microservices-orchestrator

Enterprise-grade skill for designing and managing microservices architectures at scale.

When to Use

This skill should be used when:

• Designing a new microservices architecture from scratch
• Decomposing a monolithic application into microservices
• Defining service boundaries and bounded contexts
• Establishing inter-service communication patterns
• Designing API contracts and service interfaces
• Planning microservices deployment strategies
• Implementing service discovery and registration
• Designing data management across microservices

Instructions

Step 1: Analyze Current Architecture

First, understand the current system architecture and requirements:

1. Identify the domain - What business domain are we working with?
2. Map current architecture - Is this a greenfield project or migration?
3. Gather requirements - Scalability, performance, team structure
4. Identify constraints - Technology stack, compliance, existing integrations

Example analysis questions:

## Architecture Analysis

### Business Domain
- What is the core business domain? (e.g., e-commerce, healthcare, fintech)
- What are the key business capabilities?
- Who are the main users and stakeholders?

### Current State
- Monolithic application or existing services?
- Current technology stack?
- Team size and structure?
- Deployment frequency and process?

### Requirements
- Expected traffic volume and growth?
- Performance requirements (latency, throughput)?
- Availability requirements (SLA)?
- Compliance requirements (HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GDPR)?

### Constraints
- Budget limitations?
- Timeline constraints?
- Technology preferences or mandates?
- Team skill levels?

Step 2: Define Bounded Contexts

Apply Domain-Driven Design to identify service boundaries:

1. Identify business capabilities - What does the system do?
2. Map bounded contexts - Where do concepts have different meanings?
3. Define context boundaries - What data/logic belongs in each context?
4. Identify relationships - How do contexts interact?

Example bounded context mapping:

/**
 * E-Commerce Platform - Bounded Contexts
 */

// 1. Product Catalog Context
interface ProductCatalogContext {
  responsibilities: [
    'Product information management',
    'Category management',
    'Search and discovery',
    'Product recommendations'
  ];
  entities: ['Product', 'Category', 'Brand', 'ProductVariant'];
  services: ['ProductService', 'CategoryService', 'SearchService'];
}

// 2. Order Management Context
interface OrderManagementContext {
  responsibilities: [
    'Order creation and tracking',
    'Order fulfillment',
    'Order history',
    'Returns and refunds'
  ];
  entities: ['Order', 'OrderItem', 'Return', 'Refund'];
  services: ['OrderService', 'FulfillmentService', 'ReturnService'];
}

// 3. Customer Context
interface CustomerContext {
  responsibilities: [
    'Customer profiles',
    'Authentication',
    'Preferences',
    'Customer support'
  ];
  entities: ['Customer', 'Account', 'Preference', 'SupportTicket'];
  services: ['CustomerService', 'AuthService', 'PreferenceService'];
}

// 4. Payment Context
interface PaymentContext {
  responsibilities: [
    'Payment processing',
    'Payment methods management',
    'Transaction history',
    'Refund processing'
  ];
  entities: ['Payment', 'PaymentMethod', 'Transaction'];
  services: ['PaymentService', 'RefundService'];
}

// 5. Inventory Context
interface InventoryContext {
  responsibilities: [
    'Stock management',
    'Warehouse operations',
    'Stock reservations',
    'Inventory forecasting'
  ];
  entities: ['InventoryItem', 'Warehouse', 'StockMovement'];
  services: ['InventoryService', 'WarehouseService'];
}

Step 3: Design Service Interfaces

Define clear API contracts for each microservice:

1. REST APIs - Resource-based endpoints
2. GraphQL APIs - Flexible query interfaces
3. Event interfaces - Asynchronous communication
4. gRPC - High-performance RPC

Example API contract:

/**
 * Order Service API Contract
 */

// REST API Endpoints
interface OrderServiceAPI {
  // Commands (mutations)
  'POST /orders': {
    request: CreateOrderRequest;
    response: OrderCreated;
    status: 201;
  };

  'PUT /orders/:id': {
    request: UpdateOrderRequest;
    response: OrderUpdated;
    status: 200;
  };

  'POST /orders/:id/cancel': {
    request: CancelOrderRequest;
    response: OrderCancelled;
    status: 200;
  };

