Rate limiting mailables

use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiter;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\RateLimiter as RateLimiterFacade;

// In AppServiceProvider boot method:
RateLimiterFacade::for('mailing-list', function (object $job) {
    return $job->user->rateLimit(5)->perMinute(); // A - defined first time
    // Or a global limit:
    // return Limit::perMinute(5);
});

class SendUserEmail implements ShouldQueue
{
    // ...
    public function middleware(): array
    {
        return [
            // Define the rate limit: e.g., 5 emails per minute
            (new RateLimited('mailing-list'))
                ->allow(5)->every(60)   // B - why do this again?
                // If rate limited, release the job back for 60 seconds
                ->releaseAfterSeconds(60),
        ];
    }
}

AI suggested the above code to me
Why do we need to define the rate limiting 2 times in A and B?

Glukinho

3 months ago

Level 31

What are you're trying to achieve in the first place?

As for me, I'm not ready to fix AI generated problems, people generated are more than enough...

laracoft

3 months ago

Level 27

Ok, I want to slow down sending emails, say send only 10 emails every minute, but I don't want any emails to be dropped and they have to be sent from a job running on a queue

Glukinho

3 months ago

Level 31

AppServiceProvider

RateLimiter::for('mail', function (object $job) {
    return Limit::perMinute(10);
 });

Job

public function middleware(): array
{
    return [new RateLimited('mail')];
}

Also don't forget to increase job's $tries / $maxExceptions / retryUntil() as by default a job is run only once and it will be marked as failed after first rate limiter hit.

https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/queues#rate-limiting

Also note that rate limiting doesn't guarantee smooth consumption, which means if you have 100 jobs in a queue 10 of them will be dispatched quickly (in 5 seconds lets say) and worker will wait next 55 seconds until new minute begins. Try to play with releaseAfter(...) or perSecond(...) to make it smoother through time.

laracoft

3 months ago

Level 27

where do I add releaseAfter and perSecond?

Glukinho

3 months ago

Level 31

Did you read the docs?

I suggest you first try simple Limit::perMinute(10) as we already gave you, play with complex ways if it doesn't satisfy your case.

DigitalArtisan

3 months ago

Level 2

When you prompt AI correclty, you should get this:

The Correct Way to Throttle Emails in Laravel with Jobs and Queues

Step 1: Use Queue Middleware (`RateLimited`)

This is the core part of the solution. To throttle emails, you add middleware to your job to enforce the rate limit:

use Illuminate\Queue\Middleware\RateLimited;

class SendEmailJob implements ShouldQueue
{
    public function middleware()
    {
        return [
            new RateLimited('mailing-list'),
        ];
    }

    public function handle()
    {
        // Logic to send the email
    }
}

This ensures the job respects the rate limit defined later.

Step 2: Define Rate Limit in `AppServiceProvider`

In your AppServiceProvider@boot(), you define the rate-limiting logic:

use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiter;
use Illuminate\Cache\RateLimiting\Limit;

public function boot()
{
    RateLimiter::for('mailing-list', function (SendEmailJob $job) {
        return Limit::perMinute(10)->by($job->userId);
    });
}

This sets a 10 emails per minute limit for each user (based on userId).

Step 3: Use Redis as Queue and Cache Driver

Redis is required for distributed rate-limiting. Ensure your .env file is configured like this:

QUEUE_CONNECTION=redis
CACHE_DRIVER=redis

Redis ensures the limit is applied safely across multiple workers or instances.

Step 4: Run the Queue Worker

Run the queue worker to process the jobs:

php artisan queue:work redis

This worker will now respect the rate limit (10 emails per minute in this example) and retry any jobs that exceed the rate limit.

Key Points:

Only one correct method, with 4 steps to implement.
Redis is mandatory for safe, scalable rate-limiting.
RateLimited middleware handles job throttling.
No emails are dropped—they’re released back to the queue when the limit is hit.