Dead-letter queue (DLQ)

A side queue where messages go after failing too many times.

Think of it as: The "problem orders" tray, so one bad order doesn't block the kitchen.

What to know for Level 0

A redrive policy moves a message to the dead-letter queue after maxReceiveCount failed receives, so one bad message doesn't retry forever.
A DLQ must be the same type as its source: a FIFO queue needs a FIFO DLQ.

More detail

You set maxReceiveCount on the source queue’s redrive policy. Once a message has been received that many times without being deleted, SQS moves it to the DLQ. You can inspect it there, fix the bug and “redrive” it back. A DLQ must be the same type as its source (standard or FIFO).

Quiz yourself on Dead-letter queue (DLQ) →

← All terms