diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b14491b..00ea37d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ It is designed to be simple to deploy and can run either:
 | `promgithub_event_queue_capacity` | Gauge | none | Configured capacity of the webhook event queue |
 | `promgithub_event_worker_count` | Gauge | none | Configured number of async webhook event workers |
 | `promgithub_event_processed_total` | Counter | `event_type` | Total number of webhook events processed asynchronously |
-| `promgithub_event_dropped_total` | Counter | `event_type`, `reason` | Total number of webhook events dropped before processing |
+| `promgithub_event_queue_dropped_total` | Counter | `event_type` | Total number of webhook events dropped because the async processing queue was full |
+| `promgithub_event_unsupported_total` | Counter | `event_type` | Total number of unsupported webhook events received by the async processor |
 | `promgithub_event_processing_failures_total` | Counter | `event_type` | Total number of async webhook processing failures |
 | `promgithub_event_processing_duration_seconds` | Histogram | `event_type` | Duration of async webhook event processing |
 | `promgithub_duplicate_deliveries_seen_total` | Counter | `event_type` | Duplicate webhook deliveries observed |
diff --git a/docs/usage.md b/docs/usage.md
index f82e426..fa5bc73 100644
--- a/docs/usage.md
+++ b/docs/usage.md
@@ -21,9 +21,23 @@ The service supports the following environment variables:
 - `PROMGITHUB_REDIS_DB` (optional): Redis database number, default `0`.
 - `PROMGITHUB_REDIS_KEY_PREFIX` (optional): Prefix used for Redis keys, default `promgithub`.
 - `PROMGITHUB_REDIS_DELIVERY_TTL` (optional): TTL for webhook delivery dedupe keys, default `24h`.
+- `PROMGITHUB_EVENT_WORKERS` (optional): Number of async webhook processing workers, default `4`.
+- `PROMGITHUB_EVENT_QUEUE_SIZE` (optional): Bounded async webhook queue size, default `256`.
 
 If Redis is configured, the service stores delivery and run state in Redis.
 
+### Async processing and backpressure
+
+Webhook requests are acknowledged after signature validation, duplicate-delivery recording, and enqueueing into the bounded async processor.
+
+- Accepted events return `202 Accepted` and are processed by background workers.
+- Duplicate deliveries return `200 OK` and do not enqueue duplicate work.
+- If the queue is full, the request returns `503 Service Unavailable` and increments `promgithub_event_queue_dropped_total{event_type="<event>"}`.
+- Processing panics are recovered, logged, and exposed via `promgithub_event_processing_failures_total`; workers continue handling later events.
+- On graceful termination, the processor stops accepting new events and drains accepted in-flight/queued events before exit.
+
+Watch `promgithub_event_queue_depth`, `promgithub_event_queue_capacity`, `promgithub_event_worker_count`, `promgithub_event_processed_total`, `promgithub_event_queue_dropped_total`, `promgithub_event_unsupported_total`, and `promgithub_event_processing_failures_total` to tune worker and queue settings.
+
 ## Running the service
 
 ### Run the binary
diff --git a/src/async.go b/src/async.go
index bf26f0d..7d4871f 100644
--- a/src/async.go
+++ b/src/async.go
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func (p *asyncEventProcessor) Enqueue(ctx context.Context, eventType string, bod
 		asyncQueueDepthGauge.Set(float64(len(p.queue)))
 		return nil
 	default:
-		asyncEventsDroppedCounter.WithLabelValues(eventType, "queue_full").Inc()
+		asyncQueueDroppedCounter.WithLabelValues(eventType).Inc()
 		asyncQueueDepthGauge.Set(float64(len(p.queue)))
 		return fmt.Errorf("event queue is full")
 	}
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ func (p *asyncEventProcessor) runWorker(workerID int) {
 
 		processor, ok := p.processFn[event.eventType]
 		if !ok {
-			asyncEventsDroppedCounter.WithLabelValues(event.eventType, "unsupported_event").Inc()
+			asyncUnsupportedEventsCounter.WithLabelValues(event.eventType).Inc()
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/async_test.go b/src/async_test.go
index fec0843..17162ea 100644
--- a/src/async_test.go
+++ b/src/async_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ import (
 
