mcpbeat Sign in

Idempotency Handling Skill for Claude

Idempotent API operations with idempotency keys, Redis caching, DB constraints. Use for payment systems, webhook retries, safe retries, or encountering duplicate processing, race conditions, key expiry errors.

1k tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
1
files
instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
202
stars on the repo
on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/secondsky/claude-skills --skill idempotency-handling

The instruction itself

6 sections, as written by the author

Idempotency Handling

Ensure operations produce identical results regardless of execution count.

Idempotency Key Pattern

const redis = require('redis');
const client = redis.createClient();

async function idempotencyMiddleware(req, res, next) {
  const key = req.headers['idempotency-key'];
  if (!key) return next();

  const cached = await client.get(`idempotency:${key}`);
  if (cached) {
    const { status, body } = JSON.parse(cached);
    return res.status(status).json(body);
  }

  // Store original send
  const originalSend = res.json.bind(res);
  res.json = async (body) => {
    await client.setEx(
      `idempotency:${key}`,
      86400, // 24 hours
      JSON.stringify({ status: res.statusCode, body })
    );
    return originalSend(body);
  };

  next();
}

Database-Backed Idempotency

CREATE TABLE idempotency_keys (
  key VARCHAR(255) PRIMARY KEY,
  request_hash VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
  response JSONB,
  status VARCHAR(20) DEFAULT 'processing',
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW(),
  expires_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW() + INTERVAL '24 hours'
);

CREATE INDEX idx_idempotency_expires ON idempotency_keys(expires_at);
async function processPayment(idempotencyKey, payload) {
  const requestHash = crypto.createHash('sha256')
    .update(JSON.stringify(payload)).digest('hex');

  // Try to insert with 'processing' status - only one request will succeed
  const insertResult = await db.query(
    `INSERT INTO idempotency_keys (key, request_hash, status)
     VALUES ($1, $2, 'processing')
     ON CONFLICT (key) DO NOTHING
     RETURNING *`,
    [idempotencyKey, requestHash]
  );

  // If we inserted the row (rowCount === 1), we're responsible for processing
  if (insertResult.rowCount === 1) {
    try {
      // Execute the payment
      const result = await executePayment(payload);

      // Update to completed with response
      await db.query(
        'UPDATE idempotency_keys SET status = $1, response = $2 WHERE key = $3',
        ['completed', JSON.stringify(result), idempotencyKey]
      );

      return result;
    } catch (error) {
      // Mark as failed on error
      await db.query(
        'UPDATE idempotency_keys SET status = $1, response = $2 WHERE key = $3',
        ['failed', JSON.stringify({ error: error.message }), idempotencyKey]
      );
      throw error;
    }
  }

  // Another request is/was processing this key - check status
  const existing = await db.query(
    'SELECT * FROM idempotency_keys WHERE key = $1',
    [idempotencyKey]
  );

  const row = existing.rows[0];
  if (!row) {
    throw new Error('Unexpected: idempotency key vanished');
  }

  // Verify request hasn't changed
  if (row.request_hash !== requestHash) {
    throw new Error('Idempotency key reused with different request');
  }

  // Check status
  if (row.status === 'completed') {
    return JSON.parse(row.response);
  } else if (row.status === 'processing') {
    throw new Error('Request already processing - retry later');
  } else if (row.status === 'failed') {
    const failedResponse = JSON.parse(row.response);
    throw new Error(`Previous attempt failed: ${failedResponse.error}`);
  }

  throw new Error(`Unknown status: ${row.status}`);
}

When to Apply

  • Payment processing
  • Order creation
  • Webhook handling
  • Email sending
  • Any operation where duplicates cause issues

Best Practices

  • Require idempotency keys for mutations
  • Validate request body matches stored request
  • Set appropriate TTL (24 hours typical)
  • Use atomic database operations
  • Implement cleanup jobs to prevent table bloat

TTL Cleanup Strategy

To prevent unbounded table growth, implement periodic cleanup of expired keys:

Option 1: Scheduled Database Job (PostgreSQL)

-- Run hourly via pg_cron or external scheduler
DELETE FROM idempotency_keys
WHERE expires_at < NOW()
LIMIT 1000; -- Batch delete to avoid long locks

Option 2: Application Cleanup Job (Node.js)

