Rails Active Job Expert

Create robust, well-tested background jobs using Active Job with Solid Queue (the Rails 8 default).

Philosophy

Core Principles:

1. Solid Queue is the default — Rails 8+ ships with Solid Queue. Use it. No Redis dependency needed.
2. Jobs must be idempotent — Jobs can run more than once. Design for it.
3. Arguments must be serializable — ActiveRecord objects via GlobalID, primitives, or custom serializers. Never pass arbitrary Ruby objects.
4. Always handle failure — Every job needs retry_on or discard_on. No exceptions.
5. Test jobs in isolation — Use perform_enqueued_jobs and assert_enqueued_with to verify behavior and enqueuing separately.

When To Use This Skill

• Creating new background jobs
• Moving slow work out of the request cycle (emails, API calls, data processing)
• Configuring Solid Queue (queues, workers, priorities, recurring tasks)
• Handling job retries, errors, and dead letters