• TRIAGE
  • RECOVERY
  • RECOVERY
  • HUMAN

How to retry failed messages with your AI

Connect QStash to your agent to manage failed tasks without touching the dashboard. Your AI handles the triage and the re-runs.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I retry failed messages using my AI?

Your AI pulls the list of failed messages from the Dead Letter Queue and examines their contents to find the error. Once you fix the bug, you tell the AI to re-trigger the specific messages or the whole batch.

Where every issue lands.

The outcomes of your triage

The AI categorizes your failed tasks into these four states.

TRIAGE

Identified failures

The AI reads the DLQ to find exactly which messages hit a snag. You get a clear list of what went wrong.

RECOVERY

Single message retry

After you fix a specific data error, the AI re-submits that one message. It moves the task back into the main queue.

RECOVERY

Bulk re-runs

If a service outage caused a mass failure, the AI re-triggers everything at once. This clears the queue in one go.

HUMAN

Manual intervention

If the AI can't find a pattern in the errors, it flags the messages for you. You decide if the logic needs a manual fix.

The workflow

What your AI does when a message fails.

The AI takes over the heavy lifting of checking the Dead Letter Queue.

  1. Scan the queue

    The AI looks at the current state of your failed messages to see what's waiting.

    list_dlq

  2. Inspect the error

    The AI pulls the specific payload and error details for a single failed task.

    get_dlq_message

  3. Fix and retry

    Once you've resolved the underlying issue, the AI pushes the message back into the system.

    retry_dlq_message

  4. Clear the backlog

    The AI handles large-scale failures by re-triggering multiple messages simultaneously.

    bulk_retry_dlq

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to begin interacting with your QStash queue.

Starting points

These are just ways to start the conversation. You can swap in specific message IDs or error types.

Upstash QStash Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_qe2toOwnITMr2o4qUgpUtwgjBB41l4nVpwOjAbvw/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Upstash QStash capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "qstash-serverless-message-queue-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_qe2toOwnITMr2o4qUgpUtwgjBB41l4nVpwOjAbvw/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • List all the failed messages currently in my QStash DLQ.

  • Show me the details for the failed message with ID msg_12345.

  • Retry all the messages in the DLQ that failed due to a timeout.

  • Check the DLQ and tell me why the last five messages failed.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect QStash once, then ask.

Just link your account once. Your credentials stay encrypted, and you can immediately start asking your agent to manage your queues.

Connect QStash to your AI

FAQ

How the QStash task behaves

  • 01

    Can the AI delete messages from the DLQ?

    No. The AI can only list, inspect, or retry messages. It cannot delete them.

  • 02

    Can the AI fix my code automatically?

    No. The AI identifies the error in the message payload, but you must fix the underlying code or service before telling the AI to retry.

  • 03

    How does the AI know which messages to retry?

    You tell the AI which ones to retry, either by providing specific IDs or by describing a pattern, like all messages that failed with a 500 error.

  • 04

    Does the AI retry messages one by one or all at once?

    It can do both. You can ask it to retry a single message or use a bulk command to retry everything in the queue.

  • 05

    Can the AI see the contents of my messages?

    Yes, the AI uses the tool to read the message payload so it can understand why the task failed.

  • More questions about QStash? See everything the QStash Connector can do

Connect Upstash QStash to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more