Dev CLI shows "Local worker ready" but no tasks registered — dashboard stuck on "Waiting for tasks"

[solid summit]

Hi @sinful musk. I'm kapa.ai, your friendly support bot. I will try to answer your question by searching through the knowledge base. :wave:

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The knowledge sources don't contain specific information about this exact issue (local worker ready but no tasks registered in the dev index worker). However, based on what you've described and what the docs do cover, here are a few things worth checking:

1. Check your trigger.config.ts dirs setting

The most common cause of tasks not being picked up is the dirs configuration not pointing to where your task files actually live. Make sure your config matches your actual folder structure:

import { defineConfig } from "@trigger.dev/sdk";

export default defineConfig({
  project: "proj_udkiahikdtcommcdbvud",
  dirs: ["./src/trigger"], // or "./trigger" — must match where your task file is
});

[Manual setup]

2. Clear the build cache

The docs specifically recommend this when the dev server behaves unexpectedly:

Ensure you have stopped your local dev server then locate the hidden .trigger folder in your project and delete it. You can then restart your local dev server.

[Common problems]

3. "type": "module" in package.json

You mentioned your project uses "type": "module". This is a notable detail — the knowledge sources don't explicitly address compatibility issues between "type": "module" and the Trigger.dev build system, so I can't confirm whether this is the root cause. However, it's worth noting that the dev-index-worker.mjs not referencing your task is a strong signal that the build step isn't discovering your task file. This could be related to ESM module resolution.

4. TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY in .env.local

Note that the CLI --env-file flag only hydrates the CLI process's process.env, not the tasks themselves. [CLI dev command] Make sure the key is accessible to the CLI process. You may want to try passing it explicitly:

pnpm dlx [email protected] dev --env-file .env.local

Recommended next step

Since the knowledge sources don't cover this specific Windows + "type": "module" + pnpm combination in enough detail to give a definitive answer, I'd recommend opening an issue or asking in the Trigger.dev community with the details you've already gathered — especially the fact that dev-index-worker.mjs doesn't reference your task despite it appearing in example.mjs. That's the most actionable diagnostic detail you have.

Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:

@sinful musk Kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.

[sinful musk]

The AI suggestions didn't help. Tried --env-file .env.local, dirs: ["./trigger"], and clearing .trigger cache — same result. This is with the default hello-world example that init created, not custom code. The built example.mjs in .trigger/tmp/ contains the task correctly, but it never registers with the dashboard.

CLI output shows "Local worker ready [node] -> 20260317.1" with no tasks listed underneath. Windows 11, pnpm, Next.js 15, "type": "module".

Could this be a Windows-specific issue?