,
}) => {
  const user = await createUser(await request.formData());

  await nelkap.run(onboardUser, user.id);

  return redirect('/welcome');
};
```

`run` returns as soon as Nelkap has the run, so the sign-up doesn't wait for the workflow. Its second argument, `user.id`, is the run's payload: Nelkap passes it to `onboardUser`.

**7. Follow your run**

Open your project's runs. The new run shows the profile step with what it returned, then sleeps. A day later, Nelkap calls your route again, the welcome email goes out, and the run completes.

## Deploy on Vercel

On Vercel, your function can stop as soon as the response is sent. Pass [`waitUntil`](https://vercel.com/docs/functions/functions-api-reference/vercel-functions-package#waituntil) from `@vercel/functions` to keep the run going after `handle` answers:

```ts src/pages/api/nelkap.ts theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
import { waitUntil } from '@vercel/functions';
import type { APIRoute } from 'astro';

import { nelkap } from '../../lib/nelkap';

export const prerender = false;

export const POST: APIRoute = ({ request }) =>
  nelkap.handle(request, { waitUntil: waitUntil });
```

The run then goes on for as long as your function may run. If a call reaches that limit, every step already saved is kept, and Nelkap calls your app again about five minutes later to go on from there.


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