From 6d0007c3ddfcd4ad090ac99ca3bb197e0a21c015 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sai Asish Y <say.apm35@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 21 May 2026 01:46:09 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix: record error message and backtrace when job expires

---
 lib/que/job_methods.rb  | 18 ++++++++++++++----
 lib/que/worker.rb       |  6 +++++-
 spec/que/worker_spec.rb | 13 +++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 32 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lib/que/job_methods.rb b/lib/que/job_methods.rb
index 0e07b2c4..02c3ef6b 100644
--- a/lib/que/job_methods.rb
+++ b/lib/que/job_methods.rb
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ module Que
   SQL[:expire_job] =
     %{
       UPDATE public.que_jobs
-      SET error_count = error_count + 1,
-          expired_at = now()
-      WHERE id = $1::bigint
+      SET error_count          = error_count + 1,
+          expired_at           = now(),
+          last_error_message   = COALESCE(left($1::text, 500), last_error_message),
+          last_error_backtrace = COALESCE(left($2::text, 10000), last_error_backtrace)
+      WHERE id = $3::bigint
     }
 
   SQL[:destroy_job] =
@@ -101,7 +103,15 @@ def expire
       return unless que_target
 
       if id = que_target.que_attrs[:id]
-        Que.execute :expire_job, [id]
+        if e = que_target.que_error
+          message = "#{e.class}: #{e.message}".slice(0, 500)
+          backtrace = (e.backtrace || []).join("\n").slice(0, 10000)
+        else
+          message = nil
+          backtrace = nil
+        end
+
+        Que.execute :expire_job, [message, backtrace, id]
       end
 
       que_target.que_resolved = true
diff --git a/lib/que/worker.rb b/lib/que/worker.rb
index 00ef19aa..aeb5ae3d 100644
--- a/lib/que/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/que/worker.rb
@@ -153,7 +153,11 @@ def work_job(metajob)
         max_retry_count = job_class.resolve_que_setting(:maximum_retry_count)
 
         if max_retry_count && error_count > max_retry_count
-          Que.execute :expire_job, [job.fetch(:id)]
+          Que.execute :expire_job, [
+            "#{error.class}: #{error.message}".slice(0, 500),
+            (error.backtrace || []).join("\n").slice(0, 10000),
+            job.fetch(:id),
+          ]
         else
           delay =
             job_class.
diff --git a/spec/que/worker_spec.rb b/spec/que/worker_spec.rb
index c5851701..4df502a1 100644
--- a/spec/que/worker_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/que/worker_spec.rb
@@ -354,6 +354,19 @@ def run(*args)
             end
           end
         end
+
+        it "should record the error message and backtrace on the expired job" do
+          WorkerJob.maximum_retry_count = 0
+          job = WorkerJob.enqueue
+          ds = jobs_dataset.where(id: job.que_attrs[:id])
+
+          run_jobs
+
+          row = ds.first
+          assert_in_delta row[:expired_at], Time.now, QueSpec::TIME_SKEW
+          assert_equal "RuntimeError: Blah!", row[:last_error_message]
+          assert_match(/\A#{__FILE__}/, row[:last_error_backtrace].split("\n").first)
+        end
       end
     end