Poll Sume jobs with next_poll_after_seconds, not a fixed sleep

Poll a Sume job on the booleans it gives you. GET /v1/jobs/{id}/status returns terminal, result_ready and, while the job runs, next_poll_after_seconds. Sleep that long, stop when terminal is true, and fetch the result when result_ready is true. A fixed sleep wastes calls on short jobs and lags on long ones.

The fields to read

Sume's docs say to obey next_poll_after_seconds when it is present and to use exponential backoff when it is not. The status endpoint also returns a queue-shaped status (IN_QUEUE, IN_PROGRESS, COMPLETED, FAILED, CANCELED) for clients ported from other queue APIs. It maps one to one onto sume_status, and the two always agree, so pick one and do not mix them.

A loop that follows the server

This version falls back to exponential backoff capped at 30 seconds, and throws on a failed or canceled job. It reads the key from the environment and refuses to run without it.

const key = process.env.SUME_API_KEY;
if (!key) throw new Error('set SUME_API_KEY');
const h = { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}` };
const api = 'https://api.sume.com/v1/jobs/';
const sleep = (s) => new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, s * 1000));

export async function waitForResult(id) {
  let back = 2;
  for (;;) {
    const s = await (await fetch(api + id + '/status', { headers: h })).json();
    if (s.terminal) {
      if (s.sume_status !== 'completed') throw new Error(s.sume_status);
      return (await fetch(api + id + '/result', { headers: h })).json();
    }
    await sleep(s.next_poll_after_seconds ?? (back = Math.min(back * 2, 30)));
  }
}

Set the deadline on your side

The wait lives in your client, so its timeout can be minutes. A reasonable ceiling for video is around twenty minutes, according to the jobs guide. If you give up, you have only stopped waiting. The job continues and bills, so keep its id and read it later, or cancel it.

If you use TypeScript

waitForJob in @sume-com/sdk is this same loop, so you can use it instead of rewriting the logic. Either way, never poll tighter than the hint. Sume sends hints so that a fleet of clients does not hammer the status endpoint.