Queued notifications in Laravel - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Queued notifications

Trigger Notification Event

↓

Create Notification Instance

↓

Queue Notification Job

↓

Worker Picks Job from Queue

↓

Send Notification (Email, SMS, etc.)

↓

Mark Job as Completed

↓

Done

This flow shows how Laravel queues a notification: event triggers, notification is queued, a worker sends it, then marks it done.

Execution Sample

Laravel

Notification::route('mail', '[e-mail]')
    ->notify(new InvoicePaid($invoice));

This code sends a notification to an email address using Laravel's notification system, which can be queued.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Queue State	Worker Action	Notification Status
1	Trigger notification	Empty	Idle	Not sent
2	Create notification instance	Empty	Idle	Not sent
3	Queue notification job	Job added to queue	Idle	Queued
4	Worker picks job	Job removed from queue	Processing job	Sending
5	Send notification	Empty	Sending email to [e-mail]	Sent
6	Mark job completed	Empty	Idle	Completed

💡 Notification job processed and marked completed, queue is empty

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 3	After Step 4	After Step 6
Queue	Empty	1 job	Empty	Empty
Worker	Idle	Idle	Processing job	Idle
Notification Status	Not sent	Queued	Sending	Completed

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why does the notification not send immediately after calling notify()?

Because the notification is queued as a job (see Step 3 in execution_table), it waits in the queue until a worker processes it.

What happens if no worker is running?

The job stays in the queue (Step 3), and the notification remains unsent until a worker picks it up (Step 4).

How does Laravel know which channel to use for sending?

The notification class defines channels (mail, SMS, etc.), and the worker uses this info during sending (Step 5).

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, what is the Queue State after Step 3?

A Empty

B Job added to queue

C Job removed from queue

D Processing job

💡 Hint

Check the 'Queue State' column at Step 3 in the execution_table.

At which step does the worker start processing the notification job?

A Step 2

B Step 3

C Step 4

D Step 5

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Worker Action' column to see when it changes from Idle to Processing job.

If the worker never runs, what happens to the Notification Status?

A It stays Queued

B It becomes Sending

C It becomes Completed

D It becomes Not sent

💡 Hint

Refer to the 'Notification Status' in variable_tracker after Step 3 and Step 4.

Concept Snapshot

Laravel queued notifications:
- Trigger notification event
- Notification instance created
- Job queued (not sent immediately)
- Worker processes job
- Notification sent via defined channel
- Job marked completed
Use queues to avoid delays in user requests.

Full Transcript

In Laravel, queued notifications work by first triggering a notification event. This creates a notification instance, which is then queued as a job instead of sending immediately. The queue holds the job until a worker process picks it up. The worker then sends the notification through the specified channel, such as email. After sending, the job is marked as completed and removed from the queue. This process helps keep user requests fast by handling notifications asynchronously.