restate-saga

Saga pattern implementation for Restate durable workflows in Python with automatic compensation.

Features

• Automatic compensation - When a step fails, all previous steps are rolled back in reverse order
• Flexible step types - Hybrid (create_saga_step) or strict (create_saga_step_strict) compensation modes
• Decorator API - @saga_step, @saga_step_strict, @saga_workflow decorators for concise definitions
• Global error registry - Register error classes that should always trigger compensation
• Composable workflows - Embed workflows within workflows using run_as_step
• Virtual Object support - Saga pattern for stateful keyed entities
• Restate Workflows - Long-running workflows with signals, queries, and saga support
• Pydantic validation - Automatic input validation when type hints use Pydantic models

Installation

pip install restate-saga

Requires: Python 3.11+, restate_sdk[serde]

Quick Start

import restate
from restate_saga import (
    SagaContext,
    StepResponse,
    saga_step_strict,
    saga_workflow,
)

# Define steps with compensation

async def cancel_order(data):
    await order_service.cancel(data["order_id"])

@saga_step_strict("CreateOrder", compensate=cancel_order)
async def create_order(ctx: restate.Context, input_val):
    order = await order_service.create(input_val["customer_id"])
    return StepResponse(output={"order_id": order.id})

async def refund_payment(data):
    await payment_service.refund(data["payment_id"])

@saga_step_strict("ProcessPayment", compensate=refund_payment)
async def process_payment(ctx: restate.Context, input_val):
    payment = await payment_service.charge(input_val["order_id"])
    return StepResponse(output={"payment_id": payment.id})

# Define the workflow

@saga_workflow("CheckoutWorkflow")
async def checkout_workflow(saga: SagaContext, input_val):
    # If process_payment fails, create_order.compensate() runs automatically
    order = await create_order(saga, input_val)
    payment = await process_payment(saga, {"order_id": order["order_id"]})
    return {"order_id": order["order_id"], "payment_id": payment["payment_id"]}

Core Concepts

Saga Pattern

Each step has a corresponding compensation (undo) action. If a later step fails, all earlier compensations run in reverse order.

Step 1 → Step 2 → Step 3 (fails!)
                    ↓
         Compensate 2 ← Compensate 1

Step Types

Hybrid (create_saga_step / @saga_step)

Registers compensation before execution. Compensation runs even if the step fails partway through. The failed keyword argument indicates whether the forward action completed.

async def cancel_order(data, failed=False):
    # `failed` tells you if the step threw an error
    await order_service.cancel(data.get("order_id"))

@saga_step("CreateOrder", compensate=cancel_order)
async def create_order(ctx: restate.Context, input_val):
    order_id = await order_service.create(input_val)
    return StepResponse(
        output={"order_id": order_id},
        compensation_data={"order_id": order_id},
    )

Strict (create_saga_step_strict / @saga_step_strict)

Registers compensation after success. Use when compensation requires data that only exists after completion.

async def cancel_order(data):
    await order_service.cancel(data["order_id"])

@saga_step_strict("CreateOrder", compensate=cancel_order)
async def create_order(ctx: restate.Context, input_val):
    order = await order_service.create(input_val)
    return StepResponse(
        output={"order_id": order.id},
        compensation_data={"order_id": order.id},
    )

StepResponse

# compensation_data defaults to output when omitted
StepResponse(output={"order_id": "123"})

# explicit compensation_data
StepResponse(output={"order_id": "123"}, compensation_data={"order_id": "123", "extra": True})

# no compensation data (e.g. validation step)
StepResponse(output={"valid": True}, compensation_data=None)

# permanent failure — triggers compensation with provided data
StepResponse.permanent_failure("Payment declined", {"auth_id": "abc"})

Steps Without Compensation

For validation, read-only operations, or idempotent actions, omit the compensate function:

@saga_step("ValidateInput")
async def validate_input(ctx: restate.Context, input_val):
    if not input_val.get("email"):
        return StepResponse.permanent_failure("Email required", None)
    return StepResponse(output={"valid": True}, compensation_data=None)

