feat(actors): enables standby mode via actor.json #991

l2ysho · 2026-01-13T20:30:03Z

Fix usesStandbyMode not being applied when pushing Actor via CLI

Problem

When creating an Actor locally using apify create my-actor -t ts-mcp-server and then pushing it with apify push, the usesStandbyMode: true setting from actor.json was being ignored. The Actor would be created on the platform without standby mode enabled, even though the template explicitly sets this option.

In contrast, cloning the same template directly from the Apify Console UI correctly enabled standby mode.

Root Cause

The push command was not reading the usesStandbyMode property from actor.json and was not passing it to the Apify API when creating or updating Actors.

Solution

Added DEFAULT_STANDBY_OPTIONS constant with all required API fields for standby mode configuration
When creating a new Actor, if usesStandbyMode: true is set in actor.json, the standby options are passed to the API
When pushing to an existing Actor that doesn't have standby enabled but usesStandbyMode: true is in actor.json, the Actor is updated to enable standby mode

Changes

src/commands/actors/push.ts: Added standby mode support for both new and existing Actors
test/api/commands/push.test.ts: Added two API tests to verify standby mode is correctly enabled

Default Standby Configuration

When usesStandbyMode: true is set, the following defaults are applied:

Option	Value
`isEnabled`	`true`
`disableStandbyFieldsOverride`	`false`
`maxRequestsPerActorRun`	`4`
`desiredRequestsPerActorRun`	`3`
`idleTimeoutSecs`	`300`
`build`	`'latest'`
`memoryMbytes`	`1024`
`shouldPassActorInput`	`false`

Testing

apify create my-actor -t ts-mcp-server
cd my-actor
apify push

The Actor should now have standby mode enabled with the default configuration.

closes #913

l2ysho · 2026-01-13T20:32:26Z

Keeping this as draft, it is working but it seems we missing some types in apify-client, lets discuss.

l2ysho · 2026-01-13T20:33:49Z

src/commands/actors/push.ts

+// Default standby mode configuration when usesStandbyMode is enabled in actor.json
+const DEFAULT_STANDBY_OPTIONS = {
+	isEnabled: true,
+	disableStandbyFieldsOverride: false,
+	maxRequestsPerActorRun: 4,
+	desiredRequestsPerActorRun: 3,
+	idleTimeoutSecs: 300,
+	build: 'latest',
+	memoryMbytes: 1024,
+	shouldPassActorInput: false,
+};
+


I stole this from console.apify.com, it is default preset send when user just enable standby mode. cc @vladfrangu

my idea was result should be the same no matter if I use CLI or console UI

I don't like that we had to copy this from ui, because if they change we'll miss them on our end... Maybe we can see if this can be moved to apify/consts?

@vladfrangu or we can change a actor.json parameter from usesStandbyMode to actorStandBy (matching apify client interface) but user has to provide all required parameters (only disableStandbyFieldsOverride is optional) 🤔

I would just skip this honestly. The defaults should be managed by the API. Copying them to the CLI is wrong, but so is exporting them via shared-js.

So how about creating the Actor without the standby mode flag and then issuing another call to make it standby? By then, you will be able to fetch its current (defaultified) attributes and use them if the API will need you to parrot them back...

I tried it right now, without standby mode flag, I will not receive actorStandby object at all :/

Let's bug the core services people about it then?

I did, they have defaults hardcoded in FE, I guess I will change the schema for actor.json so user can provide the whole object with all required parameters. WDYT @vladfrangu ?

l2ysho · 2026-01-13T20:40:39Z

src/commands/actors/push.ts

+
+				// Enable standby mode if configured in actor.json
+				if (actorConfig!.usesStandbyMode) {
+					newActor.actorStandby = DEFAULT_STANDBY_OPTIONS as ActorCollectionCreateOptions['actorStandby'];


ActorCollectionCreateOptions type look little bit out of date -> StandBy type missing disableStandbyFieldsOverride and shouldPassActorInput

Please add this to the issue with outdated types in client-js 🙏

apify/apify-client-js#818 (comment)

l2ysho · 2026-01-15T11:16:24Z

lest's wait for #992 merged and then rebase

Enables standby mode for Actors based on the 'usesStandbyMode' property in actor.json. If the property is set to true during Actor creation or update, standby mode is enabled with default configuration. Fixes #913

janbuchar

It's great that you are fixing this! Consider this approved by me once @vladfrangu approves it, I don't have anything to add beside that one comment.

janbuchar · 2026-01-15T15:23:20Z

src/commands/actors/push.ts

+// Default standby mode configuration when usesStandbyMode is enabled in actor.json
+const DEFAULT_STANDBY_OPTIONS = {
+	isEnabled: true,
+	disableStandbyFieldsOverride: false,
+	maxRequestsPerActorRun: 4,
+	desiredRequestsPerActorRun: 3,
+	idleTimeoutSecs: 300,
+	build: 'latest',
+	memoryMbytes: 1024,
+	shouldPassActorInput: false,
+};
+


I would just skip this honestly. The defaults should be managed by the API. Copying them to the CLI is wrong, but so is exporting them via shared-js.

l2ysho linked an issue Jan 13, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

actor.json option usesStandbyMode does not work #913

Open

l2ysho requested a review from B4nan January 13, 2026 20:30

github-actions bot assigned l2ysho Jan 13, 2026

github-actions bot added this to the 132nd sprint - Tooling team milestone Jan 13, 2026

github-actions bot added t-tooling Issues with this label are in the ownership of the tooling team. tested Temporary label used only programatically for some analytics. labels Jan 13, 2026

l2ysho commented Jan 13, 2026

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l2ysho added 4 commits January 15, 2026 12:48

feat(actors): enables standby mode via actor.json

bcb8702

Enables standby mode for Actors based on the 'usesStandbyMode' property in actor.json. If the property is set to true during Actor creation or update, standby mode is enabled with default configuration. Fixes #913

chore(actors): fix tests and remove unused type

98e9f79

chore(tests): fix path in tests

ffbf2f9

Ffx(actors): corrects standby mode behavior

dd47acb

l2ysho force-pushed the 913-actorjson-option-usesstandbymode-does-not-work branch from 1413949 to dd47acb Compare January 15, 2026 13:06

l2ysho marked this pull request as ready for review January 15, 2026 14:25

l2ysho requested a review from janbuchar January 15, 2026 14:25

l2ysho removed a link to an issue Jan 15, 2026

actor.json option usesStandbyMode does not work #913

Open

l2ysho linked an issue Jan 15, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

actor.json option usesStandbyMode does not work #913

Open

janbuchar reviewed Jan 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

feat(actors): enables standby mode via actor.json #991

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feat(actors): enables standby mode via actor.json #991

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l2ysho commented Jan 15, 2026

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l2ysho commented Jan 13, 2026 •

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