Shopware 6 uses a two-layer background job system. The first layer is the Shopware 6 scheduled task — a time-based runner that executes at a configured interval. The second layer is the Symfony Messenger queue — asynchronous message handlers that process jobs dispatched at any point. For heavy operations, the best pattern is a Shopware 6 scheduled task that enqueues messages, with a separate MessageHandler doing the actual work. This keeps the scheduled task fast and lets the message queue scale the processing load.

Shopware 6 scheduled task — task class, handler registration, services.xml, async message queue by CodeAtoZ

A Shopware 6 scheduled task requires two classes: the task definition and the handler. The task definition extends AbstractScheduledTask and declares the task name and default interval in seconds. Register it in services.xml with the shopware.scheduled.task tag. After running bin/console cache:clear and bin/console scheduled-task:register, the task appears in the Shopware admin under Settings → System → Scheduled Tasks. Refer to the Shopware 6 scheduled task documentation for the official implementation reference.

namespace MyPluginScheduledTask;
use ShopwareCoreFrameworkMessageQueueScheduledTaskScheduledTask;
class ProductSyncTask extends ScheduledTask {
    public static function getTaskName(): string { return "my_plugin.product_sync"; }
    public static function getDefaultInterval(): int { return 900; } // 15 minutes
}

<service id="MyPluginScheduledTaskProductSyncTask">
    <tag name="shopware.scheduled.task"/>
</service>

<service id="MyPluginScheduledTaskProductSyncTaskHandler">
    <argument type="service" id="scheduled_task.repository"/>
    <argument type="service" id="MyPluginServiceProductSyncService"/>
    <tag name="messenger.message_handler"/>
</service>

The handler for a Shopware 6 scheduled task extends AbstractScheduledTaskHandler. Override run() with the actual logic. The handler automatically updates the task’s last run time and next execution time in the database. For operations that may take longer than a few seconds, dispatch a Symfony Messenger message from within run() instead of doing the work directly — this keeps the Shopware 6 scheduled task runner fast and non-blocking. The Messenger queue processes the heavy work asynchronously in a separate worker. Check the Shopware 6 developer documentation for the full AbstractScheduledTaskHandler API.

• bin/console scheduled-task:list — view all registered tasks and their next run time
• bin/console scheduled-task:run — run all due tasks immediately
• bin/console messenger:consume default — start consuming the async message queue. See the Symfony Messenger documentation for advanced queue configuration
• bin/console cache:clear — required after any services.xml change
• Admin panel: Settings → System → Scheduled Tasks — view, enable/disable, trigger manually
• Set SHOPWARE_HTTP_CACHE_ENABLED=0 in .env during development to see task updates immediately
• Production: use Supervisor to keep messenger:consume running as a daemon process

Our Shopware development team builds production plugin architectures with full scheduled task, message queue, and event subscriber integration for complex sync and automation requirements.