Resources/Stuck job runbook (template)

Stuck job runbook (template)

A copy/paste runbook for queue pileups and jobs that run forever: scope, blocker, containment, safe recovery, and prevention guardrails.

FreeJan 21, 2026

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Why your background jobs hang forever (and no one notices)

Queues and scheduled jobs fail quietly: missing timeouts, missing heartbeats, and retries that hide failure. A practical runbook-style playbook for .NET systems.

Use this when a queue piles up or a scheduled job appears to run forever.

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What you get

stuck-job-runbook.md
job-heartbeat-logging-schema.md

How to use

Run the runbook during the incident to classify the failure mode and contain pressure.
Add the heartbeat schema so "it is running" becomes "it is making progress".

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Canonical: https://matrixtrak.com/resources/stuck-job-runbook-dotnet