nq ☆

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Description:
Unix command-line queue utility

Type: Formula | Tracked Since: Dec 28, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: queue cli utility job-control concurrency

Install: brew install nq

About:
Nq is a minimalist command-line queue that executes jobs sequentially, ensuring that only one job runs at a time. It leverages file locking to manage concurrency, making it ideal for simple, reliable task management without a heavy daemon. This utility is particularly useful for controlling resource usage or serializing operations in shell scripts.

Key Features:

Simple file-locking mechanism for concurrency control
No background daemon required
Lightweight and dependency-free
Integrates easily with standard Unix pipes and shell scripts

Use Cases:

Serializing access to a shared resource like a printer or database
Throttling background tasks to prevent system overload
Managing batch processing in cron jobs

Alternatives:

task-spooler – More feature-rich with job management commands, but nq is simpler and more lightweight.
GNU parallel – Designed for parallel execution of jobs, whereas nq is for serial execution.

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 16, 2025 4:13pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	0b7ad979