  // Queries
  'GET /orders/:id': {
    response: OrderDetails;
    status: 200;
  };

  'GET /orders': {
    query: OrderSearchParams;
    response: OrderList;
    status: 200;
  };
}

// Event Interfaces (Async Communication)
interface OrderServiceEvents {
  // Events Published
  published: [
    'OrderCreated',
    'OrderUpdated',
    'OrderCancelled',
    'OrderFulfilled'
  ];

  // Events Consumed
  consumed: [
    'PaymentCompleted',
    'PaymentFailed',
    'InventoryReserved',
    'InventoryReservationFailed'
  ];
}

// Data Transfer Objects
interface CreateOrderRequest {
  customerId: string;
  items: Array<{
    productId: string;
    quantity: number;
    price: number;
  }>;
  shippingAddress: Address;
  paymentMethodId: string;
}

interface OrderCreated {
  orderId: string;
  customerId: string;
  items: OrderItem[];
  totalAmount: number;
  status: 'pending' | 'confirmed';
  createdAt: string;
}

Step 4: Design Data Management Strategy

Determine data ownership and consistency patterns:

1. Database per service - Each service owns its data
2. Shared database - Multiple services share a database (anti-pattern)
3. Saga pattern - Distributed transactions
4. Event sourcing - Event-driven data persistence
5. CQRS - Command Query Responsibility Segregation

Example data management pattern:

/**
 * Saga Pattern for Order Creation
 * Ensures data consistency across Order, Payment, and Inventory services
 */

class OrderCreationSaga {
  async execute(createOrderRequest: CreateOrderRequest) {
    let orderId: string;
    let reservationId: string;
    let paymentId: string;

    try {
      // Step 1: Create order (pending state)
      orderId = await this.orderService.createOrder({
        ...createOrderRequest,
        status: 'pending'
      });

      // Step 2: Reserve inventory
      reservationId = await this.inventoryService.reserveItems({
        orderId,
        items: createOrderRequest.items
      });

      // Step 3: Process payment
      paymentId = await this.paymentService.processPayment({
        orderId,
        amount: this.calculateTotal(createOrderRequest.items),
        paymentMethodId: createOrderRequest.paymentMethodId
      });

      // Step 4: Confirm order
      await this.orderService.confirmOrder(orderId);

      return { orderId, status: 'confirmed' };

    } catch (error) {
      // Compensating transactions (rollback)
      await this.compensate({
        orderId,
        reservationId,
        paymentId
      });

      throw new OrderCreationFailedError(error);
    }
  }

  private async compensate(context: any) {
    // Release inventory reservation
    if (context.reservationId) {
      await this.inventoryService.releaseReservation(context.reservationId);
    }

    // Refund payment
    if (context.paymentId) {
      await this.paymentService.refundPayment(context.paymentId);
    }

    // Cancel order
    if (context.orderId) {
      await this.orderService.cancelOrder(context.orderId);
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Design Communication Patterns

Choose appropriate communication patterns:

1. Synchronous - REST, gRPC for request/response
2. Asynchronous - Message queues for events
3. Hybrid - Mix of both based on use case

Example communication design:

/**
 * Communication Patterns
 */

// Synchronous - REST for direct queries
class ProductService {
  @Get('/products/:id')
  async getProduct(id: string): Promise<Product> {
    // Direct synchronous call - fast response needed
    return await this.productRepository.findById(id);
  }
}

// Asynchronous - Events for loosely coupled operations
class OrderService {
  async createOrder(request: CreateOrderRequest): Promise<Order> {
    // Create order
    const order = await this.orderRepository.create(request);

    // Publish event (asynchronous - don't wait for subscribers)
    await this.eventBus.publish(new OrderCreatedEvent({
      orderId: order.id,
      customerId: order.customerId,
      items: order.items,
      totalAmount: order.totalAmount
    }));

    return order;
  }
}

// Event handlers in other services
class InventoryService {
  @EventHandler(OrderCreatedEvent)
  async onOrderCreated(event: OrderCreatedEvent) {
    // Reserve inventory asynchronously
    await this.reserveInventory(event.items);
  }
}

class NotificationService {
  @EventHandler(OrderCreatedEvent)
  async onOrderCreated(event: OrderCreatedEvent) {
    // Send order confirmation email asynchronously
    await this.emailService.sendOrderConfirmation(event);
  }
}

