invariant-confluence · also I-confluence

Invariant confluence

Invariant confluence requires valid states reachable from a common ancestor to remain valid when merged under the specified transactions and merge rule.

Related Observatory article: Invariant confluence on hesela.com

Contract: Specify the initial state, permitted transactions, invariant and merge operator together. Checking each replica locally is insufficient if their merged result can violate the invariant. [1]

Guarantee: In the paper's model, invariant confluence characterizes when invariant preservation, transactional availability, convergence and coordination-free execution can coexist. Changing the operations or merge rule changes the question. [1]

Relations

related
CALM theorem, CAP theorem, Serializability, Write skew, Escrow transactions, Bounded counter

Citations

  1. Bailis et al. Coordination Avoidance in Database Systems. PVLDB 8(3), 185-196 (2014), sections 3-5. (accessed 2026-11-10)
Sources & caveats
  • Primary-source synthesis of the formal criterion, not a claim that arbitrary weakly consistent databases preserve application invariants.

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Hesela team. Invariant confluence. Hesela. 2026-11-10. https://hesela.dev/terms/invariant-confluence/