--- name: Cloudant-active_tasks title: Active tasks description: The `/_active_tasks` endpoint provides a list of the tasks that are running on the server, which is helpful for monitoring the performance of your system. last-updated: 2026-04-13 --- > ## Documentation Index > The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/Cloudant?format=markdown > The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt > Use these files to discover more information as needed. # Active tasks {: #active-tasks} The `/_active_tasks` endpoint provides a list of the tasks that are running on the server, which is helpful for [monitoring](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/Cloudant?topic=Cloudant-monitoring-an-ibm-cloudant-cluster&format=markdown#monitoring-an-ibm-cloudant-cluster) the performance of your system. {: shortdesc} You can retrieve a list of active tasks, including compaction, replication, and indexing tasks. For more examples on using the `/_active_tasks` endpoint, see the [Managing tasks](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/Cloudant?topic=Cloudant-managing-tasks&format=markdown#managing-tasks) guide. ## Retrieving a list of active tasks {: #retrieving-a-list-of-active-tasks} Method : `GET` Path : `/_active_tasks` Response : List of running tasks, including the task type, name, status, and process ID. Roles permitted : `_admin` You can get a list of active tasks by using the `/_active_tasks` URL. The result is a JSON array of the currently running tasks, with each task described with a single object. See the example request to retrieve a list of active tasks by using HTTP commands: ```HTTP GET /_active_tasks HTTP/1.1 ``` {: codeblock} See the example request to retrieve a list of active tasks by using the command line: ```sh curl "https://$ACCOUNT.cloudant.com/_active_tasks" \ -u $ACCOUNT ``` {: codeblock} {: curl} The returned structure includes the following fields for each task: | Name | Description | |-----|------------| | `database` | The database and shard on which the operation occurs. | | `pid` | Erlang Process ID | | `started_on` | Time when the task was started. The value is an integer that includes the UNIX™ time UTC. | | `total_changes` | Total number of documents to be processed by the task. The exact meaning depends on the type of the task. | | `type` | Operation Type | | `updated_on` | Time that the task status was updated. The field updates every few seconds. Returns the most recent update. | {: caption="Fields in the returned structure" caption-side="top"} In the `type` field, the possible values include: - `database_compaction` - `view_compaction` - `replication` - `indexer` - `search_indexer` The meaning of other fields in the JSON response depends on the type of the task. See the example JSON response array that includes details of currently running tasks: ```json [ { "user": null, "updated_on": 1363274088, "type": "replication", "target": "https://repl:*****@tsm.cloudant.com/user-3dglstqg8aq0uunzimv4uiimy/", "docs_read": 0, "doc_write_failures": 0, "doc_id": "tsm-admin__to__user-3dglstqg8aq0uunzimv4uiimy", "continuous": true, "checkpointed_source_seq": "403-g1AAAADfeJzLYWBgYMlgTmGQS0lKzi9KdUhJMjTRyyrNSS3QS87JL01JzCvRy0styQGqY0pkSLL___9_VmIymg5TXDqSHIBkUj1YUxyaJkNcmvJYgCRDA5AC6tuflZhGrPsgGg9ANAJtzMkCAPFSStc", "changes_pending": 134, "pid": "<0.1781.4101>", "node": "dbcore@db11.julep.cloudant.net", "docs_written": 0, "missing_revisions_found": 0, "replication_id": "d0cdbfee50a80fd43e83a9f62ea650ad+continuous", "revisions_checked": 0, "source": "https://repl:*****@tsm.cloudant.com/tsm-admin/", "source_seq": "537-g1AAAADfeJzLYWBgYMlgTmGQS0lKzi9KdUhJMjTUyyrNSS3QS87JL01JzCvRy0styQGqY0pkSLL___9_VmI9mg4jXDqSHIBkUj1WTTityWMBkgwNQAqob39WYhextkE0HoBoBNo4MQsAFuVLVQ", "started_on": 1363274083 }, { "user": "acceptly", "updated_on": 1363273779, "type": "indexer", "node": "dbcore@db11.julep.cloudant.net", "pid": "<0.20723.4070>", "changes_done": 189, "database": "shards/00000000-3fffffff/acceptly/acceptly_my_chances_logs_live.1321035717", "design_document": "_design/MyChancesLogCohortReport", "started_on": 1363273094, "total_changes": 26389 }, { "user": "username", "updated_on": 1371118433, "type": "search_indexer", "total_changes": 5466, "node": "dbcore@db7.meritage.cloudant.net", "pid": "<0.29569.7037>", "changes_done": 4611, "database": "shards/40000000-7fffffff/username/database_name", "design_document": "_design/lucene", "index": "search1", "started_on": 1371118426 }, { "view": 1, "user": "acceptly", "updated_on": 1363273504, "type": "view_compaction", "total_changes": 26095, "node": "dbcore@db11.julep.cloudant.net", "pid": "<0.21218.4070>", "changes_done": 20000, "database": "shards/80000000-bfffffff/acceptly/acceptly_my_chances_logs_live.1321035717", "design_document": "_design/MyChancesLogCohortReport", "phase": "view", "started_on": 1363273094 }, { "updated_on": 1363274040, "node": "dbcore@db11.julep.cloudant.net", "pid": "<0.29256.4053>", "changes_done": 272195, "database": "shards/00000000-3fffffff/heroku/app3245179/id_f21a08b7005e_logs.1346083461", "started_on": 1363272496, "total_changes": 272195, "type": "database_compaction" } ] ``` {: codeblock} ### Specific response fields for compaction tasks {: #specific-response-fields-for-compaction-tasks} | Name | Description | |-----|------------| | `changes_done` | Number of documents compacted. | | `phase` | Reports the stage of compaction. | | `total_changes` | Number of documents in the database. | {: caption="Response fields for compaction tasks" caption-side="top"} In the `phase` field, the value indicates the stage that was reached by compaction: `ids` : Document compaction is in progress. `views` : View compaction is in progress. ### Specific response fields for replication tasks {: #specific-response-fields-for-replication-tasks} | Name | Description | |-----|------------| | `changes_pending` | Number of documents that need to be changed in the target database, expressed as an integer. | | `continuous` | Boolean value that indicates whether the replication is continuous. | | `docs_read` | Number of documents that are read from the source database, expressed as an integer. | | `replication_id` | Unique identifier string of the replication that can be used to cancel the task. | | `revisions_checked` | Number of document revisions that were checked to verify whether they're already in the target database. | | `source` | An obfuscated URL string that indicates the database from which the task is replicating. | | `target` | An obfuscated URL string that indicates the database to which the task is replicating. | | `user` | User who started the replication, expressed as a string, or `null` if the replication was not initiated by a user. | {: caption="Response fields for replication tasks" caption-side="top"} ### Specific response fields for indexing tasks {: #specific-response-fields-for-indexing-tasks} | Name | Description | |-----|------------| |`changes_done` | Number of document revisions that are processed by this task. A document can have one or more revisions. | | `design_document` | The design document that includes the view or index function or functions. | | `total_changes`| The number of unindexed changes to process. This count includes deleted documents, although these documents are automatically skipped by the indexer. | {: caption="Response fields for indexing tasks" caption-side="top"}