Agent skill
queue-observability
Monitor message queues, job processing, and detect backpressure
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/nexus-labs-automation/backend-observability/tree/main/skills/queue-observability
SKILL.md
Queue Observability
Queues decouple systems but hide problems. Track depth, processing time, and lag.
Key Metrics
| Metric | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
queue.messages.published |
Counter | Messages sent |
queue.messages.consumed |
Counter | Messages processed |
queue.process.duration |
Histogram | Processing time |
queue.process.errors |
Counter | Processing failures |
queue.depth |
Gauge | Pending messages |
queue.consumer.lag |
Gauge | Behind by N messages |
Span Attributes
| Attribute | Example | Required |
|---|---|---|
messaging.system |
kafka, rabbitmq | Yes |
messaging.destination |
orders, notifications | Yes |
messaging.operation |
publish, process | Yes |
job.type |
send_email | Recommended |
Producer Pattern
Before: Start span (kind=PRODUCER), inject trace context into headers, start timer
After: Record duration, increment published, record errors, end span
Consumer Pattern
On receive: Extract trace context, start span (kind=CONSUMER), start timer
After: Record duration, increment consumed, record errors, end span
Issues to Detect
| Issue | Detection | Cause |
|---|---|---|
| Growing depth | queue.depth increasing | Consumer too slow |
| Consumer lag | lag > 0 and increasing | Crashed consumer, slow processing |
| High error rate | errors/consumed > 5% | Bad messages, downstream issues |
Anti-Patterns
- No trace context in messages → Traces break at queue boundary
- No DLQ monitoring → Poison messages go unnoticed
- Missing depth alerts → Backpressure surprises
References
references/platforms/{platform}/worker.mdreferences/patterns/retry-backoff.md
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