diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 66fd13c..d4c13f3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,3 +13,6 @@
 
 # Dependency directories (remove the comment below to include it)
 # vendor/
+
+.CLAUDE/
+CLAUDE.md
diff --git a/brokers/in-memory/broker.go b/brokers/in-memory/broker.go
index 312760f..9b8dc00 100644
--- a/brokers/in-memory/broker.go
+++ b/brokers/in-memory/broker.go
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ func New() *Broker {
 }
 
 func (r *Broker) Consume(ctx context.Context, work chan []byte, queue string) {
+	// Ensure work channel is closed when producer (broker) is done
+	defer close(work)
+	
 	r.mu.RLock()
 	ch, ok := r.queues[queue]
 	r.mu.RUnlock()
diff --git a/brokers/nats-js/broker.go b/brokers/nats-js/broker.go
index deee68e..88c7de6 100644
--- a/brokers/nats-js/broker.go
+++ b/brokers/nats-js/broker.go
@@ -96,6 +96,23 @@ func (b *Broker) Enqueue(_ context.Context, msg []byte, queue string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// TODO: CRITICAL - This implementation has goroutine leak issues that prevent graceful shutdown:
+//
+//  1. SUBSCRIPTION NOT CLEANED UP: The NATS subscription is never unsubscribed when context
+//     is cancelled, meaning the subscription callback continues running indefinitely.
+//
+//  2. CALLBACK GOROUTINE HANGS: The callback function may block forever on "work <- msg.Data"
+//     if the work channel is full or no longer being read, preventing graceful shutdown.
+//
+//  3. NO DRAIN/UNSUBSCRIBE: Should call subscription.Drain() or subscription.Unsubscribe()
+//     when context is cancelled to properly clean up NATS resources.
+//
+// This causes Server.Start() WaitGroup to hang indefinitely because s.consume() never exits.
+// A proper fix would store the subscription and clean it up:
+//
+//	sub, err := b.conn.Subscribe(queue, callback, opts...)
+//	defer sub.Drain() // or sub.Unsubscribe()
+//	<-ctx.Done()
 func (b *Broker) Consume(ctx context.Context, work chan []byte, queue string) {
 	_, err := b.conn.Subscribe(queue, func(msg *nats.Msg) {
 		work <- msg.Data
diff --git a/brokers/redis/broker.go b/brokers/redis/broker.go
index b7c4d99..df8e295 100644
--- a/brokers/redis/broker.go
+++ b/brokers/redis/broker.go
@@ -123,6 +123,8 @@ func (b *Broker) EnqueueScheduled(ctx context.Context, msg []byte, queue string,
 }
 
 func (b *Broker) Consume(ctx context.Context, work chan []byte, queue string) {
+	// Ensure work channel is closed when producer (broker) is done
+	defer close(work)
 	go b.consumeScheduled(ctx, queue)
 
 	for {
diff --git a/chains.go b/chains.go
index 9748ad9..1c188d7 100644
--- a/chains.go
+++ b/chains.go
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func (s *Server) GetChain(ctx context.Context, id string) (ChainMessage, error)
 	// Fetch the current job, to check its status
 	currJob, err := s.GetJob(ctx, c.JobID)
 	if err != nil {
-		return ChainMessage{}, nil
+		return ChainMessage{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to get current job %s in chain %s: %w", c.JobID, id, err)
 	}
 
 checkJobs:
@@ -117,16 +117,17 @@ checkJobs:
 		if len(currJob.OnSuccessIDs) == 0 {
 			c.Status = StatusDone
 		} else {
-			currJob, err = s.GetJob(ctx, currJob.OnSuccessIDs[0])
+			nextJobID := currJob.OnSuccessIDs[0]
+			currJob, err = s.GetJob(ctx, nextJobID)
 			if err != nil {
-				return ChainMessage{}, nil
+				return ChainMessage{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to get next job %s in chain %s: %w", nextJobID, id, err)
 			}
 			goto checkJobs
 		}
 	}
 
 	if err = s.setChainMessage(ctx, c); err != nil {
-		return ChainMessage{}, nil
+		return ChainMessage{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to save chain message for chain %s: %w", id, err)
 	}
 
 	return c, nil
diff --git a/server.go b/server.go
index 2c1f4d2..f463c18 100644
--- a/server.go
+++ b/server.go
@@ -208,13 +208,14 @@ func (s *Server) GetSuccess(ctx context.Context) ([]string, error) {
 
 // Start() starts the job consumer and processor. It is a blocking function.
 func (s *Server) Start(ctx context.Context) {
-	go s.cron.Start()
 	// Loop over each registered queue.
 	s.q.RLock()
 	queues := s.queues
 	s.q.RUnlock()
 
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+
+	s.startCronScheduler(ctx, &wg)
 	for q, conc := range queues {
 		q := q // Hack to fix the loop variable capture issue.
 		if s.traceProv != nil {
@@ -258,41 +259,43 @@ func (s *Server) process(ctx context.Context, w chan []byte) {
 			defer span.End()
 		}
 
