selfpost/docs/plans/queue-retries.md

Plan: queue-retries (Postfix retry policy in the panel)

Status: agreed
Date: 2026-08-13
Version: patch; no schema, no configuration surface.
Order: small panel item; does not wait on inbound-relay.

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Goal

Show the operator how Postfix retries deferred mail: first retry delay, later backoff cap, and how long a message stays in the queue before it bounces. The numbers come from this container's effective Postfix config, not from hard-coded copy.

Scope

In:

• A static «How delivery retries work» card on /mail-queue (global administrator). Not inside the HTMX poll fragment — the snapshot is taken at panel start.
• The same human-readable intervals in /deliveries/{id} history for deferred and bounced (domain administrators never see Mail queue).
• Operator docs: guide.md Mail queue bullet; architecture.md notes the one-shot postconf -h at panel start. CHANGELOG.md ### Added.

Out:

• Changing Postfix retry parameters, or exposing them as panel settings (product.md: Postfix is used as-is).
• An attempts column on send_log, or «attempt 3 of N» — Postfix has no attempt budget; it is time-based.
• Counting status=deferred lines in mail.log or reading postcat. Each attempt is already on the delivery page's log table; the journal stores only the last status.
• Duplicating the card on Status (summary + link to Mail queue already exist).
• Re-reading postconf on every HTTP request.

Architecture

Acceptance is still synchronous SMTP. Delivery stays in Postfix's on-disk queue. SelfPost does not enqueue, retry, or deliver.

flowchart LR
  smtpAccept["SMTP 250 accepted"] --> postfixQueue["Postfix queue"]
  postfixQueue -->|"deferred: backoff until queue lifetime"| retry["Retry MX"]
  retry -->|sent| done["sent"]
  retry -->|lifetime elapsed or 5xx| bounce["bounced"]
  postfixQueue --> mailQueuePage["/mail-queue policy card"]
  postfixQueue --> deliveryPage["/deliveries/id history copy"]

build/postfix-config.sh does not set queue_run_delay, minimal_backoff_time, maximal_backoff_time, maximal_queue_lifetime, bounce_queue_lifetime, or delay_warning_time. Debian/Postfix 3.x compiled-in defaults therefore apply unless the operator overrides them (postconf -e inside the container).

Loading the numbers

Once, when the HTTP role starts (cmd/panel/httpserver.go, after postfix-config.sh has run):

postconf -h queue_run_delay minimal_backoff_time maximal_backoff_time maximal_queue_lifetime bounce_queue_lifetime delay_warning_time

postconf -h, not a parse of /etc/postfix/main.cf: stock values are not written to the file. postconf is the effective config, including a manual override.

• Fixed argv, no user input — same pattern as postfix.Queue / security.md.
• Cache on handlers.Config (via web.Config). The HTMX fragment does not call postconf.
• A live postconf -e is visible after the next panel (or container) restart. While the process is up, the panel shows the start-up snapshot.
• Parse Postfix time units (300s, 5d, 1h, a bare number is seconds) in internal/postfix. Format human strings (5 minutes, 5 days, about 1 hour 7 minutes) in one place so the Mail queue card and deliveryEvents cannot drift.
• If postconf is missing (unit tests on Windows, binary outside the container): log a warning, fall back to Postfix 3.x compiled-in defaults (300s / 4000s / 5d / 0), and put a muted note on the card. Tests stub the lookup (as queueIDs in the log-tailer) or pass a fixture on Config. Do not fail panel start.

Typical stock values, for orientation only — the UI prints whatever postconf returned:

Parameter	Stock	Meaning
queue_run_delay / minimal_backoff_time	300s	First retry and deferred-queue scan
maximal_backoff_time	4000s	Cap on the doubling gap (~1 h 7 min)
maximal_queue_lifetime	5d	Then bounce
delay_warning_time	0	No delay warning to the sender

Panel copy

Mail queue card facts: first retry; later retries (doubling, capped); kept in queue; then bounced. Short prose: there is no fixed attempt count; a deferred message stays in this listing until it is delivered or the queue lifetime runs out.

deliveryEvents(row, policy):

• deferred: retries, first after X, then with increasing gaps up to Y, for up to Z.
• bounced: or Postfix gave up after Z in the queue.

Tests

• Duration parser: 5d, 300s, 4000s, 1h, 0, bare number.
• /mail-queue handler: card shows the fixture policy's human strings, not a live postconf.
• Delivery page / deliveryEvents: deferred and bounced contain those strings (handlers_monitor_test.go).
• templates_test.go: pass the new fields if rendering mail_queue requires them.

go test / go vet on the touched packages.

Done when

• /mail-queue states this Postfix's first retry, backoff cap, and queue lifetime.
• A deferred / bounced delivery page uses the same intervals.
• A manual postconf -e maximal_queue_lifetime=2d followed by a panel restart changes what the panel prints.
• Guide and architecture describe the snapshot; CHANGELOG has an Added entry.

Risks

• Showing compiled-in fallbacks when postconf failed would mislead if the operator had overridden them — mitigate with the muted note on the card.
• Inventing a max-attempt count would be false; the copy must stay time-based.