Background Jobs and Error Log
Selfhost Podcasting uses background jobs for work that should not block the admin screen.
Job types
Common jobs include:
- Upload media to S3-compatible storage.
- Delete bucket objects after episode or podcast deletion.
- Backfill missing media duration.
How jobs run
The queue dispatches a non-blocking admin-ajax.php request after admin actions. WP-Cron is also scheduled as a fallback for hosts that block loopback dispatch.
The queue uses:
- A processing lock.
- Dispatch throttling.
- Memory checks.
- Per-item retry handling.
- Error logging.
- Upload suspension for repeated or configuration-related failures.
Error Log
The Error Log section appears in a podcast workspace when that podcast has recorded background-job errors. Use it to review upload, delete, or duration-repair failures.
The main podcast library can also show a warning when upload jobs are paused.
Resume jobs
Use Resume background jobs after fixing the underlying problem. Resume clears dispatch throttles and upload suspension while keeping queued work.
Clear errors
Use the Error Log controls to clear recorded errors after review.
Common causes
- Invalid S3 credentials.
- WordPress salts changed, making stored credentials undecryptable.
- Bucket policy blocks public reads.
- Custom domain is wrong.
- Remote media URL is unavailable.
- Temporary disk space is too low.
- Host blocks loopback requests.
- Server memory or execution time is too limited.
Developer filters
The background queue exposes filters for interval, lock timeout, dispatch limits, memory handling, max upload items, upload circuit thresholds, and individual task handlers. See the developer hooks documentation for hook names.