https://tigerbeetle.com/blogTigerBeetle Blog2026-04-14T00:00:00ZInsights, updates, and technical deep dives on building a high-performance financial transactions database.https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/img/icon-cf201f01.pnghttps://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2026-04-14-automation-screams-joyAutomation That Screams Joy2026-04-14T00:00:00Z2026-04-14T00:00:00ZmatkladI hate shell scripting with a passion. Whenever I join a project, I go on a crusade to rewrite all bash scripts into the project’s main language. I have Java For Everything tattooed on my arm (no). The code I’ve written at TigerBeetle that I am most proud of is this:
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2026-03-19-a-trillion-transactionsA Trillion Transactions2026-03-19T00:00:00Z2026-03-19T00:00:00ZJoran Dirk GreefWe processed a trillion transactions to test TigerBeetle’s scale.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2026-02-16-index-count-offset-sizeIndex, Count, Offset, Size2026-02-16T00:00:00Z2026-02-16T00:00:00ZmatkladWherein we make progress towards solving one of the most vexing problems of Computer Science — naming things.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2026-01-14-bitemporalityOne for the Treble, Two for the Time2026-01-14T00:00:00Z2026-01-14T00:00:00ZLewis Daly Time is like a river made up of events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place.
— Meditations, Book IV
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-11-28-tale-of-four-fuzzersA Tale Of Four Fuzzers2025-11-28T00:00:00Z2025-11-28T00:00:00Zmatklad Charles Darnay observed that the gate was held by a mixed guard of soldiers and patriots, the latter far outnumbering the former; and that while ingress into the city for peasants’ carts bringing in supplies, and for similar traffic and traffickers, was easy enough, egress, even for the homeliest people, was very difficult.
— Complaining about egress fees goes back to at least the French Revolution.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-11-22-mathematics-of-consensusMathematics of Consensus — Accidental Lecture2025-11-22T00:00:00Z2025-11-22T00:00:00ZmatkladSomewhat accidentally, we recorded an impromptu ~2 hour lecture explaining the mathematics behind consensus algorithms, using a Go Pro fisheye—the camera on hand 🤣
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-11-06-the-write-last-read-first-ruleThe Write Last, Read First Rule2025-11-06T00:00:00Z2025-11-06T00:00:00ZDominik TornowTigerBeetle is a financial transactions database built for correctness. Yet, building a correct system from correct components remains a challenge:
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-10-25-synadia-and-tigerbeetle-pledge-512k-to-the-zig-software-foundationSynadia and TigerBeetle Pledge $512,000 to the Zig Software Foundation2025-10-25T00:00:00Z2025-10-25T00:00:00ZJoran Dirk GreefSynadia and TigerBeetle have together pledged $512,000 to the Zig Software Foundation over the next two years in support of the language, leadership, and communities building the future of simpler systems software.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-10-21-clockless-timeTracking Time Without Clock2025-10-21T00:00:00Z2025-10-21T00:00:00ZmatkladA short note on a couple of code patterns for handling time!
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-08-04-code-review-can-be-betterCode Review Can Be Better2025-08-04T00:00:00Z2025-08-04T00:00:00ZmatkladSlightly unusual genre today: a negative result about our git-review tool for a different take on code review process, which we decided to shelve, at least for the time being.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-06-06-fuzzer-blind-spots-meet-jepsenFuzzer Blind Spots (Meet Jepsen!)2025-06-06T00:00:00Z2025-06-06T00:00:00ZdjgSystems inevitably have components which are easier or harder to test.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-05-26-asserting-implicationsAsserting Implications2025-05-26T00:00:00Z2025-05-26T00:00:00ZmatkladA short one today!
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-04-23-swarm-testing-data-structuresSwarm Testing Data Structures2025-04-23T00:00:00Z2025-04-23T00:00:00ZmatkladWe discovered a cute little pattern the other day when refactoring TigerBeetle’s intrusive queue — using Zig’s comptime reflection for exhaustively testing data structure’s public API. Isn’t it cool when your property test fails when you add a new API, because “public API is tested” is one of the properties you test?!
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-02-27-why-we-designed-tigerbeetles-docs-from-scratchWhy We Designed TigerBeetle's Docs from Scratch2025-02-27T00:00:00Z2025-02-27T00:00:00ZFabian RühleFabio ArnoldmatkladWe recently rebuilt TigerBeetle’s docs site from scratch. We wanted to apply TigerStyle and first principles thinking, not only to our database but also to our docs. To give users the fastest possible experience, given how much time they spend reading, and to do this without the dependency of Docusaurus. At TigerBeetle, how we build things is as important as what we build, because methodology has a second order effect on motivation.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2025-02-13-a-descent-into-the-vortexA Descent Into the Vörtex2025-02-13T00:00:00Z2025-02-13T00:00:00ZOskar WickströmWe’re huge fans of Deterministic Simulation Testing (DST) at TigerBeetle, which enables us to perfectly reproduce complex failures of a distributed system on a single laptop. But that’s not today’s story! We’ve added an intentionally non-deterministic testing harness, the Vörtex!
