Skill: Queuing

"If it can fail and retry, it's a Job."

The Decision

Queue as Job when:

• External API call (Shopify, Stripe, Email)
• Execution > 100ms
• Operation can fail and should retry
• User doesn't need immediate result

Execute Synchronously when:

• User is waiting for the result
• Failure should show immediately
• Fast, in-memory computation

The Heuristic

Ask: "Can this fail, and should we retry without user intervention?"

• Yes → Job
• No → Sync

The Quick Test

Ask Yourself	Answer	Use
External API?	Yes	Job
User waiting?	Yes	Sync
Needs retry?	Yes	Job
< 100ms?	Yes	Sync

Real-World Examples

For concrete examples, see examples.md.