Job queue
A managed list of tasks waiting to be processed. Unlike a simple queue, job queues support priorities, scheduled execution, retry policies, and dead-letter handling. Redis and Bull are common job queue technologies used alongside n8n.
Expert insight
A job queue decouples when work is triggered from when it's actually processed, letting a system absorb a burst of 1,000 incoming events without trying to process all 1,000 simultaneously and overwhelming a downstream API. Workflows dealing with unpredictable traffic spikes benefit from a queue in front of the processing step, not direct triggering.
In a real workflow
PDF generation jobs are added to a queue and processed by workers, so the website stays fast.
Common mistakes
- No retry or failure handling for jobs.
- Queues that grow without limits.
Complexity level
Requires some familiarity with automation concepts.
Related terms
Queue
A buffer that stores automation tasks waiting to be processed. Queues absorb tra…
Dead-letter queue (DLQ)
A safety net for failed workflow executions. When an automation fails after all …
Async / Asynchronous processing
When an automation queues a task and continues without waiting for it to complet…
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