Message Retention

Control how long messages are kept with configurable retention policies.

Configuration

await queen.queue('logs')
  .config({
    retentionSeconds: 86400,           // Keep pending for 24 hours
    completedRetentionSeconds: 3600    // Keep completed for 1 hour
  })
  .create()

Retention Types

1. Pending Message Retention

How long unprocessed messages are kept before automatic deletion.

retentionSeconds: 86400  // 24 hours
retentionSeconds: 0      // Keep forever (default)

2. Completed Message Retention

How long successfully processed messages are kept.

completedRetentionSeconds: 3600  // 1 hour
completedRetentionSeconds: 0     // Keep forever

Use Cases

Short-lived Events

// Delete old analytics events
await queen.queue('analytics')
  .config({
    retentionSeconds: 604800,        // 7 days
    completedRetentionSeconds: 86400  // 1 day
  })
  .create()

Long-term Audit

// Keep audit logs forever
await queen.queue('audit')
  .config({
    retentionSeconds: 0,          // Never delete pending
    completedRetentionSeconds: 0  // Never delete completed
  })
  .create()

Monitoring

// Check queue size
const stats = await queen.getQueueStats('logs')

console.log(`Pending: ${stats.pendingCount}`)
console.log(`Completed: ${stats.completedCount}`)

Best Practices

1. Balance storage vs history - Keep what you need
2. Monitor disk usage - Set up alerts
3. Archive important messages before deletion
4. Test retention settings in development first

Complete documentation