Task Idempotency
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Task Idempotency is the property that an operation produces the same state whether it is executed once or repeatedly, expressed formally as applying the operation twice yielding the same result as applying it once. Its core proposition is that when an operation is idempotent, a client that did not receive confirmation can retry without risking duplicated effects. The key qualifier is that idempotency requires enforcement, usually through a unique request key or a state machine, since a plain write operation is not idempotent by default.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Retry safety: make operations repeatable so that an uncertain failure can be retried freely. - Key design: attach a unique request identifier so that any duplicates can be reliably detected. - Effect check: verify that a repeated call does not double-charge, double-send, or double-create any record.
Anchor fast decisions
Networks fail in ways that leave the caller uncertain whether the operation happened, and retrying is the only recovery. Without idempotency, each retry risks applying the effect again, so duplicated charges and duplicate records appear exactly when the system is already degraded. A uniqueness key collapses repeated attempts into a single effect, which makes retrying safe by construction.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idempotenceverified
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