> For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at /bull-board/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at /bull-board/llms-full.txt.

# Queue Adapters

Queue adapters wrap your Bull or BullMQ queue instances so the board can read and manipulate them. The core `@bull-board/api` ships with three built-in adapters; third-party queue systems can add their own.

## Built-in adapters

| Queue system | Adapter            | Docs                                                     |
| ------------ | ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Bull         | `BullAdapter`      | [Bull →](/bull-board/queue-adapters/bull.md)             |
| BullMQ       | `BullMQAdapter`    | [BullMQ →](/bull-board/queue-adapters/bullmq.md)         |
| BullMQ Pro   | `BullMQProAdapter` | [BullMQ Pro →](/bull-board/queue-adapters/bullmq-pro.md) |

`BullMQProAdapter` extends `BullMQAdapter` to handle [Pro groups](https://docs.bullmq.io/bullmq-pro/introduction). All `BullMQAdapter` options work the same way on it.

`BullMQAdapter` covers BullMQ v5 and v6, including [v6 queues stored in PostgreSQL](/bull-board/recipes/postgres-backend.md). See [supported versions](/bull-board/queue-adapters/bullmq.md#supported-versions) for the two differences you can see in the UI.

## Shared options

All adapters accept the same optional options:

| Option                  | Type                              | Default | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `readOnlyMode`          | `boolean`                         | `false` | Hides all queue and job actions.                                                                                                                                                                              |
| `allowRetries`          | `boolean`                         | `true`  | Shows or hides the retry buttons on **failed** jobs. Forced to `false` when `readOnlyMode` is `true`.                                                                                                         |
| `allowCompletedRetries` | `boolean`                         | `true`  | Shows or hides the retry button on **completed** jobs. Only takes effect when `allowRetries` is `true`. Always `false` on `BullAdapter` (Bull can't retry completed jobs).                                    |
| `description`           | `string`                          | `''`    | Queue description text displayed in the UI.                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `displayName`           | `string`                          | `''`    | Overrides the queue name shown in the UI.                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `prefix`                | `string`                          | `''`    | Prepended to job names in the UI.                                                                                                                                                                             |
| `delimiter`             | `string`                          | `''`    | Delimiter between the prefix and the job name.                                                                                                                                                                |
| `externalJobUrl`        | `(job) => { href, displayText? }` | none    | Links each job card to a page in your own app. See [External job URLs](/bull-board/recipes/external-job-url.md).                                                                                              |
| `jobDataSchema`         | `object` (JSON Schema)            | none    | Describes the shape of a job's `data`. Drives the **Add job** form: prefills the editor with a starting value and turns on schema-aware autocomplete and validation. See [Job data schema](#job-data-schema). |

## Job data schema

Pass a [JSON Schema](https://json-schema.org/) as `jobDataSchema` to teach the dashboard what a queue's job `data` looks like. The **Add job** form then does three things with it:

- **Prefills** the job data editor with a starting value: the schema's `default`, otherwise its first `examples` entry, otherwise a skeleton built from `properties` (each key seeded with its own `default` or a typed placeholder).
- **Autocompletes** the expected keys as you type, with any `description` shown on hover.
- **Validates** the JSON against the schema inline, flagging missing required fields, wrong types, and unknown keys before you submit.

```ts
new BullMQAdapter(resetPassword, {
  jobDataSchema: {
    type: 'object',
    additionalProperties: false,
    required: ['userId', 'email'],
    properties: {
      userId: { type: 'string', description: 'Internal id of the user requesting the reset.' },
      email: { type: 'string', format: 'email', description: 'Address the reset link is sent to.' },
      locale: { type: 'string', description: 'BCP-47 locale for the email template.', default: 'en' },
    },
  },
});
```

![The Add job form prefilled from a queue's job data schema](/screenshots/add-job-schema.png)

The schema is documentation for the dashboard only. It is not enforced by Bull or BullMQ, so keep it in step with what your worker actually expects.

## Instance methods

All adapters expose `setFormatter` and `setVisibilityGuard`:

```ts
adapter.setFormatter('name', (job) => `#${job.name}`);
adapter.setFormatter('data', (data) => redact(data));
adapter.setFormatter('returnValue', (value) => redact(value));
adapter.setFormatter('progress', (progress) => `${Math.round(progress)}%`);

adapter.setVisibilityGuard((request) => {
  // return true to show this queue, false to hide it
  return request.headers['x-tenant-id'] === 'acme';
});
```

## Mixing adapters

You can mix Bull and BullMQ queues in the same board:

```ts
createBullBoard({
  queues: [
    new BullAdapter(bullQueue),
    new BullMQAdapter(bullmqQueue),
    new BullMQProAdapter(bullmqProQueue),
  ],
  serverAdapter,
});
```