 func TestAsyncProcessorEnqueueAndProcess(t *testing.T) {
 	asyncProcessedEventsCounter.Reset()
-	asyncEventsDroppedCounter.Reset()
+	asyncQueueDroppedCounter.Reset()
+	asyncUnsupportedEventsCounter.Reset()
 	asyncProcessingFailuresCounter.Reset()
 	asyncQueueDepthGauge.Set(0)
 	asyncQueueCapacityGauge.Set(0)
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ func TestAsyncProcessorEnqueueAndProcess(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestAsyncProcessorDropsWhenQueueFull(t *testing.T) {
-	asyncEventsDroppedCounter.Reset()
+	asyncQueueDroppedCounter.Reset()
 	asyncQueueDepthGauge.Set(0)
 
 	blocker := make(chan struct{})
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ func TestAsyncProcessorDropsWhenQueueFull(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("expected queue full error")
 	}
 
-	if got := testutil.ToFloat64(asyncEventsDroppedCounter.WithLabelValues("workflow_run", "queue_full")); got != 1 {
+	if got := testutil.ToFloat64(asyncQueueDroppedCounter.WithLabelValues("workflow_run")); got != 1 {
 		t.Fatalf("expected dropped counter to be 1, got %v", got)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/github_test.go b/src/github_test.go
index 6ef88d9..6f681bd 100644
--- a/src/github_test.go
+++ b/src/github_test.go
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ func resetWebhookTestState() {
 	commitPushedCounter.Reset()
 	pullRequestCounter.Reset()
 	asyncProcessedEventsCounter.Reset()
-	asyncEventsDroppedCounter.Reset()
+	asyncQueueDroppedCounter.Reset()
+	asyncUnsupportedEventsCounter.Reset()
 	asyncProcessingFailuresCounter.Reset()
 	asyncProcessingDurationHistogram.Reset()
 	duplicateDeliveriesSeenCounter.Reset()
diff --git a/src/integration_test.go b/src/integration_test.go
index 24e933c..d90cdd0 100644
--- a/src/integration_test.go
+++ b/src/integration_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"context"
 	"crypto/hmac"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
+	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -120,10 +122,13 @@ func TestIntegrationWebhookUnsupportedEvent(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected status %d, got %d", http.StatusAccepted, resp.StatusCode)
 	}
 
-	metrics := mustFetchMetrics(t, server.URL)
+	metrics := waitForMetricsSubstring(t, server.URL, `promgithub_event_unsupported_total{event_type="unknown_event"} 1`)
 	if strings.Contains(metrics, `promgithub_workflow_status{branch="main",conclusion="success",repository="user/repo",workflow_name="CI",workflow_status="completed"} 1`) {
 		t.Fatalf("unsupported event unexpectedly updated workflow metrics:\n%s", metrics)
 	}
+	if !strings.Contains(metrics, `promgithub_event_unsupported_total{event_type="unknown_event"} 1`) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected unsupported event metric, got:\n%s", metrics)
+	}
 }
 
