queue enum Only generate jobs and payloads for this queue.
allowed: email | exports | media | billing
example: queue=media
Fake Background Job & Queue API
MOCK DATAGenerate coherent queue-job fixtures with bounded attempts, retry timing, dead-letter states and queue-specific payloads.
Generated test data for fixtures and development
- Base URL
- /api/background-jobs
- Category
- Developer Tools
- Capabilities
- 1 route Seedable
- Last updated
- July 29, 2026
GET /api/background-jobs
Route reference
Code samples Ready-to-copy requests in 4 languages
Parameters Route-specific request inputs 6
| Parameter | Type | Default & allowed | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
queue | enum | allowed: email | exports | media | billing example: media | Only generate jobs and payloads for this queue. |
status | enum | allowed: queued | scheduled | running | retrying | succeeded | failed | deadLettered | cancelled example: retrying | Pin the exact queue-job lifecycle status. |
priority | enum | allowed: low | normal | high | critical example: high | Pin low, normal, high or critical priority. |
maxAttempts | int | default: 3 allowed: 1 – 8 example: 5 | Retry limit. Retrying requires at least 2; failed/deadLettered use the full limit. |
from | date | example: 2026-02-01 | Earliest creation time. With only from, to resolves 30 elapsed days later; with neither, defaults 30 UTC days before today. |
to | date | example: 2026-02-28T23:59:59.999Z | Latest creation time. With only to, from resolves 30 elapsed days earlier; with neither, defaults to today's UTC end. |
status enum Pin the exact queue-job lifecycle status.
allowed: queued | scheduled | running | retrying | succeeded | failed | deadLettered | cancelled
example: status=retrying
priority enum Pin low, normal, high or critical priority.
allowed: low | normal | high | critical
example: priority=high
maxAttempts int Retry limit. Retrying requires at least 2; failed/deadLettered use the full limit.
default: 3
allowed: 1 – 8
example: maxAttempts=5
from date Earliest creation time. With only from, to resolves 30 elapsed days later; with neither, defaults 30 UTC days before today.
example: from=2026-02-01
to date Latest creation time. With only to, from resolves 30 elapsed days earlier; with neither, defaults to today's UTC end.
example: to=2026-02-28T23:59:59.999Z
Universal parameters Shared response and formatting options 7
| Parameter | Type | Default & allowed | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
count | int | default: 10 allowed: 1 – 100 example: 3 | How many records to generate (1–100). |
seed | int | example: 42 | Deterministic output: the same seed always returns the same records. Omit for random (the used seed is echoed in meta.seed). |
fields | list | example: id,queue | Return only these fields (comma-separated). Mutually exclusive with 'exclude'. |
exclude | list | example: attempts | Return all fields except these (comma-separated). |
format | enum | default: json allowed: json | ndjson | csv example: csv | Response format: json envelope, ndjson (one record per line) or csv. |
pretty | boolean | default: false example: true | Pretty-print the JSON response. |
unwrap | boolean | default: false example: true | Drop the envelope: return the raw array/object without data/meta wrapper. |
count int How many records to generate (1–100).
default: 10
allowed: 1 – 100
example: count=3
seed int Deterministic output: the same seed always returns the same records. Omit for random (the used seed is echoed in meta.seed).
example: seed=42
fields list Return only these fields (comma-separated). Mutually exclusive with 'exclude'.
example: fields=id,queue
exclude list Return all fields except these (comma-separated).
example: exclude=attempts
format enum Response format: json envelope, ndjson (one record per line) or csv.
default: json
allowed: json | ndjson | csv
example: format=csv
pretty boolean Pretty-print the JSON response.
default: false
example: pretty=true
unwrap boolean Drop the envelope: return the raw array/object without data/meta wrapper.
