{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/use-queueing-only-when-delayed-work-remains-valuable",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0542",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Use queueing only when delayed work remains valuable",
  "summary": "A queue stores pressure; it does not create capacity.",
  "kind": "principle",
  "body": "Before buffering work, ask whether asynchronous delay is acceptable and whether the result retains value after waiting. If the request needs a timely response, prefer bounded queues, rejection or degradation. If the work is durable, queue it with expiry, backlog monitoring and failure isolation.",
  "limits": [
    "Some durable workloads still have compliance or ordering requirements that prevent dropping or reordering old work."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-capacity-overload-resilience"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-D6954C8ACF093D83",
    "RS-C1BEE49CF0075A87"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "AWS recommends monitoring message age and avoiding long queue backlogs that process work after it is no longer useful.",
      "source_id": "RS-D6954C8ACF093D83",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Some workloads require strict processing of old items for legal or consistency reasons.",
      "locator": "Queue backlog anti-patterns and message age"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Google SRE recommends small queues or early rejection under steady overload because long queues add latency, memory use and work that may already have missed its deadline.",
      "source_id": "RS-C1BEE49CF0075A87",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Bursty asynchronous workloads can legitimately benefit from larger queues when backlog remains useful.",
      "locator": "Queue management and latency/deadlines"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "Every overload problem is being solved by adding a larger queue."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Some durable workloads still have compliance or ordering requirements that prevent dropping or reordering old work."
  ],
  "example": "Queue offline document indexing; do not put interactive authentication requests behind an hour-long backlog.",
  "check": "Every queue has a reason why waiting preserves value rather than merely postponing overload symptoms.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-D6954C8ACF093D83",
      "title": "REL05-BP04 Fail fast and limit queues",
      "url": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/framework/rel_mitigate_interaction_failure_fail_fast.html"
    },
    {
      "id": "RS-C1BEE49CF0075A87",
      "title": "Addressing Cascading Failures",
      "url": "https://sre.google/sre-book/addressing-cascading-failures/"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0542",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0533",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/give-queued-work-an-expiry-condition"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-2845565BFEBD1A30",
      "title": "Keep useful work flowing when demand exceeds capacity",
      "url": "/collections/keep-useful-work-flowing-when-demand-exceeds-capacity"
    }
  ]
}