task-sdk/docs/dynamic-task-mapping.rst

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.. _sdk-dynamic-task-mapping:

Mapped tasks with Task SDK
==========================

Task mapping, also called dynamic task mapping, allows tasks defined with the Task SDK to generate
a variable number of task instances at runtime based on upstream data.
This is enabled via the ``expand()`` method on tasks, providing a way
to parallelize execution without knowing the number of tasks ahead of time.

Simple Mapping
--------------

Map over a Python list directly in the DAG:

.. code-block:: python

   from datetime import datetime

   from airflow.sdk import DAG, task


   @task
   def add_one(x: int):
       return x + 1


   @task
   def sum_it(values: list[int]):
       print(f"Total was {sum(values)}")


   with DAG(dag_id="dynamic-map-simple", start_date=datetime(2022, 1, 1)) as dag:
       summed = sum_it(values=add_one.expand(x=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]))

Task-Generated Mapping
----------------------

Generate the list at runtime from an upstream task:

.. code-block:: python

   @task
   def make_list():
       # This could fetch data from an API, database, etc.
       return ["a", "b", "c"]


   @task
   def consume(item: str):
       print(item)


   with DAG(dag_id="dynamic-map-generated", start_date=datetime(2022, 1, 1)) as dag:
       consume.expand(item=make_list())

Details
-----------

- Only keyword arguments can be passed to ``expand()``.
- Mapped inputs are provided to tasks as lazy proxy objects. To force
  evaluation into a concrete list, wrap the proxy in ``list()``.
- Combine static parameters with mapped ones using ``partial()``:

  .. code-block:: python

     @task
     def add(x: int, y: int):
         return x + y


     with DAG(dag_id="map-with-partial", start_date=datetime(2022, 1, 1)) as dag:
         add.partial(y=10).expand(x=[1, 2, 3])

Advanced Usage
--------------

For advanced patterns—such as repeated mapping, cross-product mapping,
named mappings (via ``map_index_template``), and handling large
datasets—see the Airflow Core documentation:

`Mapped tasks in the Airflow Core docs <https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/authoring-and-scheduling/dynamic-task-mapping.html>`_.