AMQP Node.js Client

The recommended Node.js client is amqp-client.js. It has no dependencies, reconnects on its own, and recovers consumers after a reconnect. Install it with:

npm install @cloudamqp/amqp-client

Publish and consume

The example reads the broker URL from BROKER_URL and falls back to a local LavinMQ at amqp://guest:guest@localhost.

Save the connection helper as amqp.js:

import { AMQPSession } from "@cloudamqp/amqp-client"

// The session reconnects automatically and recovers consumers
export function connect() {
  return AMQPSession.connect(process.env.BROKER_URL || "amqp://guest:guest@localhost")
}

Save the publisher as publisher.js:

import { connect } from "./amqp.js"

// Resolves once the broker has confirmed the message
export async function publish(session, queueName, message) {
  const queue = await session.queue(queueName, { durable: true })
  await queue.publish(message, { deliveryMode: 2 })
  console.log(` [x] Sent '${message}'`)
}

if (import.meta.main) {
  const session = await connect()
  await publish(session, "hello", "Hello world!")
  await session.stop()
}

Save the consumer as worker.js in the same directory:

import { connect } from "./amqp.js"

// The message is acked when the callback returns, and requeued if it throws
export async function consume(session, queueName, handler) {
  const queue = await session.queue(queueName, { durable: true })
  return queue.subscribe({ prefetch: 10 }, async (msg) => {
    await handler(msg.bodyString() ?? "")
  })
}

if (import.meta.main) {
  const session = await connect()
  await consume(session, "hello", (message) => console.log(` [x] Received '${message}'`))
  console.log(" [*] Waiting for messages. To exit press CTRL+C")
  process.on("SIGINT", async () => {
    await session.stop()
  })
}

The files are ES modules and need Node.js 24.2 or later. The package.json with "type": "module" is in the example repo. Run npm install, then node worker.js in one terminal and node publisher.js in another.

The full, runnable example lives in javascript/amqp-client in cloudamqp/examples, and CI tests it against LavinMQ.

Good to know

• Messages get acked after the callback returns. If the callback throws, the client nacks the message and LavinMQ requeues it. A message can arrive twice after a reconnect, so keep handlers idempotent.
• Set a prefetch limit. subscribe sets no prefetch by default, so LavinMQ pushes messages without limit. The example passes subscribe({ prefetch: 10 }, ...) to cap unacked messages per consumer.
• publish waits for a broker confirm. The promise resolves once LavinMQ has the message. Pass { confirm: false } to skip the wait.
• Use amqps:// for TLS. The client verifies the server certificate and hostname, unless the URL carries an insecure query parameter.

The amqp-client.js README covers RPC, codecs, WebSockets and the low-level API.

Other Node.js clients

• amqplib, the most widely used Node.js AMQP client
• rabbitmq-client, a client with built-in reconnects and a promise-based API