Queue Management

The queue system enables batch processing of multiple websites with status tracking, priority ordering, and atomic claim operations. Perfect for processing hundreds of URLs with AI agents or parallel workers.

queue add

Add a single website to the queue.

Syntax

./scrapai queue add <url> --project <name> [options]

Arguments

string

required

Website URL to add to queue.

Options

string

default:"default"

Project name.

string

Custom instruction for processing this URL (e.g., “Focus on product pricing”).

integer

default:"5"

Priority level (higher = processed sooner). Range: 1-10.

Examples

# Simple add
./scrapai queue add https://example.com --project myproject

# With custom instructions
./scrapai queue add https://techsite.com --project tech \
  --message "Extract author and publication date"

# High priority
./scrapai queue add https://urgent.com --project news --priority 10

Output

$ ./scrapai queue add https://bbc.co.uk --project news --priority 8
✅ Added to queue (ID: 42)
   URL: https://bbc.co.uk
   Project: news
   Priority: 8

Duplicate Handling

Duplicates are detected by (project_name, website_url) combination and automatically skipped.

queue bulk

Bulk add URLs from CSV or JSON file.

Syntax

./scrapai queue bulk <file> --project <name> [options]

Arguments

string

required

Path to CSV or JSON file containing URLs.

Options

string

default:"default"

Project name for all URLs.

integer

default:"5"

Default priority for all URLs (can be overridden per-row).

CSV Format

Requires a url column. Optional: custom_instruction, priority.

url,custom_instruction,priority
https://bbc.co.uk,Focus on UK news,8
https://cnn.com,Focus on breaking news,9
https://reuters.com,,7

JSON Format

Array of objects with url field. Optional: custom_instruction, priority.

[
  {
    "url": "https://bbc.co.uk",
    "custom_instruction": "Focus on UK news",
    "priority": 8
  },
  {
    "url": "https://cnn.com",
    "custom_instruction": "Focus on breaking news",
    "priority": 9
  },
  {
    "url": "https://reuters.com",
    "priority": 7
  }
]

Examples

# Bulk add from CSV
./scrapai queue bulk websites.csv --project news

# Bulk add from JSON
./scrapai queue bulk urls.json --project ecommerce --priority 6

Output

$ ./scrapai queue bulk news_sites.csv --project news
✅ Bulk add complete:
   Added: 47
   Skipped (duplicates/invalid): 3
   Project: news
   Format: CSV

Use templates/queue-template.csv as a starting point for your CSV files.

queue list

List queue items with filtering.

Syntax

./scrapai queue list --project <name> [options]

Options

string

default:"default"

Project name.

string

Filter by status: pending, processing, completed, failed.

integer

default:"5"

Maximum items to show.

flag

Show all items including completed and failed (default shows only pending/processing).

flag

Show only the count, no details.

Examples

# Show pending/processing items (default)
./scrapai queue list --project news

# Show all items
./scrapai queue list --project news --all

# Show only failed items
./scrapai queue list --project news --status failed

# Count pending items
./scrapai queue list --project news --status pending --count

Output

$ ./scrapai queue list --project news
📋 Queue for project 'news':

⏳ [42] https://bbc.co.uk
   Status: pending | Priority: 8
   Instructions: Focus on UK news

🔄 [43] https://cnn.com
   Status: processing | Priority: 9
   Processing by: user@hostname (since 2026-02-28 15:30)

⏳ [44] https://reuters.com
   Status: pending | Priority: 7

queue next

Atomically claim the next pending item.

Syntax

./scrapai queue next --project <name>

Options

string

default:"default"

Project name.

Behavior

Atomically claims the highest priority pending item and locks it for processing. PostgreSQL uses FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED (race-safe). SQLite uses conditional UPDATE.

Example

./scrapai queue next --project news

Output

Item Claimed

🔄 Claimed item from queue:
   ID: 42
   URL: https://bbc.co.uk
   Instructions: Focus on UK news
   Priority: 8
   Locked by: user@hostname

Empty Queue

📬 No pending items in queue for project 'news'

queue complete

Mark an item as successfully completed.

