Docker (local Redis)

Run Redis for BullMQ workers locally with Docker Compose, configure REDIS_* for development, and start worker processes.

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Overview

Workers can only safely point at one running Redis instance at a time. To avoid sharing the same Redis between local dev and production, run a local Redis with Docker and keep NODE_ENV set to development when running workers locally.

Run Redis with Docker Compose

# From repo root
docker compose -f infra/docker-compose.yml up -d redis

Then set (or confirm) the local Redis settings in backend/.env.development.local:

NODE_ENV=development
REDIS_HOST=localhost
REDIS_PORT=6379
REDIS_PASSWORD=
REDIS_DB=0
REDIS_BULLMQ_DB=0
REDIS_TLS=false
REDIS_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=true

To stop Redis:

docker compose -f infra/docker-compose.yml down

Variable details and TLS setups for managed Redis are documented under Redis cache (shared with the API).

Run workers locally (tsx)

From the repository root (after install):

pnpm orchestrator:dev:worker:integration-refresh-bullmq
pnpm orchestrator:dev:worker:notification-email-bullmq
pnpm orchestrator:dev:worker:scheduled-social-post-bullmq

Backend build and imports

Workers import the backend package. If you change backend code that a worker uses, rebuild the backend (for example pnpm --filter backend build) before restarting the worker.

Next steps

Redis & queues

redis-cli patterns for BullMQ keys locally and in production

Railway (workers)

Always-on services, build/start commands, and deploy flow