 func TestIntegrationHealthAndMetricsEndpoints(t *testing.T) {
@@ -183,16 +188,144 @@ func TestIntegrationDuplicateDeliveryDoesNotInflateMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestIntegrationAsyncQueueFullReturnsUnavailableAndExposesQueueDropMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	server := newIntegrationTestServerWithAsyncConfig(t, asyncProcessorConfig{WorkerCount: 1, QueueSize: 1})
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	started := make(chan struct{})
+	unblock := make(chan struct{})
+	eventProcessor.processFn["workflow_run"] = func(_ context.Context, _ []byte) {
+		select {
+		case <-started:
+		default:
+			close(started)
+		}
+		<-unblock
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		select {
+		case <-unblock:
+		default:
+			close(unblock)
+		}
+	})
+
+	body := mustReadFixture(t, "workflow_run.json")
+	first := sendWebhookRequest(t, server.URL, "workflow_run", body, "delivery-queue-full-1")
+	assertResponseStatus(t, first, http.StatusAccepted)
+
+	select {
+	case <-started:
+	case <-time.After(2 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("timed out waiting for first async event to start processing")
+	}
+
+	second := sendWebhookRequest(t, server.URL, "workflow_run", body, "delivery-queue-full-2")
+	assertResponseStatus(t, second, http.StatusAccepted)
+
+	third := sendWebhookRequest(t, server.URL, "workflow_run", body, "delivery-queue-full-3")
+	assertResponseStatus(t, third, http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+
+	metrics := waitForMetricsSubstring(t, server.URL, `promgithub_event_queue_dropped_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 1`)
+	if !strings.Contains(metrics, `promgithub_event_queue_dropped_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 1`) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected queue-full drop metric, got:\n%s", metrics)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIntegrationAsyncProcessingFailureIsVisibleAndWorkerContinues(t *testing.T) {
+	server := newIntegrationTestServer(t)
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	var attempts atomic.Int32
+	eventProcessor.processFn["workflow_run"] = func(ctx context.Context, body []byte) {
+		if attempts.Add(1) == 1 {
+			panic("synthetic async processor failure")
+		}
+
+		updateWorkflowMetrics(ctx, body)
+	}
+
+	body := mustReadFixture(t, "workflow_run.json")
+	first := sendWebhookRequest(t, server.URL, "workflow_run", body, "delivery-failure-1")
+	assertResponseStatus(t, first, http.StatusAccepted)
+
+	metrics := waitForMetricsSubstring(t, server.URL, `promgithub_event_processing_failures_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 1`)
+	if !strings.Contains(metrics, `promgithub_event_processing_failures_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 1`) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected async processing failure metric, got:\n%s", metrics)
+	}
+
+	second := sendWebhookRequest(t, server.URL, "workflow_run", body, "delivery-failure-2")
+	assertResponseStatus(t, second, http.StatusAccepted)
+
+	metrics = waitForMetricsSubstring(t, server.URL, `promgithub_workflow_status{branch="main",conclusion="success",repository="user/repo",workflow_name="CI",workflow_status="completed"} 1`)
+	if !strings.Contains(metrics, `promgithub_event_processed_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 1`) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected worker to continue and process the second event, got:\n%s", metrics)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIntegrationAsyncShutdownDrainsQueuedEvents(t *testing.T) {
+	server := newIntegrationTestServerWithAsyncConfig(t, asyncProcessorConfig{WorkerCount: 1, QueueSize: 2})
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	started := make(chan struct{})
+	unblock := make(chan struct{})
+	eventProcessor.processFn["workflow_run"] = func(ctx context.Context, body []byte) {
+		select {
+		case <-started:
+		default:
+			close(started)
+		}
+		<-unblock
+		updateWorkflowMetrics(ctx, body)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		select {
+		case <-unblock:
+		default:
+			close(unblock)
+		}
+	})
+
+	body := mustReadFixture(t, "workflow_run.json")
+	first := sendWebhookRequest(t, server.URL, "workflow_run", body, "delivery-shutdown-1")
+	assertResponseStatus(t, first, http.StatusAccepted)
+
+	select {
+	case <-started:
+	case <-time.After(2 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("timed out waiting for first async event to start processing")
+	}
+
+	second := sendWebhookRequest(t, server.URL, "workflow_run", body, "delivery-shutdown-2")
+	assertResponseStatus(t, second, http.StatusAccepted)
+
+	close(unblock)
+	eventProcessor.Stop()
+	eventProcessor = nil
+
+	metrics := mustFetchMetrics(t, server.URL)
+	if !strings.Contains(metrics, `promgithub_event_processed_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 2`) {
+		t.Fatalf("expected shutdown to drain both accepted events, got:\n%s", metrics)
+	}
+}
+
 func newIntegrationTestServer(t *testing.T) *httptest.Server {
+	t.Helper()
+	return newIntegrationTestServerWithAsyncConfig(t, asyncProcessorConfig{WorkerCount: 1, QueueSize: 8})
+}
+
+func newIntegrationTestServerWithAsyncConfig(t *testing.T, cfg asyncProcessorConfig) *httptest.Server {
 	t.Helper()
 	resetIntegrationTestMetrics()
 
