SQS#

AWS-managed message queue service.

Configuration#

Crossplane Composition Config (XRD for transport configuration): 

apiVersion: asya.dev/v1alpha1
kind: SQSTransport
metadata:
  name: sqs-default
spec:
  region: us-east-1
  endpoint: ""  # Optional, for LocalStack or custom SQS endpoints
  visibilityTimeout: 300  # Optional, seconds, defaults to 300 (5 minutes)
  waitTimeSeconds: 20  # Optional, long polling, defaults to 20
  queues:
    autoCreate: true  # Optional, defaults to true
    forceRecreate: false  # Optional, defaults to false
    dlq:
      enabled: true  # Optional
      maxRetryCount: 3  # Optional, defaults to 3
      retentionDays: 14  # Optional, defaults to 14
  tags:  # Optional, tags applied to created queues
    Environment: production
    Team: ml-platform

Sidecar environment variables (rendered by Crossplane composition):

  • ASYA_TRANSPORT=sqs
  • ASYA_AWS_REGION → from config.region
  • ASYA_SQS_ENDPOINT → from config.endpoint (optional)
  • ASYA_SQS_VISIBILITY_TIMEOUT → from config.visibilityTimeout (optional)
  • ASYA_SQS_WAIT_TIME_SECONDS → from config.waitTimeSeconds (optional)

Queue Creation#

Crossplane Composition creates SQS queues automatically when AsyncActor is reconciled:

Queue name: asya-{namespace}-{actor_name}

Example: Actor text-processor in namespace default → Queue asya-default-text-processor

Queue URL: https://sqs.{region}.amazonaws.com/{account}/asya-{namespace}-{actor_name}

IAM Permissions#

Sidecar permissions (via IRSA, Pod Identity, or instance role): 

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "sqs:ReceiveMessage",
        "sqs:SendMessage",
        "sqs:DeleteMessage",
        "sqs:ChangeMessageVisibility",
        "sqs:GetQueueAttributes",
        "sqs:GetQueueUrl"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:sqs:*:*:asya-*"
    }
  ]
}

Crossplane Provider permissions: 

{
  "Effect": "Allow",
  "Action": [
    "sqs:CreateQueue",
    "sqs:DeleteQueue",
    "sqs:SetQueueAttributes",
    "sqs:GetQueueAttributes",
    "sqs:GetQueueUrl",
    "sqs:TagQueue"
  ],
  "Resource": "arn:aws:sqs:*:*:asya-*"
}

KEDA permissions (for autoscaling): 

{
  "Effect": "Allow",
  "Action": [
    "sqs:GetQueueAttributes",
    "sqs:GetQueueUrl",
    "sqs:ListQueues"
  ],
  "Resource": "arn:aws:sqs:*:*:asya-*"
}

KEDA Scaler#

triggers:

- type: aws-sqs-queue
  metadata:
    queueURL: https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/.../asya-actor
    queueLength: "5"
    awsRegion: us-east-1

DLQ Configuration#

When queues.dlq.enabled: true, Crossplane creates DLQ for each queue:

DLQ name: asya-{namespace}-{actor_name}-dlq

Max receive count: Configured via queues.dlq.maxRetryCount (default: 3)

Retention: Configured via queues.dlq.retentionDays (default: 14 days)

Behavior: Messages move to DLQ after exceeding max receive count.

Implementation Details#

Long polling: Sidecar uses waitTimeSeconds for efficient message retrieval (default: 20s)

Visibility timeout: Messages become invisible to other consumers for visibilityTimeout seconds (default: 300s)

Nack behavior: Nack() sets visibility timeout to 0, making message immediately available for redelivery

Queue URL caching: Sidecar caches resolved queue URLs to reduce API calls

Reconnection: SQS client supports automatic reconnection with exponential backoff

Best Practices#

  • Use IRSA or Pod Identity for pod-level IAM permissions
  • Set visibilityTimeout longer than expected processing time
  • Monitor DLQ depth for stuck messages
  • Use asya- prefix for IAM policy granularity
  • Enable DLQ for production workloads
  • Set appropriate tags for cost tracking

Cost Considerations#

  • First 1M requests/month free
  • $0.40 per million requests after
  • No idle costs (pay per use)
  • Scale to zero = $0

See: AWS SQS Pricing

Overview RabbitMQ