-		select {
-		case <-ctx.Done():
-			s.log.Info("shutting down processor..")
+		// Channel-only shutdown: wait for work or channel closure
+		work, ok := <-w
+		if !ok {
+			// Channel closed by broker - clean shutdown
+			s.log.Info("work channel closed, shutting down processor..")
 			return
-		case work := <-w:
-			var (
-				msg JobMessage
-				err error
-			)
-			// Decode the bytes into a job message
-			if err = msgpack.Unmarshal(work, &msg); err != nil {
-				s.spanError(span, err)
-				s.log.Error("error unmarshalling task", "error", err)
-				break
-			}
+		}
 
-			// Fetch the registered task handler.
-			task, err := s.getHandler(msg.Job.Task)
-			if err != nil {
-				s.spanError(span, err)
-				s.log.Error("handler not found", "error", err)
-				break
-			}
+		var (
+			msg JobMessage
+			err error
+		)
+		// Decode the bytes into a job message
+		if err = msgpack.Unmarshal(work, &msg); err != nil {
+			s.spanError(span, err)
+			s.log.Error("error unmarshalling task", "error", err)
+			continue
+		}
 
-			// Set the job status as being "processed"
-			if err := s.statusProcessing(ctx, msg); err != nil {
-				s.spanError(span, err)
-				s.log.Error("error setting the status to processing", "error", err)
-				break
-			}
+		// Fetch the registered task handler.
+		task, err := s.getHandler(msg.Job.Task)
+		if err != nil {
+			s.spanError(span, err)
+			s.log.Error("handler not found", "error", err)
+			continue
+		}
 
-			if err := s.execJob(ctx, msg, task); err != nil {
-				s.spanError(span, err)
-				s.log.Error("could not execute job", "error", err)
-			}
+		// Set the job status as being "processed"
+		if err := s.statusProcessing(ctx, msg); err != nil {
+			s.spanError(span, err)
+			s.log.Error("error setting the status to processing", "error", err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if err := s.execJob(ctx, msg, task); err != nil {
+			s.spanError(span, err)
+			s.log.Error("could not execute job", "error", err)
 		}
 	}
 }
@@ -570,3 +573,38 @@ func (s *Server) spanError(sp spans.Span, err error) {
 		sp.SetStatus(codes.Error, err.Error())
 	}
 }
+
+// startCronScheduler starts the cron scheduler and manages its lifecycle.
+// It handles graceful shutdown when the context is cancelled.
+func (s *Server) startCronScheduler(ctx context.Context, wg *sync.WaitGroup) {
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+
+		// Check if context is already cancelled before starting cron
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			s.log.Debug("context cancelled before cron start")
+			return
+		default:
+		}
+
+		s.cron.Start()
+		s.log.Debug("cron scheduler started")
+
+		// Wait for shutdown signal
+		<-ctx.Done()
+		s.log.Info("shutting down cron scheduler...")
+
+		// Stop cron with timeout protection
+		cronCtx := s.cron.Stop()
+		shutdownTimeout := 5 * time.Second
+
+		select {
+		case <-cronCtx.Done():
+			s.log.Debug("cron scheduler stopped gracefully")
+		case <-time.After(shutdownTimeout):
+			s.log.Warn("cron scheduler stop timeout - forcing exit")
+		}
+	}()
+}
diff --git a/server_test.go b/server_test.go
index dfa9f86..b7e3ed7 100644
--- a/server_test.go
+++ b/server_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package tasqueue
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"log/slog"
@@ -58,3 +59,61 @@ func MockHandlerWithSleep(msg []byte, _ JobCtx) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+// TestCronLifecycleManagement verifies that cron scheduler starts and stops properly
+func TestCronLifecycleManagement(t *testing.T) {
+	// Create server with in-memory broker/results
+	srv := newServer(t, "test", func(b []byte, ctx JobCtx) error {
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	// Create a context that we can cancel
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+
+	// Start server in a goroutine
+	done := make(chan bool)
+	go func() {
+		srv.Start(ctx)
+		done <- true
+	}()
+
+	// Give the server a moment to start
+	time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	// Cancel the context to trigger shutdown
+	cancel()
+
+	// Wait for server to shut down with timeout
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+		t.Log("Server shut down gracefully")
+	case <-time.After(10 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("Server failed to shut down within timeout - cron leak likely exists")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestCronContextCancellationBeforeStart verifies that cron handles early cancellation
+func TestCronContextCancellationBeforeStart(t *testing.T) {
+	srv := newServer(t, "test", func(b []byte, ctx JobCtx) error {
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	// Create a context that's already cancelled
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	cancel() // Cancel immediately
+
+	// Start server in a goroutine
+	done := make(chan bool)
+	go func() {
+		srv.Start(ctx)
+		done <- true
+	}()
+
+	// Wait for server to shut down with timeout
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+		t.Log("Server handled pre-cancelled context gracefully")
+	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("Server failed to handle pre-cancelled context")
+	}
+}