default: false
example: unwrap=true
Response schema Fields returned in each record 16
| Field | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
id | string | Distinct fictional job ID. | job_5819cd40d202_00 |
queue | string | email | exports | media | billing. | media |
type | string | Queue-coherent fictional worker operation. | resizeImage |
status | string | Current lifecycle status. | retrying |
priority | string | low | normal | high | critical. | high |
payload | object | Small queue/type-specific synthetic payload. | {"source":"https://assets.example.com/files/demo.png","width":640,"height":480} |
createdAt | string (ISO 8601) | Creation time inside from/to. | 2026-02-10T10:00:00.000Z |
scheduledAt nullable | string (ISO 8601) | Planned first execution; null only while merely queued. | 2026-02-10T10:01:00.000Z |
startedAt nullable | string (ISO 8601) | First attempt start, else null. | 2026-02-10T10:01:00.000Z |
finishedAt nullable | string (ISO 8601) | Terminal completion/cancellation time, else null. | null |
attemptCount | integer | Exact number of nested attempts. | 2 |
maxAttempts | integer | Configured retry limit, at most eight. | 5 |
nextRetryAt nullable | string (ISO 8601) | Present only for retrying jobs. | 2026-02-10T10:10:00.000Z |
deadLetteredAt nullable | string (ISO 8601) | Present only for deadLettered jobs. | null |
error nullable | string | Last failure for retrying/failed/deadLettered jobs, else null. | temporary dependency failure |
attempts | object[] | Zero to eight chronological attempts with exact outcome/date masks. | [{"number":1,"startedAt":"2026-02-10T10:01:00.000Z","finishedAt":"2026-02-10T10:01:02.000Z","durationMs":2000,"outcome":"failure","error":"temporary dependency failure"}] |
id string Distinct fictional job ID.
example: job_5819cd40d202_00
queue string email | exports | media | billing.
example: media
type string Queue-coherent fictional worker operation.
example: resizeImage
status string Current lifecycle status.
example: retrying
priority string low | normal | high | critical.
example: high
payload object Small queue/type-specific synthetic payload.
example: {"source":"https://assets.example.com/files/demo.png","width":640,"height":480}
createdAt string (ISO 8601) Creation time inside from/to.
example: 2026-02-10T10:00:00.000Z
scheduledAt string (ISO 8601) nullable Planned first execution; null only while merely queued.
example: 2026-02-10T10:01:00.000Z
startedAt string (ISO 8601) nullable First attempt start, else null.
example: 2026-02-10T10:01:00.000Z
finishedAt string (ISO 8601) nullable Terminal completion/cancellation time, else null.
example: null
attemptCount integer Exact number of nested attempts.
example: 2
maxAttempts integer Configured retry limit, at most eight.
example: 5
nextRetryAt string (ISO 8601) nullable Present only for retrying jobs.
example: 2026-02-10T10:10:00.000Z
deadLetteredAt string (ISO 8601) nullable Present only for deadLettered jobs.
example: null
error string nullable Last failure for retrying/failed/deadLettered jobs, else null.
example: temporary dependency failure
attempts object[] Zero to eight chronological attempts with exact outcome/date masks.
example: [{"number":1,"startedAt":"2026-02-10T10:01:00.000Z","finishedAt":"2026-02-10T10:01:02.000Z","durationMs":2000,"outcome":"failure","error":"temporary dependency failure"}]
Documented examples
Build-generated requests and complete responses 3 Retrying media jobs /api/background-jobs?queue=media&status=retrying&maxAttempts=5&count=8&seed=42
{
"data": [
{
"id": "job_58016cfb6a5c85ea_00",
"queue": "media",
"type": "resizeImage",
"status": "retrying",
"priority": "normal",
"payload": {
"source": "https://assets.example.com/files/c58cdd40fb15.png",
"width": 640,
"height": 480
},
"createdAt": "2026-07-17T12:59:21.881Z",
"scheduledAt": "2026-07-17T13:24:43.493Z",
"startedAt": "2026-07-17T13:24:43.493Z",
"finishedAt": null,
"attemptCount": 3,
"maxAttempts": 5,
"nextRetryAt": "2026-07-17T13:37:47.731Z",
"deadLetteredAt": null,
"error": "payload could not be processed",
"attempts": [
{
"number": 1,
"startedAt": "2026-07-17T13:24:43.493Z",
"finishedAt": "2026-07-17T13:25:06.731Z",
"durationMs": 23238,
"outcome": "failure",
"error": "temporary dependency failure"
