Replacing Your Message Queue with PostgreSQL: LISTEN/NOTIFY, SKIP LOCKED Queues, and When Kafka Is Overkill for Your Startup

--- title : " PostgreSQL as Your Message Queue: SKIP LOCKED Queues and LISTEN/NOTIFY in Practice" published : true description : " Build a reliable job queue and event bus using only PostgreSQL. Working SQL, Node.js snippets, benchmarks, and the failure signals that tell you when to graduate to Kafka." tags : postgresql, architecture, backend, devops canonical_url : https://blog.mvp-factory.com/postgresql-as-message-queue-skip-locked-listen-notify --- ## What We Are Building Let me show you a pattern I use in every project that needs background jobs or event fanout: **PostgreSQL as your message queue** . No Kafka. No RabbitMQ. Just the database you already run. By the end of this tutorial, you will have: 1. A durable worker queue using `FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED` 2. A lightweight pub/sub channel using `LISTEN/NOTIFY` 3. A clear understanding of when this stops being enough I have pushed this pattern past 10,000 jobs/sec on modest hardware. You probably process fewer than 500/sec today. Le