ActiveJob Adapter Setup

This guide covers the setup and configuration for using Axn with the ActiveJob adapter.

Basic Setup

To use ActiveJob with Axn, configure your actions with async :active_job:

class SendEmailAction
  include Axn

  async :active_job do
    queue_as :mailers
    retry_on StandardError, wait: 5.seconds, attempts: 3
  end

  expects :user, :template

  def call
    # Send email logic
  end
end

# Execute in background
SendEmailAction.call_async(user: user, template: "welcome")

How It Works

Unlike the Sidekiq adapter (where your action class becomes the worker), the ActiveJob adapter creates a proxy job class that inherits from ActiveJob::Base. This proxy:

1. Receives the job arguments
2. Calls your action with those arguments
3. Handles the result (re-raising exceptions for retry, swallowing business failures)

Configuration

Per-Action Configuration

Use a block to configure ActiveJob options:

class MyAction
  include Axn

  async :active_job do
    queue_as :critical
    retry_on NetworkError, wait: :polynomially_longer, attempts: 5
    discard_on ActiveRecord::RecordNotFound
  end
end

WARNING

ActiveJob adapter requires a configuration block. Keyword arguments are not supported because ActiveJob methods like retry_on and discard_on require exception classes as arguments:

# ❌ This will raise an error
async :active_job, queue: "critical"

# ✅ Use a block instead
async :active_job do
  queue_as :critical
end

Global Default

Set a default ActiveJob configuration for all actions:

Axn.configure do |c|
  c.set_default_async(:active_job) do
    queue_as :default
    retry_on StandardError, wait: 5.seconds, attempts: 3
  end
end

Error Handling Behavior

Business Failures (fail!)

When an action calls fail!, it's treated as a deliberate business decision:

• The job does NOT retry
• The job completes successfully (from ActiveJob's perspective)
• on_exception is NOT triggered

class PaymentAction
  include Axn
  async :active_job

  def call
    # This will NOT trigger retries - job completes immediately
    fail! "Card declined" if card_declined? 
  end
end

Unexpected Exceptions

When an unexpected exception occurs:

• The job DOES retry (based on your retry_on configuration)
• on_exception is triggered based on async_exception_reporting setting

class SyncAction
  include Axn

  async :active_job do
    retry_on NetworkError, wait: 5.seconds, attempts: 3
  end

  def call
    # This WILL trigger retries (if NetworkError)
    raise NetworkError, "Connection timeout"
  end
end

Retry Tracking

ActiveJob provides retry information through its built-in executions counter:

• executions == 1: First attempt
• executions == 2: First retry
• executions == 3: Second retry
• etc.

Axn uses this to build retry context for exception reporting.

Max Retries Detection

Axn determines max retries in this order:

1. Job's retry_limit: If your job class defines a retry limit via retry_on
2. Axn.config.async_max_retries: If you've explicitly configured this
3. Backend detection: Axn attempts to detect if Sidekiq is the backend and uses its default (25)
4. Fallback: 5 (matches ActiveJob's retry_on default)

Retry Context in Exception Reports

When on_exception is triggered, the context includes retry information:

Axn.configure do |c|
  c.on_exception = proc do |e, action:, context:|
    if context[:async]
      puts "Adapter: #{context[:async][:adapter]}"  # => :active_job
      puts "Attempt: #{context[:async][:attempt]}"
      puts "Max retries: #{context[:async][:max_retries]}"
      puts "Job ID: #{context[:async][:job_id]}"
    end

    Honeybadger.notify(e, context: context)
  end
end

Using with Sidekiq Backend

If you're using ActiveJob with Sidekiq as the backend:

# config/application.rb
config.active_job.queue_adapter = :sidekiq

In this case:

• Retry tracking uses ActiveJob's executions counter (not Sidekiq's retry_count)
• You don't need to register Sidekiq middleware for ActiveJob actions
• The Sidekiq middleware only applies to actions using async :sidekiq directly

Choosing Between Adapters

Use async :sidekiq when...	Use async :active_job when...
You want direct Sidekiq control	You want backend portability
You need Sidekiq-specific features (batches, etc.)	You're using non-Sidekiq backend
Performance is critical	You prefer Rails conventions

Discarded Job Handling

Axn automatically registers an after_discard callback on the proxy job class. This triggers on_exception when:

• discard_on catches an exception
• retry_on exhausts all retries
• An unhandled exception causes the job to be discarded

This means :first_and_exhausted and :only_exhausted modes work correctly—exceptions are reported when the job is actually discarded, not just on the final attempt.

class MyAction
  include Axn

  async :active_job do
    discard_on ValidationError  # Will trigger on_exception when discarded 
    retry_on NetworkError, attempts: 3  # Will trigger on_exception when exhausted
  end

  def call
    # ...
  end
end

The discard context includes discarded: true in the async info:

Axn.configure do |c|
  c.on_exception = proc do |e, context:|
    if context.dig(:async, :discarded)
      puts "Job was discarded!"
    end
  end
end

WARNING

With :only_exhausted mode, non-retryable errors should use discard_on so Rails calls after_discard and the exception is reported. If you use retry_on with a block that swallows the exception (using next without re-raising), Rails does not call after_discard, so those exceptions will not be reported in :only_exhausted mode.

# ✅ Good: discard_on triggers after_discard → exception reported
discard_on ValidationError

# ❌ Problem: next without re-raise swallows exception → not reported
retry_on StandardError do |job, exception|
  next if non_retryable?(exception)  # Job completes, but no after_discard
end

Limitations

Retry Configuration

ActiveJob's retry behavior is defined per-exception type via retry_on, while Sidekiq uses a global retry count. Make sure to configure retry_on for the exceptions you expect:

async :active_job do
  # Retry network errors
  retry_on NetworkError, wait: :polynomially_longer, attempts: 5

  # Retry rate limiting with longer wait
  retry_on RateLimitError, wait: 1.minute, attempts: 10

  # Don't retry validation errors
  discard_on ValidationError
end

Troubleshooting

Jobs not retrying

Ensure you've configured retry_on for the exception types you expect:

async :active_job do
  retry_on StandardError, attempts: 3  # Catch-all retry
end

Wrong max_retries in context

If context[:async][:max_retries] doesn't match your expectations:

1. Check if your job has retry_limit defined (from retry_on)
2. Try setting Axn.config.async_max_retries explicitly
3. Verify Sidekiq detection is working (if using Sidekiq backend)

Jobs not completing on fail!

This is expected behavior. fail! indicates a business decision, and the job completes successfully (from ActiveJob's perspective) without retrying.