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

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Step 1: Install Required Packages

First, install BullMQ and Redis client:

npm install bullmq ioredis

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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

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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,
});

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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 },
);

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Step 6: Run the Worker

Run worker separately:

node worker.js

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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