title: Send response and continue to perform tasks Express | Node.js
body: <p>In Node.js (which I'm new to) I am trying to perform a series of tasks after receiving a response. However, I want to make the response time as fast as possible. I don't need to return the results of these tasks to the client, so I'm trying to return the response immediately.</p>
  
  <p>My current implementation is roughly:</p>
  
  <pre><code>var requestTime = Date.now; 
  
  app.post('/messages', function (req, res) {
    console.log("received request");
  
    // handle the response
    var body = res.body;
    res.send('Success');
    res.end();
    console.log("sent response");
  
    performComplexTasks(body)
  })
  
  function performComplexTasks(body){
     // perform data with body data here;
     console.log("finished tasks:", Date.now()-requestTime, "ms");
  }
  
  // -------LOG-----------
  //    received request
  //    POST /api/messages 200 3.685 ms - 59
  //    sent response
  //    finished tasks: 2500ms
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The client making the request seems to hang until performComplexTasks() is finished. (The <code>POST</code> finishes in 3.685ms, but the response takes 2500ms to finish.)</p>
  
  <p>Is there a way to send the response immediately and complete other tasks without having the client wait/hang? (In my case, the client cannot make multiple API calls.)</p>