RSMQ

Judgement

What it is

Building block

What it does

A Node.js library that implements SQS-like message queues with visibility timeouts on top of Redis in about 500 lines.

Adopt it when

You have Node.js and Redis and need a minimal queue where each message goes to exactly one worker.

Watch out

Development is slow and it lacks job features such as retries with backoff, so BullMQ is the usual choice for job queues.

Ready for

Usable

Runs as

Library

Built with

JavaScript and Redis

How established

Established: started 13 years ago, latest release v0.9.1.

What the license allows

You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.

Judged on 2026-11-06 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Follow it down: RSMQ → V8 → LLVM project → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

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