---
title: Implement Graceful Shutdown
impact: MEDIUM-HIGH
impactDescription: Proper shutdown handling ensures zero-downtime deployments
tags: devops, graceful-shutdown, lifecycle, kubernetes
---

## Implement Graceful Shutdown

Handle SIGTERM and SIGINT signals to gracefully shutdown your NestJS application. Stop accepting new requests, wait for in-flight requests to complete, close database connections, and clean up resources. This prevents data loss and connection errors during deployments.

**Incorrect (ignoring shutdown signals):**

```typescript
// Ignore shutdown signals
async function bootstrap() {
  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule);
  await app.listen(3000);
  // App crashes immediately on SIGTERM
  // In-flight requests fail
  // Database connections are abruptly closed
}

// Long-running tasks without cancellation
@Injectable()
export class ProcessingService {
  async processLargeFile(file: File): Promise<void> {
    // No way to interrupt this during shutdown
    for (let i = 0; i < file.chunks.length; i++) {
      await this.processChunk(file.chunks[i]);
      // May run for minutes, blocking shutdown
    }
  }
}
```

**Correct (enable shutdown hooks and handle cleanup):**

```typescript
// Enable shutdown hooks in main.ts
async function bootstrap() {
  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule);

  // Enable shutdown hooks
  app.enableShutdownHooks();

  // Optional: Add timeout for forced shutdown
  const server = await app.listen(3000);
  server.setTimeout(30000); // 30 second timeout

  // Handle graceful shutdown
  const signals = ['SIGTERM', 'SIGINT'];
  signals.forEach((signal) => {
    process.on(signal, async () => {
      console.log(`Received ${signal}, starting graceful shutdown...`);

      // Stop accepting new connections
      server.close(async () => {
        console.log('HTTP server closed');
        await app.close();
        process.exit(0);
      });

      // Force exit after timeout
      setTimeout(() => {
        console.error('Forced shutdown after timeout');
        process.exit(1);
      }, 30000);
    });
  });
}

// Lifecycle hooks for cleanup
@Injectable()
export class DatabaseService implements OnApplicationShutdown {
  private readonly connections: Connection[] = [];

  async onApplicationShutdown(signal?: string): Promise<void> {
    console.log(`Database service shutting down on ${signal}`);

    // Close all connections gracefully
    await Promise.all(this.connections.map((conn) => conn.close()));

    console.log('All database connections closed');
  }
}

// Queue processor with graceful shutdown
@Injectable()
export class QueueService implements OnApplicationShutdown, OnModuleDestroy {
  private isShuttingDown = false;

  onModuleDestroy(): void {
    this.isShuttingDown = true;
  }

  async onApplicationShutdown(): Promise<void> {
    // Wait for current jobs to complete
    await this.queue.close();
  }

  async processJob(job: Job): Promise<void> {
    if (this.isShuttingDown) {
      throw new Error('Service is shutting down');
    }
    await this.doWork(job);
  }
}

// WebSocket gateway cleanup
@WebSocketGateway()
export class EventsGateway implements OnApplicationShutdown {
  @WebSocketServer()
  server: Server;

  async onApplicationShutdown(): Promise<void> {
    // Notify all connected clients
    this.server.emit('shutdown', { message: 'Server is shutting down' });

    // Close all connections
    this.server.disconnectSockets();
  }
}

// Health check integration
@Injectable()
export class ShutdownService {
  private isShuttingDown = false;

  startShutdown(): void {
    this.isShuttingDown = true;
  }

  isShutdown(): boolean {
    return this.isShuttingDown;
  }
}

@Controller('health')
export class HealthController {
  constructor(private shutdownService: ShutdownService) {}

  @Get('ready')
  @HealthCheck()
  readiness(): Promise<HealthCheckResult> {
    // Return 503 during shutdown - k8s stops sending traffic
    if (this.shutdownService.isShutdown()) {
      throw new ServiceUnavailableException('Shutting down');
    }

    return this.health.check([() => this.db.pingCheck('database')]);
  }
}

// Integrate with shutdown
@Injectable()
export class AppShutdownService implements OnApplicationShutdown {
  constructor(private shutdownService: ShutdownService) {}

  async onApplicationShutdown(): Promise<void> {
    // Mark as unhealthy first
    this.shutdownService.startShutdown();

    // Wait for k8s to update endpoints
    await this.sleep(5000);

    // Then proceed with cleanup
  }
}

// Request tracking for in-flight requests
@Injectable()
export class RequestTracker implements NestMiddleware, OnApplicationShutdown {
  private activeRequests = 0;
  private isShuttingDown = false;
  private shutdownPromise: Promise<void> | null = null;
  private resolveShutdown: (() => void) | null = null;

  use(req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction): void {
    if (this.isShuttingDown) {
      res.status(503).send('Service Unavailable');
      return;
    }

    this.activeRequests++;

    res.on('finish', () => {
      this.activeRequests--;
      if (this.isShuttingDown && this.activeRequests === 0 && this.resolveShutdown) {
        this.resolveShutdown();
      }
    });

    next();
  }

  async onApplicationShutdown(): Promise<void> {
    this.isShuttingDown = true;

    if (this.activeRequests > 0) {
      console.log(`Waiting for ${this.activeRequests} requests to complete`);
      this.shutdownPromise = new Promise((resolve) => {
        this.resolveShutdown = resolve;
      });

      // Wait with timeout
      await Promise.race([this.shutdownPromise, new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 30000))]);
    }

    console.log('All requests completed');
  }
}
```

Reference: [NestJS Lifecycle Events](https://docs.nestjs.com/fundamentals/lifecycle-events)
