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[Logging & Monitoring](/categories/logging) 4. / 5. documateai/watchtower ActiveLibrary[Logging & Monitoring](/categories/logging) documateai/watchtower ===================== Cross-platform Laravel queue monitoring and worker management v3.3.1(2mo ago)02051MITPHPPHP ^8.2 Since Feb 5Pushed 2mo agoCompare [ Source](https://github.com/documateai/watchtower)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/documateai/watchtower)[ GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/nathanphelps)[ RSS](/packages/documateai-watchtower/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced 1mo ago READMEChangelogDependencies (9)Versions (26)Used By (0) Watchtower ========== [](#watchtower) [![Latest Version on Packagist](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/6e6049ed2ff9bfbec3e807bc382ea5470340fb6772d5fdec878836eac8b84afc/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f7061636b61676973742f762f646f63756d61746561692f7761746368746f7765722e7376673f7374796c653d666c61742d737175617265)](https://packagist.org/packages/documateai/watchtower)[![PHP Version](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/4de6c08dd1e0c6a0d6eb8751fba7a6dea34a5791b4defac89f857f309023d464/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f7061636b61676973742f7068702d762f646f63756d61746561692f7761746368746f7765722e7376673f7374796c653d666c61742d737175617265)](https://packagist.org/packages/documateai/watchtower)[![License](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/3935234da7f43ee58d3a842fc197c9ec07ed2e67ac5537dbed6ae7e33f382793/68747470733a2f2f696d672e736869656c64732e696f2f7061636b61676973742f6c2f646f63756d61746561692f7761746368746f7765722e7376673f7374796c653d666c61742d737175617265)](LICENSE.md) > Cross-platform Laravel queue monitoring and worker management dashboard Watchtower provides queue monitoring and worker management capabilities similar to Laravel Horizon, but with full cross-platform support including Windows. Unlike Horizon, which relies on PCNTL signals (Unix-only), Watchtower uses a polling-based approach for worker control that works on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Features -------- [](#features) - 📊 **Queue Monitoring Dashboard** - Real-time job tracking, status monitoring, and metrics - ⚙️ **Worker Management** - Start, stop, pause, resume workers from the web UI - 🖥️ **Cross-Platform** - Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS - 📋 **Job Tracking** - Job status, payload, exceptions, retries, worker info - 🎨 **Modern UI** - Alpine.js dark-themed dashboard (no build step required) - 🗑️ **Automatic Cleanup** - Time-based pruning of old job records Requirements ------------ [](#requirements) - PHP 8.2+ - Laravel 11 or 12 - Redis (optional -- required only when using the default `redis` command bus driver) Installation ------------ [](#installation) ``` composer require documateai/watchtower ``` Publish the configuration and assets: ``` php artisan vendor:publish --tag=watchtower-config php artisan vendor:publish --tag=watchtower-migrations php artisan migrate ``` Configuration ------------- [](#configuration) The package configuration is published to `config/watchtower.php`: ``` return [ // Dashboard URL path 'path' => env('WATCHTOWER_PATH', 'watchtower'), // Route middleware 'middleware' => ['web'], // Authorization gate 'gate' => env('WATCHTOWER_GATE', 'viewWatchtower'), // Command bus driver: 'redis' or 'database' 'command_bus' => env('WATCHTOWER_COMMAND_BUS', 'redis'), // Job retention (days) 'retention' => [ 'completed' => 7, 'failed' => 30, ], // Supervisor configuration 'supervisors' => [ 'default' => [ 'connection' => 'redis', 'queue' => '*', // Auto-discover all queues! // Or specify explicit queues: // 'queue' => ['default', 'emails', 'notifications'], 'min_processes' => 1, 'max_processes' => 10, 'tries' => 3, 'timeout' => 60, ], ], ]; ``` Usage ----- [](#usage) ### Starting the Supervisor [](#starting-the-supervisor) Run the supervisor to automatically manage your queue workers: ``` php artisan watchtower:supervisor ``` The supervisor will: - **Auto-discover all queues** in your application (Redis keys, job records) - Maintain the minimum number of workers - Restart failed workers automatically - Monitor worker health via heartbeats > **Tip:** Set `'queue' => '*'` in your config (default) to automatically detect and process all queues. Or specify explicit queues: `'queue' => ['default', 'emails', 'high']` ### Manual Worker Control [](#manual-worker-control) Start a single worker manually: ``` php artisan watchtower:worker default ``` ### Zero-Downtime Deployments [](#zero-downtime-deployments) Gracefully restart all workers after deploying new code: ``` php artisan watchtower:restart ``` Options: - `--queue=emails` - Only restart workers on a specific queue - `--force` - Force immediate restart (don't wait for current job) Workers will finish