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.