# Job queues

When creating a contract, **Data Mover requires you to assign an execution queue**. The selected queue determines how the jobs generated by the contract are scheduled and executed.

{% hint style="info" %}
For step‑by‑step instructions, see [Create an Input Contract](/data-mover-1.21/contracts/create-your-first-contract/create-an-input-contract.md) in the **Contracts** section.
{% endhint %}

Queues are used to:

* organize the jobs generated by a contract;
* define the order in which jobs are processed;
* control execution priority and system load.

The process works as follows:

1. Data Mover submits a job to the queue specified in the contract.
2. The submitted job remains in the queue until it is handled by the Job Manager.
3. The Job Manager analyzes each request and schedules it according to the parameters of the assigned queue.
4. When the conditions are met, the Job Manager schedules the job on the original component that requested execution and manages its lifecycle.

Queues determine when and in which order jobs are executed. If two jobs belong to different queues with different priority levels, jobs associated with the higher‑priority queue are executed before those associated with the lower‑priority queue.

By default, Data Mover automatically proposes a **Default Queue** when a contract is created but if needed you can assign a different queue with a different priority:

1. Open the **Default Queue** drop‑down menu during contract design.
2. Select one of the available queues from the list.

Only queues that have been previously defined in **Setup** → **Job Queues** are displayed in the drop‑down menu. See the [Manage Job queues](/data-mover-1.21/jobs/job-queues/manage-job-queues.md) page for details. 

{% hint style="info" %}
A detailed explanation of **jobs**, their lifecycle, and how they are scheduled and managed by Data Mover is available on the [Jobs](/data-mover-1.21/jobs/what-is-a-job.md) pages.
{% endhint %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.primeur.com/data-mover-1.21/jobs/job-queues.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.