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2024-12-19-enum-of-arraysEnum of Arrays2024-12-19T00:00:00Z2024-12-19T00:00:00ZmatkladA popular data-oriented design pattern is a Struct of Arrays. Is an Array of Enums also useful? Yes! But let’s do a refresher on struct of arrays (SoA) first:
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2024-07-23-rediscovering-transaction-processing-from-history-and-first-principlesRediscovering Transaction Processing From History and First Principles2024-07-23T00:00:00Z2024-07-23T00:00:00ZJoran Dirk GreefIn July 2020, I stumbled into a fundamental limitation in the general-purpose database design for transaction processing.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2024-05-14-snapshot-testing-for-the-massesSnapshot Testing For the Masses2024-05-14T00:00:00Z2024-05-14T00:00:00ZmatkladSnapshot testing is a technique for the “assert” part of an “arrange, act, assert” test, that dispenses with hand-written assertions, and instead uses comparison to a known good value, a snapshot. Crucially, in the case of a mismatch, a snapshot can update itself. A video is worth a thousand words:
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2023-12-27-it-takes-two-to-contractIt Takes Two to Contract2023-12-27T00:00:00Z2023-12-27T00:00:00ZmatkladToday’s topic: design by contract. To be honest, I was skeptical of DbC: it feels like it boils down to:
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2023-09-19-64-bit-bank-balances-ought-to-be-enough-for-anybody64-Bit Bank Balances ‘Ought to be Enough for Anybody’?2023-09-19T00:00:00Z2023-09-19T00:00:00ZRafael Batiati “640K ought to be enough for anybody.” - Supposedly Bill Gates, circa 1981.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2023-07-26-copy-huntingCopy Hunting2023-07-26T00:00:00Z2023-07-26T00:00:00ZmatkladI have a super power. I want to share it in this blog post so that you, my dear reader, also have it!
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2023-07-11-we-put-a-distributed-database-in-the-browserWe Put a Distributed Database In the Browser – And Made a Game of It!2023-07-11T00:00:00Z2023-07-11T00:00:00ZPhil EatonJoran Dirk GreefTigerBeetle is a distributed financial transactions database, designed for mission critical safety. How do you test something so critical? Well, we could tell you (and we will), but why not show you?
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2023-07-06-simulation-testing-for-livenessSimulation Testing For Liveness2023-07-06T00:00:00Z2023-07-06T00:00:00ZmatkladThis month we introduced a significant change to TigerBeetle’s simulator, the VOPR. We split the simulator into two modes: “safety” mode and a new “liveness” mode.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2023-03-28-random-fuzzy-thoughtsRandom Fuzzy Thoughts2023-03-28T00:00:00Z2023-03-28T00:00:00ZmatkladI have been doing a lot of randomized testing and fuzzing lately, and I want to document some lessons learned. This isn’t going to be a grand unified theory of fuzzing, but rather a collection of observations useful for people who already do randomized testing. This post will explore three related questions:
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2023-02-21-writing-high-performance-clients-for-tigerbeetleWriting High-Performance Clients for Tigerbeetle2023-02-21T00:00:00Z2023-02-21T00:00:00ZRafael BatiatiIn this post, I’ll explore TigerBeetle’s strategy for delivering high-performance clients by seamlessly integrating its unique threading and memory model into each target ecosystem, such as Java, Dotnet, Go, and Node.js.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2023-01-30-series-seed-announcementTigerbeetle Raises $6.4M to Power the Future of Financial Accounting Infrastructure2023-01-30T00:00:00Z2023-01-30T00:00:00ZJoran Dirk GreefA textbook database problem
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2022-11-23-a-friendly-abstraction-over-iouring-and-kqueueA Programmer-Friendly I/O Abstraction Over io_uring and kqueue2022-11-23T00:00:00Z2022-11-23T00:00:00ZKing ButcherPhil EatonConsider this tale of I/O and performance. We’ll start with blocking I/O, explore io_uring and kqueue, and take home an event loop very similar to some software you may find familiar.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2022-10-12-a-database-without-dynamic-memoryA Database Without Dynamic Memory Allocation2022-10-12T00:00:00Z2022-10-12T00:00:00ZPhil EatonSome folks who read TIGER_STYLE.md (the TigerBeetle coding guide) are surprised to learn that TigerBeetle allocates no memory after startup.
https://tigerbeetle.com/blog/2021-08-30-three-clocks-are-better-than-oneThree Clocks are Better than One2021-08-30T00:00:00Z2021-08-30T00:00:00ZJoran Dirk Greef “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” - Mark Twain