Laravel Background Processing
Priority: P1 (HIGH)
Structure
app/
├── Jobs/ # Asynchronous tasks
├── Events/ # Communication flags
└── Listeners/ # Task reactions
Implementation Guidelines
Queued Jobs
- Job Creation: Use
php artisan make:job ProcessOrder. Classes must implement ShouldQueue.
- Execution: Implement logic inside
handle() method. Pass only model IDs to constructor, not full Eloquent model.
- Dispatching: Trigger via
ProcessOrder::dispatch($orderId).
Advanced Workflow Patterns
- Job Chaining: Use
Bus::chain([new ProcessPayment($order), new SendReceipt($order)])->dispatch() for sequential dependencies. Handle failures with ->catch(fn => ...).
- Job Batching: Use
Bus::batch([new ImportRow(1), ...])->then(...)->catch(...)->dispatch(). Use $this->batch()->cancel() to abort and track via $batch->progress().
Events & Listeners
- Scaffolding: Run
php artisan make:event OrderPlaced and php artisan make:listener SendConfirmation --event=OrderPlaced.
- Async Execution: Add
ShouldQueue to listeners to process them asynchronously.
- Activation: Trigger with
Event::dispatch(new OrderPlaced($order)).
Reliability & Monitoring
- Error Handling: Implement
public function failed(Throwable $exception) in your job class. Use public int $tries = 3 and public int $backoff = 60 for retries.
- Setup: Run
queue:failed-table migration to track dead jobs.
- Monitoring: Use Laravel Horizon (run
php artisan horizon) for real-time observability; never use queue:work in production.
Anti-Patterns
- No heavy logic in request path: Defer tasks >100ms to Queues.
- No full model in job payload: Pass IDs; Eloquent fetches on run.
- No deep event listener chains: Keep listener depth shallow.
- No unmonitored queues: Configure retries and Horizon alerts.
References
