#Add and remove queues at runtime

Applies to: all adapters.

createBullBoard isn't a one-shot call. It also returns four functions that change which queues the board shows while it's running, with no rebuild or restart:

const { addQueue, removeQueue, setQueues, replaceQueues } = createBullBoard({
  queues: [new BullMQAdapter(emailQueue)],
  serverAdapter,
});

Use them when queues aren't all known at startup: per-tenant queues created on demand, queues discovered from a registry, or a dashboard that follows queues as workers spin them up and down.

#The four functions

Queues are keyed by name (queue.getName(), which includes any prefix you set). Registering two adapters that resolve to the same name means the second wins.

#Add a queue on demand

const board = createBullBoard({ queues: [], serverAdapter });

function onTenantCreated(tenantId: string) {
  const queue = new Queue(`emails-${tenantId}`, { connection });
  board.addQueue(new BullMQAdapter(queue));
}

function onTenantDeleted(tenantId: string) {
  board.removeQueue(`emails-${tenantId}`);
}

The dashboard picks up the change on its next poll, with no reload or remount.

#Sync the board to a known set

setQueues vs replaceQueues differ only in what happens to queues you don't pass:

// Board currently shows: A, B, C

board.setQueues([b, d]);      // → A, B, C, D  (adds D, updates B, keeps A and C)
board.replaceQueues([b, d]);  // → B, D        (drops A and C)

Reach for replaceQueues when you have the authoritative full list and want the board to mirror it exactly. Reach for setQueues when you're merging in a batch and don't want to disturb queues registered elsewhere.

#Notes

• Changes take effect on the next request. The functions write to the same Map the board reads each time, so there's no cache to bust.
• Removing a queue only detaches it from the dashboard. It doesn't close the Bull/BullMQ connection or touch Redis, so clean those up yourself if the queue is really gone.
• On NestJS you don't hold the return value of createBullBoard directly. The module already calls addQueue when you register feature queues, and it exposes the same board instance for manual changes via @InjectBullBoard() board: BullBoardInstance. See examples/with-nestjs-module.

#Source of truth

The four functions are built in packages/api/src/queuesApi.ts and returned from createBullBoard in packages/api/src/index.ts.