Overview

Rails Pulse tracks background jobs automatically using ActiveJob instrumentation hooks. No adapter-specific configuration is required — it works out of the box with any ActiveJob-compatible adapter.

Two tracking modes are used depending on the adapter:

• Enhanced tracking — deeper integration via custom middleware or plugins, providing more accurate timing and retry data
• Universal tracking — standard ActiveJob callbacks that work with any adapter

Supported Adapters

Adapter-Specific Notes

Sidekiq

Rails Pulse installs a custom Sidekiq server middleware that wraps each job attempt. This gives more accurate duration tracking across retries compared to universal tracking.

No extra configuration is needed — the middleware is registered automatically when Sidekiq is detected.

Solid Queue

Universal ActiveJob tracking applies. All standard job metrics (duration, status, retries) are captured. Recurring jobs configured via Solid Queue’s mission control are tracked per-execution.

To exclude recurring maintenance jobs from tracking:

RailsPulse.configure do |config|
  config.ignored_jobs = ["SolidQueue::RecurringTask"]
end

Good Job

Universal ActiveJob tracking applies. Good Job’s cron-scheduled jobs are tracked individually per execution. To exclude cron jobs:

RailsPulse.configure do |config|
  config.ignored_jobs = ["MyScheduledCronJob"]
end

Delayed Job

Rails Pulse installs a custom Delayed::Plugin that hooks into the Delayed Job lifecycle. This enables enhanced tracking including accurate failure detection and retry counts.

Configuration

Customize job tracking in config/initializers/rails_pulse.rb:

RailsPulse.configure do |config|
  # Enable or disable job tracking globally (default: true)
  config.track_jobs = true

  # Performance thresholds for jobs (in milliseconds)
  config.job_thresholds = {
    slow: 5_000,        # 5 seconds
    very_slow: 30_000,  # 30 seconds
    critical: 60_000    # 1 minute
  }

  # Ignore specific job classes
  config.ignored_jobs = [
    "ActiveStorage::AnalyzeJob",
    "ActiveStorage::PurgeJob"
  ]

  # Ignore specific queues
  config.ignored_queues = ["low_priority", "mailers"]

  # Capture job arguments for debugging (default: false)
  # WARNING: May expose sensitive data — use with caution
  config.capture_job_arguments = false

  # Per-adapter settings
  config.job_adapters = {
    sidekiq:      { enabled: true, track_queue_depth: false },
    solid_queue:  { enabled: true, track_recurring: false },
    good_job:     { enabled: true, track_cron: false },
    delayed_job:  { enabled: true },
    resque:       { enabled: true }
  }
end

Disabling Tracking Per Job

To skip tracking for a specific job without adding it to ignored_jobs:

class MyBackgroundJob < ApplicationJob
  def perform(*args)
    RailsPulse.with_tracking_disabled do
      # Job logic here — Rails Pulse will not record this execution
    end
  end
end

Privacy & Job Arguments

Job argument capture is disabled by default to protect sensitive data. Arguments may contain user credentials, PII, API keys, or other sensitive business data.

Only enable capture_job_arguments in development or when explicitly needed for debugging:

RailsPulse.configure do |config|
  config.capture_job_arguments = true  # Development only
end

Privacy Warning: Do not enable capture_job_arguments in production unless you have confirmed that your job arguments contain no sensitive information.

Viewing Job Data

Access the jobs dashboard at /rails_pulse/jobs to view:

• All job classes with aggregate metrics (total runs, failure rate, P95 duration)
• Individual job executions with detailed performance data
• Filter by time range, status, queue, and performance threshold
• Tagging support for organizing jobs by team, priority, or category

Next Steps

• Advanced Configuration — Thresholds, filtering, and data retention
• Tagging — Organize job data with custom tags