> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://coldbox.ortusbooks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://coldbox.ortusbooks.com/ecosystem/queues.md).

# Queues

Queue background jobs in ColdBox with cbq — dispatch, workers, and providers.

**cbq** brings Laravel-style job queues to ColdBox: dispatch work now, execute it later on a worker, with pluggable providers.

```bash
box install cbq
```

📖 **Full documentation:** [cbq.ortusbooks.com](https://cbq.ortusbooks.com)

## Quick Example

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="BoxLang" %}

```javascript
// models/jobs/WelcomeEmailJob.bx
class extends="cbq.models.Jobs.AbstractJob" {

    property name="userId"

    function handle(){
        var user = getInstance( "UserService" ).get( variables.userId )
        getInstance( "MailService@cbmailservices" ).send( buildWelcomeMail( user ) )
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="CFML" %}

```javascript
// models/jobs/WelcomeEmailJob.cfc
component extends="cbq.models.Jobs.AbstractJob" {

    property name="userId"

    function handle(){
        var user = getInstance( "UserService" ).get( variables.userId )
        getInstance( "MailService@cbmailservices" ).send( buildWelcomeMail( user ) )
    }
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

```javascript
// Dispatch from anywhere
property name="queue" inject="QueueProvider@cbq";

queue.job( "WelcomeEmailJob" )
    .setUserId( user.getId() )
    .dispatch()
```

## Workers

Run a worker process to consume the queue:

```bash
box cbq work
```

Workers are long-running processes — supervise them in production (systemd, Docker restart policies, or your platform's process manager) and restart them on deploys.

## When to Use It

* Anything slow that shouldn't block a request: mail, PDFs, report generation, third-party API calls
* Retryable work — failed jobs can be released and retried with backoff
* Smoothing traffic spikes by deferring heavy work

## Alternatives

* [Scheduled Tasks](/digging-deeper/scheduled-tasks.md) — time-based recurring work, not request-driven jobs
* [Async Programming](/digging-deeper/promises-async-programming.md) — in-process parallelism when you don't need persistence or retries

## See Also

* [Mail](/ecosystem/mail.md) — the classic first job to queue
* [Deployment](/reference/deployment.md) — supervising workers in production


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters:

```
GET https://coldbox.ortusbooks.com/ecosystem/queues.md?ask=<question>&goal=<user_goal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.