AI engineering glossary · Data engineering
What is DLQ (dead letter queue)?
Dead letter queue (also called DLQ): A separate queue or topic that receives messages that could not be processed successfully after retries, such as malformed records. It keeps the main flow moving and lets engineers inspect and replay the failures.
Dead letter queue: an example
A record with invalid JSON is moved to orders_dlq, and the pipeline continues with the next message.
Related terms
More Data engineering terms
Where you learn it
Dead letter queue is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.