Syntax

./scrapai queue complete <id>

Arguments

integer

required

Queue item ID.

Example

./scrapai queue complete 42

Output

✅ Item 42 marked as completed
   URL: https://bbc.co.uk

queue fail

Mark an item as failed with error message.

Syntax

./scrapai queue fail <id> [--message <error>]

Arguments

integer

required

Queue item ID.

Options

string

Error message explaining why processing failed.

Example

./scrapai queue fail 42 --message "Site requires login"

Output

❌ Item 42 marked as failed
   URL: https://bbc.co.uk
   Error: Site requires login

queue retry

Reset a failed item to pending status.

Syntax

./scrapai queue retry <id>

Arguments

integer

required

Queue item ID.

Example

./scrapai queue retry 42

Output

🔄 Item 42 reset to pending (retry count: 1)
   URL: https://bbc.co.uk

Retry count is tracked but not enforced. You can retry items indefinitely.

queue remove

Remove an item from the queue.

Syntax

./scrapai queue remove <id>

Arguments

integer

required

Queue item ID.

Example

./scrapai queue remove 42

Output

🗑️  Item 42 removed from queue
   URL: https://bbc.co.uk

queue cleanup

Bulk remove completed or failed items.

Syntax

./scrapai queue cleanup --project <name> [options]

Options

string

default:"default"

Project name.

flag

Remove all completed items.

flag

Remove all failed items.

flag

Remove all completed and failed items.

flag

Skip confirmation prompt.

Examples

# Clean up completed items
./scrapai queue cleanup --project news --completed

# Clean up failed items
./scrapai queue cleanup --project news --failed

# Clean up everything (completed + failed)
./scrapai queue cleanup --project news --all --force

Output

$ ./scrapai queue cleanup --project news --all
🗑️  Found 47 items to remove:
   ✅ [42] https://bbc.co.uk
   ✅ [43] https://cnn.com
   ❌ [44] https://broken-site.com
   ✅ [45] https://reuters.com
   ... and 43 more

Remove 47 items? (y/N): y
✅ Removed 47 items from queue

Status Values

pending: Waiting to be processed
processing: Currently being worked on (locked)
completed: Successfully processed
failed: Processing failed with error

Parallel Processing

Process queue items with multiple workers:

while true; do
  ./scrapai queue next --project news | grep "ID:" || break
  # Process the URL and mark complete/failed
done

Use PostgreSQL for parallel processing. SQLite may have race conditions under high concurrency.

​queue add

​Syntax

​Arguments

​Options

​Examples

​Output

​Duplicate Handling

​queue bulk

​Syntax

​Arguments

​Options

​CSV Format

​JSON Format

​Examples

​Output

​queue list

​Syntax

​Options

​Examples

​Output

​queue next

​Syntax

​Options

​Behavior

​Example

​Output

​Item Claimed

​Empty Queue

​queue complete

​Syntax

​Arguments

​Example

​Output

​queue fail

​Syntax

​Arguments

​Options

​Example

​Output

​queue retry

​Syntax

​Arguments

​Example

​Output

​queue remove

​Syntax

​Arguments

​Example

​Output

​queue cleanup

​Syntax

​Options

​Examples

​Output

​Status Values

​Parallel Processing

​Next Steps

Crawl Commands

Database

queue add

Syntax

Arguments

Options

Examples

Output

Duplicate Handling

queue bulk

Syntax

Arguments

Options

CSV Format

JSON Format

Examples

Output

queue list

Syntax

Options

Examples

Output

queue next

Syntax

Options

Behavior

Example

Output

Item Claimed

Empty Queue

queue complete

Syntax

Arguments

Example

Output

queue fail

Syntax

Arguments

Options

Example

Output

queue retry

Syntax

Arguments

Example

Output

queue remove

Syntax

Arguments

Example

Output

queue cleanup

Syntax

Options

Examples

Output

Status Values

Parallel Processing

Next Steps