Causality

TCR tracks not just what happened, but why.

Causality vs. Sequence

• Sequence: Event A happened before Event B.
• Causality: Event A caused Event B.

In traditional systems, you arguably see sequence (logs). In TCR, the Coordinator tracks causality.

Supersede Chains

When an Intent is superseded, it forms a chain. Search(A) -> superseded by Search(AB) -> superseded by Search(ABC).

TCR allows you to inspect this chain to understand why the final reality is Search(ABC) and why the network request for Search(A) was cancelled.

Invalidation

An intent can be Invalidated by a later intent. Example: AuthSuccess might invalidate a pending RetryLogin intent. This is tracked explicitly in the graph.

Reading Causality Graphs

In the Studio, causality is visualized as a directed graph. You can click any Resolution to see its ancestors (causes) and descendants (effects).