Step 6: Design Deployment and Infrastructure

Plan deployment architecture:

1. Service discovery - How services find each other
2. API Gateway - Single entry point for clients
3. Load balancing - Traffic distribution
4. Service mesh - Advanced traffic management, security
5. Observability - Monitoring, tracing, logging

Example infrastructure design:

# Kubernetes Deployment Architecture

# API Gateway
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: api-gateway
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  selector:
    app: kong-gateway
  ports:
    - port: 80
      targetPort: 8000
    - port: 443
      targetPort: 8443

---
# Order Service
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: order-service
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: order-service
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: order-service
        version: v1
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: order-service
        image: myregistry/order-service:v1.0
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080
        env:
        - name: DATABASE_URL
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: order-db-secret
              key: url
        - name: KAFKA_BROKERS
          value: "kafka-cluster:9092"
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: "256Mi"
            cpu: "250m"
          limits:
            memory: "512Mi"
            cpu: "500m"
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 30
          periodSeconds: 10
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /ready
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 10
          periodSeconds: 5

---
# Service Mesh (Istio)
apiVersion: networking.istio.io/v1alpha3
kind: VirtualService
metadata:
  name: order-service
spec:
  hosts:
  - order-service
  http:
  - match:
    - headers:
        version:
          exact: canary
    route:
    - destination:
        host: order-service
        subset: v2
      weight: 10
    - destination:
        host: order-service
        subset: v1
      weight: 90
  - route:
    - destination:
        host: order-service
        subset: v1

Best Practices

Domain-Driven Design:

• ✅ Start with business capabilities, not technical components
• ✅ Use ubiquitous language within bounded contexts
• ✅ Keep services loosely coupled, highly cohesive
• ✅ Each service should own its data

API Design:

• ✅ Design APIs that are backward compatible
• ✅ Use API versioning (URL, header, or content negotiation)
• ✅ Document APIs with OpenAPI/Swagger
• ✅ Implement proper error handling and status codes

Data Management:

• ✅ Database per service pattern
• ✅ Use sagas for distributed transactions
• ✅ Implement eventual consistency where appropriate
• ✅ Consider event sourcing for audit trails

Communication:

• ✅ Use synchronous for real-time queries
• ✅ Use asynchronous for long-running operations
• ✅ Implement circuit breakers and retries
• ✅ Use message queues for reliability

Deployment:

• ✅ Implement service discovery
• ✅ Use API gateway for external access
• ✅ Deploy services independently
• ✅ Use container orchestration (Kubernetes)
• ✅ Implement service mesh for advanced patterns

Observability:

• ✅ Distributed tracing (Jaeger, Zipkin)
• ✅ Centralized logging (ELK, Loki)
• ✅ Metrics and monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana)
• ✅ Health checks and readiness probes

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• ❌ Distributed monolith - Services too tightly coupled
• ❌ Shared database - Multiple services sharing same database
• ❌ Chatty services - Too many inter-service calls
• ❌ No API versioning - Breaking changes affect all clients
• ❌ Ignoring network failures - No circuit breakers or retries
• ❌ No monitoring - Can't debug distributed systems
• ❌ Premature microservices - Starting with microservices before understanding domain
• ❌ God service - One service doing too much

✅ Correct approach:

• Start with a well-defined bounded context
• Each service has single responsibility
• Use API gateway for external clients
• Implement comprehensive observability
• Design for failure (circuit breakers, retries, timeouts)
• Version APIs from the start

Examples

Example 1: E-Commerce Platform Migration

Scenario: Migrate monolithic e-commerce platform to microservices

Steps:

1. Identify Bounded Contexts:

- Product Catalog (product management, search)
- Order Management (orders, fulfillment)
- Customer Management (profiles, authentication)
- Payment Processing (payments, refunds)
- Inventory Management (stock, warehouses)
- Notification (emails, SMS)

2. Service Decomposition Strategy:

Phase 1: Extract read-heavy services
- Product Catalog (high read, low write)
- Customer Profiles (read-heavy)

