Soenneker.Utils.BackgroundQueue

A high-performance background Task / ValueTask queue

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Overview

BackgroundQueue provides a fast, controlled way to execute background work in .NET applications. It prevents overload by queueing and processing work asynchronously with configurable limits and built-in tracking.

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Features

• Supports both Task and ValueTask
• Configurable queue size
• Tracks running and pending work
• Simple DI registration
• Hosted service for automatic background processing

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Installation

dotnet add package Soenneker.Utils.BackgroundQueue

Register the queue:

void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.AddBackgroundQueueAsSingleton();
}

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Starting & Stopping

Start

await serviceProvider.WarmupAndStartBackgroundQueue(cancellationToken);

Synchronous start:

serviceProvider.WarmupAndStartBackgroundQueueSync(cancellationToken);

Stop

await serviceProvider.StopBackgroundQueue(cancellationToken);

Synchronous stop:

serviceProvider.StopBackgroundQueueSync(cancellationToken);

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Configuration

{
  "Background": {
    "QueueLength": 5000,
    "LockCounts": false,
    "Log": false
  }
}

• QueueLength – Maximum number of queued items
• LockCounts – Enables thread-safe tracking of running work
• Log – Enables debug logging

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Using the Queue

Inject IBackgroundQueue:

IBackgroundQueue _queue;

void MyClass(IBackgroundQueue queue)
{
    _queue = queue;
}

Queueing a ValueTask

await _queue.QueueValueTask(_ => someValueTask(), cancellationToken);

Queueing a Task

await _queue.QueueTask(_ => someTask(), cancellationToken);

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?? Performance Tip: Prefer Stateful Queueing

Avoid capturing variables in lambdas when queueing work. Captured lambdas allocate and can impact performance under load.

? Avoid (captures state)

await _queue.QueueTask(ct => DoWorkAsync(id, ct));

If id is a local variable, this creates a closure.

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? Recommended: Pass State Explicitly

Use the stateful overloads with static lambdas.

ValueTask

await _queue.QueueValueTask(
    myService,
    static (svc, ct) => svc.ProcessAsync(ct),
    ct);

Task

await _queue.QueueTask(
    (logger, id),
    static (s, ct) => s.logger.RunAsync(s.id, ct),
    ct);

Why this is better:

• No closure allocations
• Lower GC pressure
• Best performance for high-throughput queues

The non-stateful overloads remain available for convenience, but stateful queueing is recommended for hot paths.

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Waiting for the Queue to Empty

await queue.WaitUntilEmpty(cancellationToken);

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Task Tracking

Check if work is still processing:

bool isProcessing = await queueInformationUtil.IsProcessing(cancellationToken);

Get current counts:

var (taskCount, valueTaskCount) =
    await queueInformationUtil.GetCountsOfProcessing(cancellationToken);