How do I install the Ddia Transactions Consistency skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add ebarti/ddia-transactions-consistency in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Ddia Transactions Consistency safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Ddia Transactions Consistency?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Ddia Transactions Consistency free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Ddia Transactions Consistency?

ebarti (@ebarti) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Ddia Transactions Consistency by ebarti

Name: Ddia Transactions Consistency
Author: ebarti

Ddia Transactions Consistency

Distilled knowledge from "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" (Kleppmann, 2nd ed.) chapters 8-10 on transactions, distributed system fundamentals, and consistency/consensus. Covers ACID semantics, weak/strong isolation, distributed failure modes, time/clocks, linearizability, and consensus protocols. Use this skill when: - Picking a database isolation level - Diagnosing race conditions, lost updates, or write skew - Designing for distributed failures (network/clocks/processes) - Choosing a consensus tool (ZooKeeper, etcd, Raft) - Building distributed locks safely (with fencing) - Implementing distributed transactions or 2PC - Reasoning about CAP/linearizability - Debugging stale reads, split-brain, or zombie writers - Reviewing database, replication, or coordination service choices

ebarti Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

DDIA Transactions and Consistency

A reference skill covering the safety properties of single-node transactions (chapter 8) and the additional difficulties that distributed systems impose on those properties (chapters 9-10). Organized into 9 categories that can be loaded individually as needed.

Quick Start

Open guidelines.md to find which files match your task or symptom
Load only the listed files — most tasks need 1-3 reference files
For a multi-step process (e.g., picking an isolation level), check workflows/ instead

References

Category	Files	Purpose
`acid-fundamentals/`	knowledge, rules, examples	What ACID actually means; transaction model basics
`isolation-levels/`	knowledge, rules, examples	Read committed, snapshot isolation, lost updates, write skew
`serializability/`	knowledge, rules, examples	Serial execution, 2PL, SSI
`distributed-transactions/`	knowledge, rules, examples	2PC, XA, atomic commit across nodes
`distributed-failures/`	knowledge, rules, examples	Partial failure, network partitions, faults
`distributed-time/`	knowledge, rules, examples	Wall vs monotonic clocks, NTP, process pauses
`distributed-truth/`	knowledge, rules, examples	Quorums, leases, fencing tokens, system models
`linearizability/`	knowledge, rules, examples	Strong consistency, CAP, logical clocks
`consensus/`	knowledge, rules, examples	Paxos/Raft, ZooKeeper, etcd, leader election

Workflows

Task	Workflow
Choose database isolation level (read committed, snapshot, serializable)	`workflows/choosing-isolation-level.md`
Diagnose a distributed bug (lost write, stale read, race condition)	`workflows/diagnosing-distributed-bug.md`
Design a fault-tolerant distributed system	`workflows/designing-fault-tolerant-system.md`
Choose consensus / coordination tool (ZooKeeper, etcd, Consul)	`workflows/choosing-consensus-tool.md`

Guidelines

See guidelines.md for:

Task-based file selection (transaction design, concurrency bugs, distributed coordination, failure modes)
Symptom/question lookup ("two updates raced and one was lost", "clock skew causing weird ordering", etc.)
Topic index across all 9 categories
Decision trees for isolation level, consensus tool, and distributed lock design
Complete file index (27 reference files)

---name: ddia-transactions-consistencydescription: Distilled knowledge from "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" (Kleppmann, 2nd ed.) chapters 8-10 on transactions, distributed system fundamentals, and consistency/consensus. Covers ACID semantics, weak/strong isolation, distributed failure modes, time/clocks, linearizability, and consensus protocols. Use this skill when: - Picking a database isolation level - Diagnosing race conditions, lost updates, or write skew - Designing for distributed failures (network/clocks/processes) - Choosing a consensus tool (ZooKeeper, etcd, Raft) - Building distributed locks safely (with fencing) - Implementing distributed transactions or 2PC - Reasoning about CAP/linearizability - Debugging stale reads, split-brain, or zombie writers - Reviewing database, replication, or coordination service choices---# DDIA Transactions and ConsistencyA reference skill covering the safety properties of single-node transactions (chapter 8) and the additional difficulties that distributed systems impose on those properties (chapters 9-10). Organized into 9 categories that can be loaded individually as needed.## Quick Start1. Open `guidelines.md` to find which files match your task or symptom2. Load only the listed files — most tasks need 1-3 reference files3. For a multi-step process (e.g., picking an isolation level), check `workflows/` instead## Contents### References| Category | Files | Purpose ||----------|-------|---------|| `acid-fundamentals/` | knowledge, rules, examples | What ACID actually means; transaction model basics || `isolation-levels/` | knowledge, rules, examples | Read committed, snapshot isolation, lost updates, write skew || `serializability/` | knowledge, rules, examples | Serial execution, 2PL, SSI || `distributed-transactions/` | knowledge, rules, examples | 2PC, XA, atomic commit across nodes || `distributed-failures/` | knowledge, rules, examples | Partial failure, network partitions, faults || `distributed-time/` | knowledge, rules, examples | Wall vs monotonic clocks, NTP, process pauses || `distributed-truth/` | knowledge, rules, examples | Quorums, leases, fencing tokens, system models || `linearizability/` | knowledge, rules, examples | Strong consistency, CAP, logical clocks || `consensus/` | knowledge, rules, examples | Paxos/Raft, ZooKeeper, etcd, leader election |### Workflows| Task | Workflow ||------|----------|| Choose database isolation level (read committed, snapshot, serializable) | `workflows/choosing-isolation-level.md` || Diagnose a distributed bug (lost write, stale read, race condition) | `workflows/diagnosing-distributed-bug.md` || Design a fault-tolerant distributed system | `workflows/designing-fault-tolerant-system.md` || Choose consensus / coordination tool (ZooKeeper, etcd, Consul) | `workflows/choosing-consensus-tool.md` |## GuidelinesSee `guidelines.md` for:- Task-based file selection (transaction design, concurrency bugs, distributed coordination, failure modes)- Symptom/question lookup ("two updates raced and one was lost", "clock skew causing weird ordering", etc.)- Topic index across all 9 categories- Decision trees for isolation level, consensus tool, and distributed lock design- Complete file index (27 reference files)

Frequently asked questions