},
{
"number": 2,
"startedAt": "2026-07-17T13:26:32.222Z",
"finishedAt": "2026-07-17T13:26:34.744Z",
"durationMs": 2522,
"outcome": "failure",
"error": "downstream service unavailable"
},
{
…
"generatedAt": "2026-07-29T08:13:22.000Z"
}
} Dead-lettered export jobs /api/background-jobs?queue=exports&status=deadLettered&maxAttempts=3&count=5&seed=17
{
"data": [
{
"id": "job_755abf24f73252bc_00",
"queue": "exports",
"type": "exportCsv",
"status": "deadLettered",
"priority": "high",
"payload": {
"dataset": "orders",
"rowLimit": 4242
},
"createdAt": "2026-07-14T19:08:44.521Z",
"scheduledAt": "2026-07-14T19:37:16.780Z",
"startedAt": "2026-07-14T19:37:16.780Z",
"finishedAt": "2026-07-14T19:41:09.421Z",
"attemptCount": 3,
"maxAttempts": 3,
"nextRetryAt": null,
"deadLetteredAt": "2026-07-14T19:41:09.421Z",
"error": "worker execution timed out",
"attempts": [
{
"number": 1,
"startedAt": "2026-07-14T19:37:16.780Z",
"finishedAt": "2026-07-14T19:37:29.018Z",
"durationMs": 12238,
"outcome": "failure",
"error": "temporary dependency failure"
},
{
"number": 2,
"startedAt": "2026-07-14T19:38:38.814Z",
"finishedAt": "2026-07-14T19:38:48.322Z",
"durationMs": 9508,
"outcome": "failure",
"error": "worker execution timed out"
},
{
"number": 3,
…
"generatedAt": "2026-07-29T08:13:22.000Z"
}
} Successful critical jobs in February /api/background-jobs?status=succeeded&priority=critical&from=2026-02-01&to=2026-02-28&count=10&seed=8
{
"data": [
{
"id": "job_5a0ad10ec4981258_00",
"queue": "exports",
"type": "exportCsv",
"status": "succeeded",
"priority": "critical",
"payload": {
"dataset": "audit-events",
"rowLimit": 1349
},
"createdAt": "2026-02-21T07:36:04.439Z",
"scheduledAt": "2026-02-21T08:53:59.407Z",
"startedAt": "2026-02-21T08:53:59.407Z",
"finishedAt": "2026-02-21T08:58:06.273Z",
"attemptCount": 3,
"maxAttempts": 3,
"nextRetryAt": null,
"deadLetteredAt": null,
"error": null,
"attempts": [
{
"number": 1,
"startedAt": "2026-02-21T08:53:59.407Z",
"finishedAt": "2026-02-21T08:53:59.574Z",
"durationMs": 167,
"outcome": "failure",
"error": "downstream service unavailable"
},
{
"number": 2,
"startedAt": "2026-02-21T08:55:26.694Z",
"finishedAt": "2026-02-21T08:55:40.551Z",
"durationMs": 13857,
"outcome": "failure",
"error": "downstream service unavailable"
},
{
"number": 3,
…
"generatedAt": "2026-07-29T08:13:22.000Z"
}
} About this API
Coverage & behavior
Generates fictional background jobs for queue consoles, worker dashboards and retry handling. The top-level lifecycle and nested attempts are derived together: queued and scheduled jobs have no attempts, running jobs have one unfinished attempt, retrying jobs expose a future nextRetryAt, successful jobs end in one success, and failed or dead-lettered jobs exhaust maxAttempts.
queue changes both the job type and its payload. Email jobs use reserved example recipients, export jobs have bounded row limits, media jobs reference example.com assets, and billing jobs use fictional invoice IDs. status, priority, maxAttempts and the creation-time from/to window genuinely constrain every record.
Attempts are synchronous to generate, capped at eight per job and deterministically spaced with bounded backoff. This is a generic fixture model for application tests, not a Cloudflare, AWS, RabbitMQ or other queue-provider wire schema.
Use it for
- Populate queue and worker-operation dashboards
- Test retry, terminal failure and dead-letter UI states
- Create stable job-attempt histories for automated tests
Frequently asked questions
Do retrying jobs include a next retry time?
Yes. A retrying job has one or more completed failed attempts, remains below maxAttempts, and exposes a later nextRetryAt.
When is a job marked dead-lettered?
Only after all maxAttempts have failed. The final attempt, top-level error, finish time and deadLetteredAt all describe the same terminal transition.
Are queue payloads internally consistent?
Yes. Each queue maps to one documented job type and payload shape, such as email to sendEmail and media to resizeImage.
Does the JSON match a particular queue vendor?
No. It is a deliberately generic mock lifecycle and does not claim compatibility with any hosted queue or broker protocol.
Standards & references
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