diff --git a/cmd/hwlab/main.go b/cmd/hwlab/main.go
index d606c8a..ede209c 100644
--- a/cmd/hwlab/main.go
+++ b/cmd/hwlab/main.go
@@ -1,14 +1,19 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
+	"os/signal"
+	"syscall"
+	"time"
 
 	hwlab "git.georgsen.dk/hwlab"
 	"git.georgsen.dk/hwlab/internal/api"
 	"git.georgsen.dk/hwlab/internal/config"
+	"git.georgsen.dk/hwlab/internal/queue"
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -22,10 +27,39 @@ func main() {
 		log.Fatalf("embed: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	// Context for graceful shutdown
+	ctx, stop := signal.NotifyContext(context.Background(), syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
+	defer stop()
+
+	// Start write-ahead queue worker (non-fatal if DragonFlyDB unavailable)
+	waq, err := queue.NewWAQ(cfg.DragonflyURL)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("WARNING: WAQ unavailable (%v) — NetBox operations will not be queued during downtime", err)
+	} else {
+		retryInterval := time.Duration(cfg.WAQRetryIntervalSeconds) * time.Second
+		go waq.RunWorker(ctx, queue.NoOpHandler, cfg.WAQMaxAttempts, retryInterval)
+		defer waq.Close()
+		log.Printf("WAQ worker started")
+	}
+
 	router := api.NewRouter(staticFS)
 	addr := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", cfg.Host, cfg.Port)
 	log.Printf("HWLab starting on %s", addr)
-	if err := http.ListenAndServe(addr, router); err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("server: %v", err)
+
+	srv := &http.Server{Addr: addr, Handler: router}
+	go func() {
+		if err := srv.ListenAndServe(); err != nil && err != http.ErrServerClosed {
+			log.Fatalf("server: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	// Wait for shutdown signal
+	<-ctx.Done()
+	log.Println("Shutting down...")
+	shutdownCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	if err := srv.Shutdown(shutdownCtx); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("server shutdown: %v", err)
 	}
+	log.Println("Shutdown complete")
 }
diff --git a/internal/queue/worker.go b/internal/queue/worker.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd61cf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/queue/worker.go
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package queue
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"log"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// OpHandler is a function that processes a single dequeued operation.
+// Returns nil on success, error if the operation should be re-queued.
+type OpHandler func(ctx context.Context, op PendingOp) error
+
+// RunWorker runs a blocking BLPOP loop processing ops from the queue.
+// It calls handler for each dequeued op. If handler returns an error,
+// the op is re-enqueued with incremented Attempts count.
+// Ops that exceed maxAttempts are dropped with a log warning.
+//
+// On DragonFlyDB connection loss, RunWorker backs off and retries connection.
+// Call with a cancellable context to stop the worker cleanly.
+func (q *WAQ) RunWorker(ctx context.Context, handler OpHandler, maxAttempts int, retryInterval time.Duration) {
+	log.Printf("WAQ worker started (maxAttempts=%d, retryInterval=%s)", maxAttempts, retryInterval)
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			log.Printf("WAQ worker stopping: %v", ctx.Err())
+			return
+		default:
+		}
+
+		op, err := q.Dequeue(ctx, 5*time.Second)
+		if err != nil {
+			// Connection error — back off before retrying
+			log.Printf("WAQ dequeue error: %v — backing off %s", err, retryInterval)
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return
+			case <-time.After(retryInterval):
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+		if op == nil {
+			// Timeout with no items — loop immediately (BLPOP already waited 5s)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// Process the operation
+		if err := handler(ctx, *op); err != nil {
+			op.Attempts++
+			if op.Attempts >= maxAttempts {
+				log.Printf("WAQ: dropping op %s (type=%s) after %d failed attempts: %v",
+					op.ID, op.Type, op.Attempts, err)
+				continue
+			}
+			// Re-enqueue for retry
+			log.Printf("WAQ: re-enqueuing op %s (type=%s, attempt=%d): %v",
+				op.ID, op.Type, op.Attempts, err)
+			if enqErr := q.Enqueue(ctx, *op); enqErr != nil {
+				log.Printf("WAQ: failed to re-enqueue op %s: %v", op.ID, enqErr)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// NoOpHandler is a placeholder op handler for Phase 1.
+// Phase 2 will replace this with a real NetBox retry handler.
+// It logs the operation and returns nil (success) so ops drain from the queue.
+func NoOpHandler(ctx context.Context, op PendingOp) error {
+	log.Printf("WAQ [noop]: processing op %s (type=%s, attempts=%d)", op.ID, op.Type, op.Attempts)
+	return nil
+}