// Run via cron or job scheduler (e.g., node-cron, Bull)
async function cleanupExpiredKeys() {
  try {
    const result = await db.query(
      'DELETE FROM idempotency_keys WHERE expires_at < NOW()'
    );
    console.log(`Cleaned up ${result.rowCount} expired idempotency keys`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Cleanup job failed:', error);
  }
}

// Schedule to run every hour
cron.schedule('0 * * * *', cleanupExpiredKeys);

Option 3: Application Cleanup Job (Python)

import asyncio
from datetime import datetime

async def cleanup_expired_keys():
    """Remove expired idempotency keys to prevent table bloat."""
    try:
        result = await db.execute(
            "DELETE FROM idempotency_keys WHERE expires_at < $1",
            datetime.now()
        )
        print(f"Cleaned up {result} expired idempotency keys")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Cleanup job failed: {e}")

# Run with APScheduler, Celery, or similar
# scheduler.add_job(cleanup_expired_keys, 'interval', hours=1)

Cleanup Best Practices:

  • Run cleanup during low-traffic periods to minimize lock contention
  • Use batched deletes (LIMIT 1000) for large tables
  • Monitor cleanup job execution and failures
  • Consider partitioning the table by created_at for easier cleanup
  • Set up alerts if table size grows unexpectedly

Other skills for the same job

different authors, same section of the catalogue
Update Stock MCP
by aiskillstore

> UpdateStock MCP 服务技能 —— 通过 stdio 模式调用 UpdateStock 脚本, 提供 A 股 DuckDB 数据库管理功能:创建数据库、全量/增量更新股票数据、查询股票行情。 设计的数据库方案兼容 QuantAll(全A解析)计算引擎。 触发条件:用户提到"UpdateStock"、"创建股票数据库"、"更新股票数据"、"获取股票数据"等。

56k tokens scripts zh
Diagnosing Failed Warehouse Syncs
by PostHog
vendor

> Diagnose why a data warehouse sync is failing and recommend the right recovery action. Use when the user asks "why isn't my Stripe/Postgres/Hubspot sync working?", "this table has been stuck for hours", "the data in the warehouse looks wrong", or wants to troubleshoot a specific source or schema. Covers source-level vs schema-level failures, stuck Running states, credential and schema-drift errors, incremental-field misconfig, CDC prerequisite failures, and the cancel / reload / resync / delete-data recovery actions.

4k tokens
Composing 1c Queries
by Desko77

> ВЫБРАТЬ/ИЗ/ГДЕ structure, table naming (catalogs, documents, registers, virtual tables), field selection, joins, grouping, totals, temporary tables, and parameter usage. Includes accounting register virtual tables (Остатки, Обороты, ОстаткиИОбороты, ОборотыДтКт, ДвиженияССубконто) with Счет, Субконто, and correspondence parameters. Use when the agent needs to compose a 1C query for execute_query, or when the user asks to query, filter, aggregate, or analyze data from a 1C database. Triggered by requests involving 1C data retrieval, report building, or query debugging.

15k tokens ru
Invoice Organizer
by frostant
×5

Automatically organizes invoices and receipts for tax preparation by reading messy files, extracting key information, renaming them consistently, and sorting them into logical folders. Turns hours of manual bookkeeping into minutes of automated organization.

3k tokens
Biorxiv Database
by christophacham
×4

Efficient database search tool for bioRxiv preprint server. Use this skill when searching for life sciences preprints by keywords, authors, date ranges, or categories, retrieving paper metadata, downloading PDFs, or conducting literature reviews.

9k tokens scripts
Brenda Database
by christophacham
×4

Access BRENDA enzyme database via SOAP API. Retrieve kinetic parameters (Km, kcat), reaction equations, organism data, and substrate-specific enzyme information for biochemical research and metabolic pathway analysis.

36k tokens scripts
Clinpgx Database
by christophacham
×4

Access ClinPGx pharmacogenomics data (successor to PharmGKB). Query gene-drug interactions, CPIC guidelines, allele functions, for precision medicine and genotype-guided dosing decisions.

13k tokens scripts
Clinvar Database
by christophacham
×4

Query NCBI ClinVar for variant clinical significance. Search by gene/position, interpret pathogenicity classifications, access via E-utilities API or FTP, annotate VCFs, for genomic medicine.

10k tokens

How to use it

Copy the folder

Take secondsky/idempotency-handling from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

Check the name does not clash

The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.