Atomic Matchmaking with Two-Phase Commit

Two-phase commit semantics for match creation that handles player disconnections gracefully.

When to Use This Skill

• Building real-time multiplayer matchmaking
• Need to handle player disconnections during match creation
• Want to avoid orphaned lobbies and stuck players
• Require reliable match notifications

Core Concepts

Matching two players is deceptively hard. Either player can disconnect between being matched and joining. The solution uses two-phase commit:

1. Phase 1: Verify both connections are healthy via ping/pong
2. Phase 2: Create lobby, send notifications, confirm delivery
3. Rollback: On any failure, clean up lobby and re-queue the healthy player