Phase 2: Extract transactional services
- Order Management (ACID transactions needed)
- Payment Processing (critical path)

Phase 3: Extract supporting services
- Inventory Management
- Notification Service

3. Communication Pattern:

// Order → Payment: Synchronous (need immediate response)
const payment = await paymentService.processPayment({
  orderId,
  amount,
  paymentMethod
});

// Order → Notification: Asynchronous (fire and forget)
await eventBus.publish(new OrderCreatedEvent(order));

Example 2: Healthcare Platform (HIPAA Compliant)

Scenario: Design microservices for electronic health records

Bounded Contexts:

// 1. Patient Management Service
interface PatientService {
  responsibilities: [
    'Patient demographics (PHI)',
    'Patient registration',
    'Consent management'
  ];
  compliance: ['HIPAA', 'Audit logging', 'Encryption at rest'];
}

// 2. Clinical Data Service
interface ClinicalDataService {
  responsibilities: [
    'Medical records',
    'Lab results',
    'Prescriptions'
  ];
  compliance: ['HIPAA', 'Access controls', 'Data retention'];
}

// 3. Appointment Service
interface AppointmentService {
  responsibilities: [
    'Appointment scheduling',
    'Provider availability',
    'Reminders'
  ];
}

// 4. Billing Service
interface BillingService {
  responsibilities: [
    'Claims processing',
    'Insurance verification',
    'Payment processing'
  ];
  compliance: ['PCI-DSS for payments', 'HIPAA for claims'];
}

Security Architecture:

// Zero-trust security model
class ServiceAuthMiddleware {
  async authenticate(request: Request) {
    // 1. Verify JWT token
    const token = this.extractToken(request);
    const claims = await this.jwtService.verify(token);

    // 2. Verify service identity (mTLS)
    const clientCert = request.socket.getPeerCertificate();
    await this.verifyCertificate(clientCert);

    // 3. Check access control (RBAC)
    const hasAccess = await this.rbacService.checkPermission(
      claims.userId,
      request.path,
      request.method
    );

    if (!hasAccess) {
      throw new ForbiddenError('Access denied');
    }

    // 4. Audit log
    await this.auditService.log({
      userId: claims.userId,
      action: `${request.method} ${request.path}`,
      timestamp: new Date(),
      ipAddress: request.ip
    });

    return claims;
  }
}

Tips

• 💡 Start small - Don't decompose everything at once
• 💡 Strangler fig pattern - Gradually replace monolith
• 💡 Use API gateway - Single entry point simplifies client integration
• 💡 Event-driven - Reduces coupling between services
• 💡 Automate deployment - CI/CD is essential for microservices
• 💡 Monitor everything - Distributed tracing is crucial
• 💡 Document APIs - OpenAPI/Swagger from day one
• 💡 Versioning strategy - Plan for API evolution

Related Skills/Commands

Skills:

• service-mesh-integrator - Configure Istio/Linkerd
• api-gateway-configurator - Set up Kong/Tyk
• event-driven-architect - Design event-driven systems
• distributed-tracing-setup - Configure Jaeger/Zipkin

Commands:

• /dependency-graph - Visualize service dependencies
• /adr-create - Document architecture decisions
• /load-test-suite - Test microservices performance

Agents:

• enterprise-architect - High-level system design
• distributed-systems-architect - Deep microservices expertise
• sre-consultant - Reliability and monitoring

Notes

When to Use Microservices:

• ✅ Large teams (10+ developers)
• ✅ Need to scale independently
• ✅ Different technology stacks needed
• ✅ Frequent deployments
• ✅ Complex business domain

When NOT to Use Microservices:

• ❌ Small team (< 5 developers)
• ❌ Simple domain
• ❌ Tight coupling between features
• ❌ Low traffic volume
• ❌ Startup/MVP phase

Migration Strategy:

• Start with 2-3 services (not 20)
• Extract read-heavy services first
• Establish observability before scaling
• Automate deployment and testing
• Keep monolith until confident

Success Metrics:

• Deployment frequency increased
• Mean time to recovery (MTTR) decreased
• Team autonomy increased
• Service availability (99.9%+)
• Independent scalability achieved