distributed-transaction-manager

license	Apache-2.0
name	distributed-transaction-manager
description	Saga patterns, compensating actions, and two-phase commit for distributed transactions. Activate on: distributed transaction, saga, compensating action, two-phase commit, eventual consistency, cross-service transaction. NOT for: single-database transactions (use database-connection-pool-manager), event sourcing (use cqrs-event-sourcing-architect).
allowed-tools	Read,Write,Edit,Bash(npm:*,npx:*,docker:*)
category	Backend & Infrastructure
tags	["distributed-transactions","saga","compensating-actions","consistency","microservices"]
pairs-with	[{"skill":"cqrs-event-sourcing-architect","reason":"Event sourcing provides audit trail for saga steps"},{"skill":"event-driven-architecture-expert","reason":"Sagas coordinate via async events"},{"skill":"observability-apm-expert","reason":"Distributed tracing across saga steps is essential"}]

Distributed Transaction Manager

Design and implement reliable cross-service transactions using saga patterns, compensating actions, and orchestrated workflows.

Activation Triggers

Activate on: "distributed transaction", "saga pattern", "compensating action", "two-phase commit", "eventual consistency", "cross-service transaction", "Temporal workflow", "rollback across services"

NOT for: Single-database ACID transactions → database-connection-pool-manager | Event sourcing → cqrs-event-sourcing-architect | Message queue setup → event-driven-architecture-expert

Quick Start

1. Map the transaction boundary — identify all services that must participate
2. Choose pattern — choreography saga (event-driven) or orchestration saga (central coordinator)
3. Define compensating actions — every forward step needs a reverse operation
4. Implement idempotency — all steps must be safely retryable
5. Add timeout and dead-letter handling — no saga should hang indefinitely

Core Capabilities

Domain	Technologies
Orchestration	Temporal 1.25+, Step Functions, Conductor
Choreography	Kafka events, RabbitMQ, Redis Streams
Frameworks	NestJS Saga, MassTransit (.NET), Axon (JVM)
State Machines	XState 5.x, custom saga state tables
Monitoring	Temporal UI, saga state dashboards

Architecture Patterns

Orchestration Saga (Temporal)

Saga Orchestrator (Temporal Workflow)
    │
    ├─→ Step 1: Reserve Inventory    ──fail──→ (no compensation needed)
    │       ↓ success
    ├─→ Step 2: Charge Payment       ──fail──→ Compensate: Release Inventory
    │       ↓ success
    ├─→ Step 3: Create Shipment      ──fail──→ Compensate: Refund Payment
    │       ↓ success                            Compensate: Release Inventory
    └─→ COMPLETE

// Temporal workflow definition
import { proxyActivities } from ;

 { reserveInventory, releaseInventory,
        chargePayment, refundPayment,
        createShipment } = proxyActivities<>({
  : ,
  : { :  },
});

   (): <> {
  
   (order.);
   {
    
     paymentId =  (order.);
     {
      
       shipmentId =  (order.);
       { : , paymentId, shipmentId };
    }  {
       (paymentId);
        ();
    }
  }  {
     (order.);
      ();
  }
}