Never rescue jobs that return a timeout of -1

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ river migrate-get --database-url sqlite:// --version 6 --down > river7.down.sql
 ### Fixed
 
 - Fix `JobCancel` having no effect on running jobs when using a poll-only driver (e.g. `riverdatabasesql`). The `controlActionCancel` event was silently dropped in `fetchAndRunLoop`'s `queueControlCh` handler instead of being forwarded to `maybeCancelJob`. Note: this fix only works within a single process; cross-process cancels in poll-only setups must wait for the next poll cycle. [PR #1245](https://github.com/riverqueue/river/pull/1245).
+- Ensure jobs that return a custom timeout of -1 (no timeout) are never rescued. [PR #1288](https://github.com/riverqueue/river/pull/1288).
 
 ## [0.39.0] - 2026-06-03
 

internal/maintenance/job_rescuer.go

@@ -312,7 +312,8 @@ func (s *JobRescuer) makeRetryDecision(ctx context.Context, job *rivertype.JobRo
 			slog.String("job_kind", job.Kind), slog.Int64("job_id", job.ID))
 	}
 
-	if workUnit.Timeout() != 0 && now.Sub(*job.AttemptedAt) < workUnit.Timeout() {
+	timeout := workUnit.Timeout()
+	if timeout < 0 || timeout > 0 && now.Sub(*job.AttemptedAt) < timeout {
 		return jobRetryDecisionIgnore, time.Time{}
 	}
 

internal/maintenance/job_rescuer_test.go

@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ func TestJobRescuer(t *testing.T) {
 	const (
 		rescuerJobKind            = "rescuer"
 		rescuerJobKindLongTimeout = "rescuer_long_timeout"
+		rescuerJobKindNoTimeout   = "rescuer_no_timeout"
 	)
 
 	type testBundle struct {
@@ -95,6 +96,8 @@ func TestJobRescuer(t *testing.T) {
 						return &callbackWorkUnitFactory{Callback: emptyCallback}
 					case rescuerJobKindLongTimeout:
 						return &callbackWorkUnitFactory{Callback: emptyCallback, timeout: JobRescuerRescueAfterDefault + 5*time.Minute}
+					case rescuerJobKindNoTimeout:
+						return &callbackWorkUnitFactory{Callback: emptyCallback, timeout: -1}
 					}
 					panic("unhandled kind: " + kind)
 				},
@@ -163,6 +166,8 @@ func TestJobRescuer(t *testing.T) {
 		longTimeOutJob1 := testfactory.Job(ctx, t, bundle.exec, &testfactory.JobOpts{Kind: ptrutil.Ptr(rescuerJobKindLongTimeout), State: ptrutil.Ptr(rivertype.JobStateRunning), AttemptedAt: ptrutil.Ptr(bundle.rescueHorizon.Add(-1 * time.Minute)), MaxAttempts: ptrutil.Ptr(5)})
 		longTimeOutJob2 := testfactory.Job(ctx, t, bundle.exec, &testfactory.JobOpts{Kind: ptrutil.Ptr(rescuerJobKindLongTimeout), State: ptrutil.Ptr(rivertype.JobStateRunning), AttemptedAt: ptrutil.Ptr(bundle.rescueHorizon.Add(-6 * time.Minute)), MaxAttempts: ptrutil.Ptr(5)})
 
+		noTimeoutJob := testfactory.Job(ctx, t, bundle.exec, &testfactory.JobOpts{Kind: ptrutil.Ptr(rescuerJobKindNoTimeout), State: ptrutil.Ptr(rivertype.JobStateRunning), AttemptedAt: ptrutil.Ptr(bundle.rescueHorizon.Add(-24 * time.Hour)), MaxAttempts: ptrutil.Ptr(5)})
+
 		require.NoError(t, rescuer.Start(ctx))
 
 		rescuer.TestSignals.FetchedBatch.WaitOrTimeout()
@@ -226,6 +231,10 @@ func TestJobRescuer(t *testing.T) {
 		notTimedOutJob2After, err := bundle.exec.JobGetByID(ctx, &riverdriver.JobGetByIDParams{ID: longTimeOutJob2.ID, Schema: rescuer.Config.Schema})
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 		require.Equal(t, rivertype.JobStateRetryable, notTimedOutJob2After.State)
+
+		noTimeoutJobAfter, err := bundle.exec.JobGetByID(ctx, &riverdriver.JobGetByIDParams{ID: noTimeoutJob.ID, Schema: rescuer.Config.Schema})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, rivertype.JobStateRunning, noTimeoutJobAfter.State)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("RescuesInBatches", func(t *testing.T) {