Dagster Cross-Job Triggering -> Orchestra

Overview

Dagster cross-job patterns — @run_status_sensor launching a downstream job, @asset_sensor on an upstream asset, and cross-code-location asset dependencies — all have Orchestra equivalents. Orchestra provides two mechanisms:

1. TRIGGER_PIPELINE task — an explicit pipeline step that triggers another pipeline and waits for it to complete. Use when one pipeline must trigger another mid-flow and wait.

2. trigger_events: block — event-driven triggering at the pipeline root. When an upstream pipeline completes, this pipeline starts automatically. This is the cleaner equivalent of @run_status_sensor / @asset_sensor.

@run_status_sensor (SUCCESS, launching a job) -> trigger_events: (preferred)

# Dagster
@run_status_sensor(
    run_status=DagsterRunStatus.SUCCESS,
    monitored_jobs=[nightly_elt],
    request_job=daily_report,
)
def trigger_report_on_elt_success(context):
    return RunRequest(run_config={"ops": {"build": {"config": {"env": "prod"}}}})

# Orchestra — daily-report pipeline
version: v1
name: daily-report

trigger_events:
  - type: pipeline
    pipeline_id: "uuid-of-nightly-elt-pipeline"
    statuses: [SUCCEEDED, WARNING]
    run_inputs:
      env: prod

pipeline:
  ...

TriggerEventModel fields:

Multiple entries = OR logic (fires when any upstream completes).

Explicit launch-and-wait -> ORCHESTRA + TRIGGER_PIPELINE

When a pipeline must trigger another and wait before continuing:

task-001:
  integration: ORCHESTRA
  integration_job: TRIGGER_PIPELINE
  name: trigger_reporting
  parameters:
    pipeline_id: "uuid-of-daily-reporting-pipeline"
    run_inputs:
      env: prod
    branch: null
  depends_on: []
  condition: null
  tags: []

TRIGGER_PIPELINE always waits for the triggered pipeline before proceeding — there is no fire-and-forget. If the Dagster sensor only launches (does not wait), prefer trigger_events: on the downstream pipeline.

@asset_sensor and cross-code-location deps -> trigger_events:

An @asset_sensor watching an upstream materialization, or a cross-code-location asset dependency, maps to trigger_events: keyed on the upstream pipeline:

trigger_events:
  - type: pipeline
    pipeline_id: "uuid-of-producer-pipeline"
    statuses: [SUCCEEDED]

Before / After Example

Dagster (before)

from dagster import run_status_sensor, DagsterRunStatus, RunRequest, Definitions

@run_status_sensor(
    run_status=DagsterRunStatus.SUCCESS,
    monitored_jobs=[nightly_elt],
    request_job=daily_report,
)
def trigger_report_on_elt_success(context):
    return RunRequest(run_config={"ops": {"build": {"config": {"env": "prod"}}}})

defs = Definitions(jobs=[nightly_elt, daily_report], sensors=[trigger_report_on_elt_success])

Orchestra YAML (after)

# nightly-elt pipeline (separate YAML)
version: v1
name: nightly-elt
pipeline:
  ...

---
# daily-report pipeline — triggered by nightly-elt completion
version: v1
name: daily-report

trigger_events:
  - type: pipeline
    pipeline_id: "uuid-of-nightly-elt-pipeline"
    statuses: [SUCCEEDED, WARNING]
    run_inputs:
      env: prod

pipeline:
  stage-build:
    tasks:
      build-report:
        integration: PYTHON
        integration_job: PYTHON_EXECUTE_SCRIPT
        name: build_report
        connection: my_python_conn_12345
        parameters:
          command: 'python scripts/build_report.py'
          python_version: '3.12'
        depends_on: []
        condition: null
        tags: []

Gotchas

• @run_status_sensor(SUCCESS) launching a job -> trigger_events: — cleaner than polling.
• Launch-and-wait mid-flow -> TRIGGER_PIPELINE task.
• pipeline_id is a UUID — from the Orchestra URL, not the pipeline name.
• TRIGGER_PIPELINE always waits — no fire-and-forget; prefer trigger_events: if the sensor only launches.
• @asset_sensor / cross-code-location deps -> trigger_events:.
• trigger_events: uses OR logic — chain pipelines for AND logic.
• RunRequest(run_config=...) -> run_inputs.
• statuses default — SUCCEEDED + WARNING if omitted.
• Circular dependencies — Orchestra validates against circular trigger chains.

Adding Alerts

alerts:
  - name: on-failure
    statuses: [FAILED]
    destinations:
      - integration: SLACK
        destination: '#data-alerts'

References

• Orchestra TRIGGER_PIPELINE: https://docs.getorchestra.io/docs/integrations/orchestra
• Orchestra trigger_events: https://docs.getorchestra.io/docs/core-concepts/pipelines/schema
• Dagster run status sensors: https://docs.dagster.io/concepts/automation/sensors#run-status-sensors
• Dagster asset sensors: https://docs.dagster.io/concepts/automation/asset-sensors