Laravel 12.37 Release: Background Queue Connections & Async Wins

Laravel 12.37 has landed, and it’s time to celebrate the features every backend developer has been waiting for. Background queue connections and async task handling make a quantum leap in scaling, reliability, and developer experience. Here’s what’s new, why it matters, and how you can supercharge your app today.

What’s New in Laravel 12.37?

1. Background Queue Connections

The biggest headline: you can now define queue connections that run completely in the background—no blocking requests, more reliable job handling, and easier scaling.

Configure your queue to process jobs outside the request-response cycle.
Reduce bottlenecks and mitigate failures.

Sample config:

'connections' => [
    'async' => [
        'driver' => 'redis',
        'background' => true, // NEW!
        'queue' => 'high',
    ],
]

2. Native Async Task Execution

Laravel’s queue system now supports native async jobs, which let you dispatch heavy tasks without worrying about timeouts or user experience drop-offs.

Uploads, third-party API calls, data crunching—all run seamlessly away from web traffic.

How to use:

dispatch(new GenerateReportJob())->onQueue('async');

Why This Matters (And Where You Win!)

Scalability: Handle thousands of background jobs simultaneously, thanks to async connections.
Resilience: Jobs aren’t lost if a request fails or connection blips—they persist until processed.
Developer Happiness: Fewer hacks and third-party workarounds; pure Laravel code.

Real-World Example

Scenario:
A SaaS dashboard needs to aggregate heavy metrics and deliver instant login speed for users.

Before 12.37:

Metrics jobs could choke up the queue.
Slow user experience during spikes.

After 12.37:

Set metrics jobs to async background connection.
Users log in fast—stats generate quietly and reliably behind the scenes.

How To Upgrade & Use

Update Laravel via Composer:bashcomposer update laravel/framework
Enable background queues in your config/queue.php.
Dispatch async jobs as shown above.
Monitor new queue behaviors with Laravel’s built-in queue dashboard.

Pro Tips

Use named queues (“high”, “reports”) for priority handling.
Combine event broadcasting with background queues for instant UI feedback.
Test locally with php artisan queue:work --queue=async to watch jobs fly.

Conclusion

Laravel 12.37’s background queue and async wins are set to redefine how modern web apps scale and serve users. Upgrade your projects, experiment with the new features, and unlock more performance from every deploy. Have you tried 12.37 yet? Share your story and favorite async win in the comments!