Function API

Steps and workflows can also be created without decorators:

from restate_saga import create_saga_step, create_saga_step_strict, create_saga_workflow

create_order = create_saga_step(
    name="CreateOrder",
    run=create_order_handler,
    compensate=cancel_order,
)

checkout = create_saga_workflow(
    name="CheckoutWorkflow",
    handler=checkout_handler,
)

Global Error Registry

Register error classes that should always trigger compensation without retrying:

from restate_saga import register_terminal_errors

class ValidationError(Exception): ...
class NotFoundError(Exception): ...

register_terminal_errors([ValidationError, NotFoundError])

# Now any step that raises these will trigger compensation
@saga_step("MyStep")
async def my_step(ctx, input_val):
    raise ValidationError("Invalid input")  # → triggers compensation

Custom error mapping:

from restate_saga import set_global_error_mapper
import restate

def my_mapper(err: Exception) -> restate.TerminalError | None:
    if isinstance(err, BusinessError):
        return restate.TerminalError(str(err))
    return None

set_global_error_mapper(my_mapper)

Composing Workflows

Use run_as_step to embed a workflow within another, sharing the compensation context:

@saga_workflow("PaymentWorkflow")
async def payment_workflow(saga, input_val):
    auth = await authorize_payment(saga, input_val)
    capture = await capture_payment(saga, {"auth_id": auth["id"]})
    return {"payment_id": capture["id"]}

@saga_workflow("OrderWorkflow")
async def order_workflow(saga, input_val):
    order = await create_order(saga, input_val)

    # Payment workflow's compensations join this saga
    payment = await payment_workflow.run_as_step(saga, {"amount": order["total"]})

    # If shipping fails, both order AND payment are compensated
    shipment = await create_shipment(saga, {"order_id": order["id"]})

    return {"order_id": order["id"], "payment_id": payment["payment_id"]}

Nested Sagas

For inline nested logic without a full workflow:

from restate_saga import run_nested_saga, create_saga_module

# Inline nested saga
async def handle_payment(saga):
    auth = await authorize(saga, {"amount": 100})
    capture = await capture(saga, {"auth_id": auth["id"]})
    return capture

result = await run_nested_saga(saga, handle_payment)

# Reusable saga module (not a Restate service)
payment_module = create_saga_module(payment_handler)
result = await payment_module(saga, input_val)

Virtual Objects

Stateful entities with saga support:

from restate_saga import create_saga_virtual_object, SagaContext

cart = create_saga_virtual_object("ShoppingCart")

@cart.handler()
async def checkout(saga: SagaContext, ctx: restate.ObjectContext, input_val):
    payment = await charge_payment(saga, {"amount": input_val["total"]})
    ctx.clear("items")
    return {"order_id": payment["order_id"]}

@cart.handler(kind="shared")
async def get_items(ctx: restate.ObjectSharedContext):
    return await ctx.get("items") or []

Restate Workflows (Long-Running)

For workflows with signals and queries:

from restate_saga import create_saga_restate_workflow, SagaContext

wf = create_saga_restate_workflow("ApprovalWorkflow")

@wf.main()
async def run(saga: SagaContext, ctx: restate.WorkflowContext, input_val):
    order = await create_order(saga, input_val)

    # Wait for approval signal (durable promise)
    approved = await ctx.promise("approval").value()

    if not approved:
        raise restate.TerminalError("Order rejected")

    shipment = await create_shipment(saga, {"order_id": order["order_id"]})
    return {"order_id": order["order_id"]}

@wf.handler()
async def approve(ctx: restate.WorkflowSharedContext, input_val):
    await ctx.promise("approval").resolve(input_val["approved"])

Pydantic Validation

When step or workflow handlers use Pydantic model type hints, inputs are automatically validated:

from pydantic import BaseModel

class CheckoutInput(BaseModel):
    customer_id: str

@saga_workflow("CheckoutWorkflow")
async def checkout(saga: SagaContext, input_val: CheckoutInput):
    # input_val is validated and converted to CheckoutInput
    order = await create_order(saga, input_val)
    return {"order_id": order["order_id"]}

Step & Workflow Options

Configure retry policies and service-level options:

from datetime import timedelta
from restate_saga import SagaStepOptions, StepRetryPolicy, SagaWorkflowOptions, WorkflowRetryPolicy

