diff --git a/genealogos-api/src/config.rs b/genealogos-api/src/config.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10f364b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/genealogos-api/src/config.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+use super::job_map::{GCInterval, GCStaleAfter};
+
+#[derive(rocket::serde::Deserialize, Debug)]
+#[serde(crate = "rocket::serde")]
+pub struct Config {
+    #[serde(flatten)]
+    pub gc: GCConfig,
+}
+
+#[derive(rocket::serde::Deserialize, Debug)]
+#[serde(crate = "rocket::serde")]
+pub struct GCConfig {
+    #[serde(default, rename = "gc_interval")]
+    pub interval: GCInterval,
+    #[serde(default, rename = "gc_stale_after")]
+    pub stale_after: GCStaleAfter,
+}
diff --git a/genealogos-api/src/jobs.rs b/genealogos-api/src/jobs.rs
index f3cc532..87efc5f 100644
--- a/genealogos-api/src/jobs.rs
+++ b/genealogos-api/src/jobs.rs
@@ -90,9 +90,7 @@ pub async fn status(
     job_id: JobId,
     job_map: &rocket::State<JobMap>,
 ) -> Result<messages::StatusResponse> {
-    let mut locked_map = job_map
-        .try_lock()
-        .map_err(|e| messages::ErrResponse::with_job_id(job_id, e))?;
+    let mut locked_map = job_map.lock().await;
 
     let status = locked_map.get(&job_id).unwrap_or(&JobStatus::Stopped);
 
diff --git a/genealogos-api/src/jobs/job_map.rs b/genealogos-api/src/jobs/job_map.rs
index 597f149..ffc3f39 100644
--- a/genealogos-api/src/jobs/job_map.rs
+++ b/genealogos-api/src/jobs/job_map.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ impl ToString for JobStatus {
             JobStatus::Running(_) => "running".to_string(),
             JobStatus::Done(_, _) => "done".to_string(),
             JobStatus::Stopped => "stopped".to_string(),
-            JobStatus::Error(e) => e.to_owned(),
+            JobStatus::Error(e) => format!("Error: {}", e),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -68,6 +68,26 @@ impl JobHashMap {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(rocket::serde::Deserialize, Debug)]
+#[serde(crate = "rocket::serde")]
+pub struct GCInterval(u64);
+
+#[derive(rocket::serde::Deserialize, Debug)]
+#[serde(crate = "rocket::serde")]
+pub struct GCStaleAfter(u64);
+
+impl Default for GCInterval {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self(10)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Default for GCStaleAfter {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self(60 * 10)
+    }
+}
+
 /// The garbage collector will check for any stale jobs in the `JobMap` and remove them
 /// after a certain amount of time. The interval is how often the garbage collector
 /// will run, and the remove_after is when a job is considered stale.
@@ -76,26 +96,33 @@ impl JobHashMap {
 ///
 /// # Arguments
 /// * `job_map` - A reference to the `JobMap` that contains all the jobs
-/// * `interval` - How often the garbage collector will run
-/// * `remove_after` - How long after a job is considered stale
-pub async fn garbage_collector(
-    job_map: JobMap,
-    interval: time::Duration,
-    remove_after: time::Duration,
-) {
-    let mut interval = time::interval(interval);
+/// * `gc_config` - The configuration for the garbage collector
+pub async fn garbage_collector(job_map: JobMap, gc_config: crate::config::GCConfig) {
+    let stale_after = time::Duration::from_secs(gc_config.stale_after.0);
+    let mut interval = time::interval(time::Duration::from_secs(gc_config.interval.0));
 
     log::info!("Started the garbage collector");
 
     loop {
-        log::info!("Collecting garbage");
         interval.tick().await;
 
-        for (job_id, job_entry) in job_map.lock().await.0.iter_mut() {
-            if job_entry.last_updated.elapsed() > remove_after {
-                log::info!("Removing a stale job");
-                job_map.lock().await.remove(job_id);
+        let mut count = 0;
+
+        let mut job_map = job_map.lock().await;
+        log::info!("Current job count: {}", job_map.0.len());
+
+        // Retain allo jobs that are not stale
+        job_map.0.retain(|_, entry| {
+            if entry.last_updated.elapsed() < stale_after {
+                true
+            } else {
+                count += 1;
+                false
             }
+        });
+
+        if count > 0 {
+            log::info!("Removed {} stale jobs", count);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/genealogos-api/src/main.rs b/genealogos-api/src/main.rs
index 9cc0e27..426cfc3 100644
--- a/genealogos-api/src/main.rs
+++ b/genealogos-api/src/main.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use rocket::serde::json::Json;
 use rocket::tokio::sync::Mutex;
 use rocket::Request;
 
+mod config;
 mod jobs;
 mod messages;
 
@@ -76,7 +77,13 @@ fn rocket() -> _ {
     let job_map = Arc::new(Mutex::new(job_map::JobHashMap::new()));
 
     let job_map_clone = job_map.clone();
-    rocket::build()
+
+    let rocket = rocket::build();
+    let figment = rocket.figment();
+
+    let config: config::Config = figment.extract().expect("Failed to load configuration");
+
+    rocket
         .attach(rocket::fairing::AdHoc::on_response("cors", |_req, resp| {
             Box::pin(async move {
                 resp.set_header(rocket::http::Header::new(
@@ -90,13 +97,7 @@ fn rocket() -> _ {
             |_| {
                 Box::pin(async move {
                     rocket::tokio::spawn(async move {
-                        let interval = std::time::Duration::from_secs(10);
-                        garbage_collector(
-                            job_map_clone,
-                            interval,
-                            std::time::Duration::from_secs(5 * 60),
-                        )
-                        .await;
+                        garbage_collector(job_map_clone, config.gc).await;
                     });
                 })
             },