How should I handle routine health checks in a Node.js/Nest.js application?

I have a Nest.js application, and lately I've been thinking about how I can ensure that data is synchronized between two sources - my database and an external database. For example - and to my question - is my database versus Stripe's database. I have plans with recurring payments, and I track how many licenses a customer pays for in my database. Of course, Stripe is the single source of truth for that data, so I like to make sure that my data matches Stripe's data. Of course, in theory my backend will never get out of sync with Stripe's as long as I code everything correctly - but is that enough? Lately, I've been wondering about some sort of health checks that happen OUTSIDE of the flow of some request handling that my server does. For example, if a user goes to their "Members" screen, which is the screen from which new licenses may be paid, I "GET USER MEMBERS". Would it be appropriate to fire off an asychronous process and NOT await its response? Like so: async getMembers(userId) { const members = await the db call that gets members; some async process to sync data - note lack of await; return members } Does this sort of behavior break anything? What if the non-awaited async process errors? Thanks for any advice/opinions.

Mar 31, 2025 - 21:10

I have a Nest.js application, and lately I've been thinking about how I can ensure that data is synchronized between two sources - my database and an external database.

For example - and to my question - is my database versus Stripe's database. I have plans with recurring payments, and I track how many licenses a customer pays for in my database. Of course, Stripe is the single source of truth for that data, so I like to make sure that my data matches Stripe's data.

Of course, in theory my backend will never get out of sync with Stripe's as long as I code everything correctly - but is that enough?

Lately, I've been wondering about some sort of health checks that happen OUTSIDE of the flow of some request handling that my server does.

For example, if a user goes to their "Members" screen, which is the screen from which new licenses may be paid, I "GET USER MEMBERS". Would it be appropriate to fire off an asychronous process and NOT await its response? Like so:

async getMembers(userId) {
    const members = await *the db call that gets members*;
    *some async process to sync data - note lack of await*;
    return members
}

Does this sort of behavior break anything? What if the non-awaited async process errors?

Thanks for any advice/opinions.