How does Laravel handle failed jobs, and what are the roles of failed() and Exponential Backoff?

Short answer

It retries a job according to $tries; if it continues to fail, it records it in failed_jobs and calls failed() for cleanup or alerts.

Explanation

An exception in handle() fails the attempt. If public int $tries = 3 is set, the worker retries. With public array $backoff = [10, 30, 60], each retry is delayed progressively to reduce pressure on unavailable services. If all attempts fail, Laravel moves the job to failed_jobs and calls failed(Throwable $e) to alert the team or roll back operations.

Code example

class ProcessPayment implements ShouldQueue {
    public int $tries = 3;
    public array $backoff = [30, 60, 120];

    public function failed(Throwable $exception): void {
        Log::critical("Payment job failed permanently: " . $exception->getMessage());
    }
}

Common mistakes

• Setting an unlimited number of attempts for a job that fails due to a persistent Logic Error, freezing Queue Workers.

Follow-up questions

• What is the main difference between php artisan queue:work and queue:listen?
• How do you handle Stuck Jobs, and how does a job's $timeout differ from a worker's --timeout?

Sources

• Laravel docs — Dealing With Failed Jobs