processing their current job, then restart with fresh code. ### Terminating All Processes [](#terminating-all-processes) Stop the supervisor and all workers (similar to `horizon:terminate`): ``` php artisan watchtower:terminate ``` Options: - `--wait` - Wait for all workers to finish before returning ### Accessing the Dashboard [](#accessing-the-dashboard) Visit `/watchtower` in your browser. By default, the dashboard is only accessible in local environments. Configure the gate in your `AuthServiceProvider` for production: ``` Gate::define('viewWatchtower', function ($user) { return in_array($user->email, [ 'admin@example.com', ]); }); ``` ### Pruning Old Jobs [](#pruning-old-jobs) Watchtower automatically prunes old job records. You can also run the prune command manually: ``` php artisan watchtower:prune ``` How It Works ------------ [](#how-it-works) ### Polling-Based Control via CommandBus [](#polling-based-control-via-commandbus) Unlike Horizon which uses PCNTL signals (Unix-only), Watchtower uses a `CommandBusInterface` for worker control with two drivers: - **Redis** (default) -- fast, uses `Redis::connection()` - **Database** -- no Redis required, uses `watchtower_commands` table ``` WATCHTOWER_COMMAND_BUS=database # set in .env to use database driver ``` 1. Dashboard sends command via CommandBus: `$commandBus->put("watchtower:worker:{id}:command", "stop")` 2. Worker polls the CommandBus every 3 seconds 3. Worker reads and executes the command 4. Worker confirms status in database This approach provides: - ✅ Cross-platform compatibility - ✅ No PCNTL dependency - ✅ Redis optional (database driver available) - ✅ Simple debugging - ⚠️ 1-3 second response delay (acceptable for worker management) ### Dashboard Updates [](#dashboard-updates) The dashboard polls for updates every 3 seconds (configurable). This provides near-real-time visibility into: - Job counts and status - Worker health and activity - Throughput metrics Artisan Commands ---------------- [](#artisan-commands) CommandDescription`watchtower:supervisor`Start the supervisor to manage workers`watchtower:worker {queue}`Start a single worker process`watchtower:restart`Gracefully restart all workers`watchtower:terminate`Stop supervisor and all workers`watchtower:status`Show current supervisor and worker status`watchtower:prune`Prune old job recordsLicense ------- [](#license) MIT License. See [LICENSE.md](LICENSE.md) for details. Contributing ------------ [](#contributing) Contributions are welcome! Please see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for details. Security -------- [](#security) If you discover a security vulnerability, please send an email instead of using the issue tracker. See [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md) for details. Credits ------- [](#credits) - [Nathan Phelps](https://github.com/nathanphelps) - [Claude Code](https://claude.ai) - AI pair programming assistant - [All Contributors](../../contributors) ### Health Score 42 — FairBetter than 90% of packages Maintenance83 Actively maintained with recent releases Popularity12 Limited adoption so far Community7 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity56 Maturing project, gaining track record Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 100% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~1 days Total 25 Last Release 85d ago Major Versions v1.1.4 → v2.0.02026-02-10 v2.0.0 → v3.0.02026-02-10 ### Community Maintainers ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/96e5b7a55fed4741fd072e7384ac51dda7020815889ab8c47ebc78c955b1e023?d=identicon)[nathanphelps](/maintainers/nathanphelps) --- Top Contributors [![nathanphelps](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/26461946?v=4)](https://github.com/nathanphelps "nathanphelps (36 commits)") --- Tags laravelmonitoringlaravel 12queuewindowscross-platformhorizonworkers ### Code Quality TestsPHPUnit Code StyleLaravel Pint ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/documateai-watchtower/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/documateai-watchtower/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/documateai-watchtower) ``` ### Alternatives [laravel/horizon Dashboard and code-driven configuration for Laravel queues. 4.2k84.2M225](/packages/laravel-horizon)[spatie/laravel-health Monitor the health of a Laravel application 85810.0M83](/packages/spatie-laravel-health)[laravel/pulse Laravel Pulse is a real-time application performance monitoring tool and dashboard for your Laravel application. 1.7k12.1M99](/packages/laravel-pulse)[yangusik/laravel-balanced-queue Laravel queue management with load balancing between partitions (user groups) 786.4k](/packages/yangusik-laravel-balanced-queue)[shaffe/laravel-mail-log-channel A package to support logging via email in Laravel 1286.2k](/packages/shaffe-laravel-mail-log-channel) PHPackages © 2026 [Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)