# Step-level retry
step = create_saga_step(
    name="ChargePayment",
    run=charge_handler,
    compensate=refund_handler,
    options=SagaStepOptions(
        retry=StepRetryPolicy(
            max_retry_attempts=3,
            initial_retry_interval=timedelta(seconds=1),
            retry_interval_factor=2.0,
            max_retry_interval=timedelta(seconds=30),
        ),
        compensation_retry=StepRetryPolicy(max_retry_attempts=5),
    ),
)

# Workflow-level options
workflow = create_saga_workflow(
    name="OrderWorkflow",
    handler=order_handler,
    options=SagaWorkflowOptions(
        retry_policy=WorkflowRetryPolicy(max_attempts=3),
        idempotency_retention=timedelta(days=1),
        ingress_private=True,
    ),
)

Project Structure

restate_saga/
├── __init__.py            # Public API exports
├── steps.py               # create_saga_step, create_saga_step_strict, decorators
├── workflows.py           # create_saga_workflow, SagaWorkflowService
├── restate_workflows.py   # create_saga_restate_workflow (long-running)
├── virtual_objects.py     # create_saga_virtual_object
├── step_response.py       # StepResponse class
├── error_registry.py      # Terminal error registration
├── nested.py              # run_nested_saga, create_saga_module
├── types.py               # SagaContext, options, policies
└── _validation.py         # Pydantic input validation
app/
├── main.py                # FastAPI app with Restate mounted
└── services/              # Example service handlers
tests/                     # Test suite

Running the Example App

Prerequisites

1. Install Restate Server:

   # macOS
   brew install restatedev/tap/restate-server
   
   # Or Docker
   docker run -d --name restate -p 8080:8080 -p 9070:9070 docker.io/restatedev/restate:latest
   

2. Start Restate Server:

   restate-server
   

Start the Service

# Install dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run the server
hypercorn app.main:api --bind 0.0.0.0:9080

Register with Restate

restate deployments register http://localhost:9080/restate/v1

Invoke a Workflow

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/CheckoutWorkflow/run \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"customer_id": "cust_123"}'

API Reference

Steps

• create_saga_step(name, run, compensate?, options?) - Hybrid compensation (registered before execution)
• create_saga_step_strict(name, run, compensate?, options?) - Strict compensation (registered after success)
• @saga_step(name, compensate?, options?) - Decorator for hybrid steps
• @saga_step_strict(name, compensate?, options?) - Decorator for strict steps
• StepResponse(output, compensation_data?) - Step result with optional compensation data
• StepResponse.permanent_failure(message, compensation_data) - Signal permanent failure

Workflows

• create_saga_workflow(name, handler, options?) - Create a saga workflow service
• @saga_workflow(name, options?) - Decorator for workflows
• SagaWorkflowService.run_as_step(parent_saga, input) - Embed in parent workflow

Restate Workflows

• create_saga_restate_workflow(name, options?) - Create a long-running workflow
• SagaRestateWorkflow.main() - Register main handler with saga support
• SagaRestateWorkflow.handler() - Register shared signal/query handlers
• SagaRestateWorkflow.run_as_step(parent_saga, input) - Embed in parent workflow

Virtual Objects

• create_saga_virtual_object(name, options?) - Create a Virtual Object
• SagaVirtualObject.handler(kind="exclusive") - Exclusive handler with saga
• SagaVirtualObject.handler(kind="shared") - Shared handler without saga

Error Registry

• register_terminal_errors(error_classes) - Register error classes as terminal
• unregister_terminal_errors(error_classes) - Unregister error classes
• clear_terminal_errors() - Clear all registered errors
• set_global_error_mapper(mapper) - Set a custom error mapper
• resolve_terminal_error(err, step_mapper?) - Resolve error to terminal

Nested Sagas

• run_nested_saga(saga, handler) - Run inline saga with shared compensation
• create_saga_module(handler) - Create a reusable saga module

Types

• SagaContext - Context with Restate ctx and compensations stack
• StepRetryPolicy - Retry config for step-level operations
• SagaStepOptions - Step options (retry, compensation_retry, as_terminal_error)
• WorkflowRetryPolicy - Retry config for service/workflow level
• SagaWorkflowOptions - Workflow options (retry, retention, timeouts)

License

MIT