How to Install BullMQ in NestJS (Simple Guide)

In this guide, I will show you how to install and use BullMQ in a NestJS project. BullMQ is used to handle background jobs like sending emails, processing images, or running heavy tasks without slowing down your app.

working sample: https://github.com/habilm/bullmq-nestjs

Step 1: Install Required Packages

First, install BullMQ and Redis client:

npm install bullmq ioredis

Step 2: Setup Redis

BullMQ needs Redis to work.

You can:

Install Redis locally
Or use a cloud Redis service

Example (default local Redis):

host: localhost
port: 6379

Step 3: Create a Queue

Create a new file like queue.ts:

import { Queue } from 'bullmq';
import { Redis } from 'ioredis';

const connection = new Redis({
  host: 'localhost',
  port: 6379,
});

export const emailQueue = new Queue('email-queue', {
  connection,
});

Step 4: Add Job to Queue

You can add jobs from your service:

await emailQueue.add('send-email', {
  to: 'test@example.com',
  subject: 'Hello',
});

Step 5: Create a Worker

Worker processes the job in background.

Create worker.ts:

import { Worker } from 'bullmq';
import { Redis } from 'ioredis';

const connection = new Redis({
  host: 'localhost',
  port: 6379,
});

const worker = new Worker(
  'email-queue',
  async job => {
    console.log('Processing job:', job.name);
    console.log(job.data);

    // Example: send email logic here
  },
  { connection },
);

Step 6: Run the Worker

Run worker separately:

node worker.js

Step 7: Use in NestJS Service

Example service:

import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
import { emailQueue } from './queue';

@Injectable()
export class AppService {
  async sendEmail() {
    await emailQueue.add('send-email', {
      to: 'user@gmail.com',
      subject: 'Welcome',
    });
  }
}

Tips

Always run worker in a separate process
Use queue for heavy or slow tasks
You can retry failed jobs using BullMQ options
Use multiple workers for better performance

Conclusion

Now you have successfully integrated BullMQ with NestJS. This helps your app stay fast by moving heavy tasks to the background.

You can now extend this for:

Email sending
Image processing
Notifications
Data sync jobs

if you want view all queues and manage in a dashboard use Bull Board