# spring-boot-saga-pattern

A skill for distributed transactions in Spring Boot microservices: choreography and orchestration, compensating actions, Kafka, RabbitMQ, Axon.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 3800 installs · ★ 363
- Author: giuseppe-trisciuoglio
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit/tree/HEAD/plugins/developer-kit-java/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern

## What it does

The skill walks you through splitting a distributed transaction into a chain of local transactions with compensations instead of two-phase commit. It starts with design: map the sequence of operations, then find a matching compensation for every forward step. Choreography suits a greenfield system with few participants; orchestration fits complex workflows that already exist.

From there it covers implementation: services with local ACID transactions, idempotent compensations, Kafka setup with an error handler, an orchestrator that persists saga state, and event handlers for the choreography path. Monitoring is its own step — saga duration, compensation count, failure rate and stuck sagas via Prometheus.

A compensation has to run safely more than once, so the skill points to database constraints or deduplication tables. Saga state belongs in persistent storage; without it a crashed service leaves the process unrecoverable. Inter-service calls get circuit breakers, and messages past their retry limit go to dead-letter queues.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill spring-boot-saga-pattern -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill spring-boot-saga-pattern -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill spring-boot-saga-pattern -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit spring-boot-saga-pattern
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill spring-boot-saga-pattern -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --path plugins/developer-kit-java/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit --skill spring-boot-saga-pattern -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit/tree/HEAD/plugins/developer-kit-java/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- break a distributed transaction into local steps with compensations
- replace two-phase commit in a microservice setup
- make a compensating transaction idempotent
- pick choreography or orchestration for a given workflow
- track stuck sagas with metrics and alerts

## Example prompts
- Design a saga for order placement: Order → Payment → Inventory → Shipment, with a compensation per step
- Show me a Kafka saga orchestrator that persists state in SagaStateRepository
- How do I keep refundPayment idempotent when payment.failed arrives twice?

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 25dc3a53f552b3a4.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 25dc3a53f552b3a4
````text
---
name: spring-boot-saga-pattern
description: Provides distributed transaction patterns using the Saga Pattern for Spring Boot microservices. Use when implementing distributed transactions across services, handling compensating transactions, ensuring eventual consistency, or building choreography or orchestration-based sagas with Kafka, RabbitMQ, or Axon Framework.
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep
---

# Spring Boot Saga Pattern

## Overview

Implements distributed transactions across microservices using the Saga Pattern. Replaces two-phase commit with a sequence of local transactions and compensating actions. Supports choreography (event-driven) and orchestration (centralized coordinator) approaches with Kafka, RabbitMQ, or Axon Framework.

## When to Use

- Building distributed transactions across multiple microservices
- Replacing two-phase commit (2PC) with a more scalable solution
- Handling transaction rollback when a service fails
- Ensuring eventual consistency in microservices architecture
- Implementing compensating transactions for failed operations
- Coordinating complex business processes spanning multiple services

**Trigger phrases**: distributed transactions, saga pattern, compensating transactions, microservices transaction, eventual consistency, rollback across services, orchestration pattern, choreography pattern

## Instructions

### 1. Design Transaction Flow

Map the sequence of operations and their compensating transactions:

```
Order → Payment → Inventory → Shipment
  ↓        ↓        ↓          ↓
Cancel  Refund   Release    Cancel
```

**Validation**: Verify every forward step has a corresponding compensation.

### 2. Choose Implementation Approach

| Approach | Use Case | Stack |
|----------|----------|-------|
| Choreography | Greenfield, few participants | Spring Cloud Stream + Kafka/RabbitMQ |
| Orchestration | Complex workflows, brownfield | Axon Framework, Eventuate Tram, Camunda |

**Validation**: Review team expertise and system complexity before choosing.

### 3. Implement Services with Local Transactions

Each service completes its local ACID transaction atomically:

```java
@Service
@RequiredArgsConstructor
public class OrderService {
````
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First 2244 of 10124 bytes. © giuseppe-trisciuoglio · MIT · https://github.com/giuseppe-trisciuoglio/developer-kit/tree/HEAD/plugins/developer-kit-java/skills/spring-boot-saga-pattern/SKILL.md

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---
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