Retrying jobs

BullMQ provides a retry method that allows you to programmatically retry jobs that have already completed or failed. This is different from the automatic retry mechanism (configured via the attempts option) - the retry method lets you manually move a job back to the waiting queue at any time.

When to use Job.retry()

The retry method is useful in scenarios such as:

• Manual intervention: When a job failed due to a temporary external issue that has been resolved

• Re-processing completed jobs: When you need to run a completed job again with the same data

• Workflow recovery: When recovering from system failures or bugs that caused jobs to fail incorrectly

Only jobs in the completed or failed state can be retried. Active, waiting, or delayed jobs cannot be retried.

Basic Usage

TypeScript

import { Queue, Job } from 'bullmq';

const queue = new Queue('my-queue');

// Get a failed job by ID
const job = await Job.fromId(queue, 'job-id');

// Retry a failed job (default state is 'failed')
await job.retry();

// Retry a completed job
await job.retry('completed');

Python

Elixir

Retry Options

The retry method accepts options to reset attempt counters. This is useful when you want the retried job to behave as if it's being processed for the first time.

Reset Attempts Made

The attemptsMade counter tracks how many times a job has been processed. Resetting it allows the job to use its full retry allowance again.

TypeScript

// Retry and reset the attempts counter
await job.retry('failed', { resetAttemptsMade: true });

Python

Elixir

Reset Attempts Started

The attemptsStarted counter tracks how many times a job has been moved to the active state. This can be useful for tracking purposes.

TypeScript

// Retry and reset both counters
await job.retry('failed', { 
  resetAttemptsMade: true,
  resetAttemptsStarted: true 
});

Python

Elixir

What happens when you retry

When a job is retried, the following occurs:

1. Job is moved to waiting queue: The job is removed from the completed/failed set and added back to the waiting queue

2. Properties are cleared: The following job properties are reset:

   • failedReason / failed_reason → null / nil

   • finishedOn / finished_on → null / nil

   • processedOn / processed_on → null / nil

   • returnvalue / return_value → null / nil

3. Events are emitted: A waiting event is emitted when the job is successfully moved

4. Parent dependencies restored: If the job is a child in a flow, its dependency relationship with the parent is restored

If you retry a job without resetting attemptsMade, and the job has already exhausted its retry attempts, it will fail immediately when processed again.

Error Handling

The retry method can fail in the following cases:

Error Code	Description
-1	Job does not exist
-3	Job was not found in the expected state

TypeScript

try {
  await job.retry('failed');
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Failed to retry job:', error.message);
}

Python

Elixir

Read More

• 💡 Retry API Reference

• 💡 Retrying Failing Jobs - Automatic retry configuration with backoff strategies

• 💡 Stop Retrying Jobs - How to prevent further retries