 	githubWebhookSecret = []byte("integration-test-secret")
 	stateStore = newInMemoryStateStore()
-	eventProcessor = newAsyncEventProcessor(asyncProcessorConfig{WorkerCount: 1, QueueSize: 8}, zap.NewNop())
+	eventProcessor = newAsyncEventProcessor(cfg, zap.NewNop())
 	eventProcessor.Start()
 	t.Cleanup(func() {
-		eventProcessor.Stop()
+		if eventProcessor != nil {
+			eventProcessor.Stop()
+		}
 		eventProcessor = nil
 		stateStore = nil
 	})
@@ -201,6 +334,16 @@ func newIntegrationTestServer(t *testing.T) *httptest.Server {
 	return httptest.NewServer(router)
 }
 
+func assertResponseStatus(t *testing.T, resp *http.Response, expectedStatus int) {
+	t.Helper()
+	defer func() { _ = resp.Body.Close() }()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode != expectedStatus {
+		body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+		t.Fatalf("expected status %d, got %d with body %q", expectedStatus, resp.StatusCode, strings.TrimSpace(string(body)))
+	}
+}
+
 func resetIntegrationTestMetrics() {
 	workflowStatusCounter.Reset()
 	workflowDurationHistogram.Reset()
@@ -215,7 +358,8 @@ func resetIntegrationTestMetrics() {
 	commitPushedCounter.Reset()
 	pullRequestCounter.Reset()
 	asyncProcessedEventsCounter.Reset()
-	asyncEventsDroppedCounter.Reset()
+	asyncQueueDroppedCounter.Reset()
+	asyncUnsupportedEventsCounter.Reset()
 	asyncProcessingFailuresCounter.Reset()
 	asyncProcessingDurationHistogram.Reset()
 	duplicateDeliveriesSeenCounter.Reset()
diff --git a/src/metrics.go b/src/metrics.go
index 1dc91bd..d222fff 100644
--- a/src/metrics.go
+++ b/src/metrics.go
@@ -135,12 +135,20 @@ var (
 		[]string{"event_type"},
 	)
 
-	asyncEventsDroppedCounter = promauto.NewCounterVec(
+	asyncQueueDroppedCounter = promauto.NewCounterVec(
 		prometheus.CounterOpts{
-			Name: "promgithub_event_dropped_total",
-			Help: "Total number of webhook events dropped before processing",
+			Name: "promgithub_event_queue_dropped_total",
+			Help: "Total number of webhook events dropped because the async processing queue was full",
 		},
-		[]string{"event_type", "reason"},
+		[]string{"event_type"},
+	)
+
+	asyncUnsupportedEventsCounter = promauto.NewCounterVec(
+		prometheus.CounterOpts{
+			Name: "promgithub_event_unsupported_total",
+			Help: "Total number of unsupported webhook events received by the async processor",
+		},
+		[]string{"event_type"},
 	)
 
 	asyncProcessingFailuresCounter = promauto.NewCounterVec(
diff --git a/src/redis_integration_test.go b/src/redis_integration_test.go
index 403ba0a..9a5aa0a 100644
--- a/src/redis_integration_test.go
+++ b/src/redis_integration_test.go
@@ -39,10 +39,8 @@ func TestRedisIntegrationDuplicateDeliverySharedAcrossServers(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	_ = resp.Body.Close()
 
-	metrics := waitForMetricsSubstring(t, serverA.URL, `promgithub_duplicate_deliveries_seen_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 1`)
-	if !strings.Contains(metrics, `promgithub_workflow_status{branch="main",conclusion="success",repository="user/repo",workflow_name="CI",workflow_status="completed"} 1`) {
-		t.Fatalf("expected workflow metric to be recorded once, got:\n%s", metrics)
-	}
+	waitForMetricsSubstring(t, serverA.URL, `promgithub_duplicate_deliveries_seen_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 1`)
+	metrics := waitForMetricsSubstring(t, serverA.URL, `promgithub_workflow_status{branch="main",conclusion="success",repository="user/repo",workflow_name="CI",workflow_status="completed"} 1`)
 	if !strings.Contains(metrics, `promgithub_duplicate_deliveries_dropped_total{event_type="workflow_run"} 1`) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected duplicate delivery to be dropped by shared Redis state, got:\n%s", metrics)
 	}