Saga Pattern Simulator — Interactive System Design Lab

Run a distributed order transaction across Payment, Inventory, Shipping, and Notification services. Set a failure point at any step, then hit Run to watch the saga execute — and when it fails, observe how compensating transactions restore consistency without a distributed lock or 2PC. Toggle between orchestration (central coordinator) and choreography (event-driven chain) to understand the trade-off in responsibility and coupling.

Trigger a failure mid-transaction and watch compensating transactions roll the saga back — in orchestration or choreography mode.

This free interactive simulation runs directly in your browser — no account needed. Adjust the parameters and watch how the system responds in real time.

Concepts covered

  • saga pattern
  • distributed transactions
  • compensating transactions
  • orchestration
  • choreography
  • microservices
  • eventual consistency
  • ACID

Read the guide

  • Distributed System Patterns — Microservices break things: Transactions, Consistency, and Reliability. Learn the patterns (Circuit Breaker, Saga, Outbox) we use to glue them back together.

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