Your long-running queries and exports, from every project. See whether each has finished, open its result or download the file.
What My Background Tasks shows
Some queries take too long to wait for. When a query in Drill, Funnels, Retention or another feature runs longer than the Report manager threshold, it moves to the background and keeps running while you carry on. An export of a Profiles or Views table always runs in the background.
My Background Tasks lists yours from every project, on two tabs.
- Long runs holds your queries that ran in the background, with their status and their stored results.
- Exports holds the files you exported, ready to download while they last.
It opens from My background tasks in your profile menu. The Long runs button that Drill, Funnels, Retention and Flows show next to their queries leads here too, through View all long runs.
Only your own tasks are listed. Administrators see everyone's tasks in their projects under Background Tasks in Manage.
Use Cases
Get the result of a long run
Get the answer to a query that took too long to show right away.
- Carry on with other work. When the query finishes or fails, a notification arrives in your Inbox, and opening it takes you to Long runs.
- Or open My background tasks from your profile menu. It opens on Long runs.
- Find the query. The latest are at the top, and Search finds a task by its name or description.
- When its status reads Completed, open the row's menu (⋮) and click View result. The result opens in the feature that ran the query, in that query's project.
If View result is greyed out, a result created in the old dashboard opens only there, and some features cannot open a stored result from My Background Tasks yet. Run the query again in the feature itself.
Download an export
Get the file of an export that ran in the background.
- Export a table from Profiles or Views. The page says the export has started and will appear in your background tasks when ready.
- Open My background tasks from your profile menu, and click Exports.
- Find the file. Its status reads Running while the file is written, and Completed when it is ready.
- Open the row's menu (⋮) and click Download. The file saves under the name you gave the export.
Download the file within 90 days. Background exports are removed automatically 90 days after they start.
Run a failed task again
Run a failed or out-of-date task again without setting it up from scratch.
A task reads Failed when it ended with an error. A task that was still running when the server restarted reads Failed as well.
- Open My background tasks from your profile menu, and find the task on Long runs or Exports.
- Open the row's menu (⋮) and click Re-run for a long run, or Regenerate for an export.
- The status turns to Rerunning, and then to Completed when the new result or file is ready.
Re-run and Regenerate appear only when the task can be run again, is not running already, and you are an admin of the project you have open. Without admin rights, ask an admin, or start the query or the export again where you first ran it.
FAQs
Why did my query move to the background?
It ran longer than the Report manager threshold. It keeps running, and its result is in Long runs when it is done.
Where is the export I started?
On the Exports tab of My background tasks. An export older than 90 days has been removed. To get the file back, export it again.
Why can't I see Re-run, Regenerate or Delete?
They are shown only to an admin of the project you have open. Ask an admin, or start the query or the export again where you first ran it.
Why is View result greyed out?
A result created in the old dashboard opens only there, and some features cannot open a stored result from My Background Tasks yet; hovering the item says which. Run the query again in the feature itself.
Why did a task fail when nothing changed?
A task still running when the server restarts is marked Failed. Run it again with Re-run or Regenerate, or ask an admin to.
Can I see other people's tasks?
Not here. Administrators see everyone's tasks in their projects under Background Tasks in Manage.