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reddb_server/replication/
election.rs

1//! Term-based, quorum-gated automatic election (issue #834, PRD #819, ADR 0030).
2//!
3//! This is the consensus core that turns a primary loss into an automatic,
4//! *safe* promotion. It lives in the first-party-but-decoupled control-plane
5//! supervisor (ADR 0030) — distinct from the data path — and reuses the two
6//! pieces the rest of replication already built:
7//!
8//! * the **commit watermark** ([`super::commit_waiter`] / [`super::quorum`]) —
9//!   the highest LSN durably replicated to a quorum that intersects every
10//!   possible election majority. Nothing at or below it may ever be rolled
11//!   back; and
12//! * the **FAILOVER handover machinery** ([`super::failover`]) — once a
13//!   candidate wins, promotion is driven through the same coordinated
14//!   role-swap, not a parallel state machine.
15//!
16//! ## The five hard requirements (ADR 0030, issue #834)
17//!
18//! 1. **Dry-run probe.** A candidate first asks "*would* you vote for me?"
19//!    without bumping any term. Only a real election bumps the term. This
20//!    keeps a flapping candidate from burning through terms and lets the
21//!    supervisor probe liveness cheaply.
22//! 2. **Durable last-vote.** A voter persists `(term, voted_for)` *before*
23//!    acknowledging a grant, so a voter that crashes and restarts mid-term
24//!    never double-votes — the second request in the same term for a
25//!    different candidate is refused from disk.
26//! 3. **Watermark vote rule (the safety core).** A voter MUST refuse any
27//!    candidate whose log does not cover the commit watermark. An
28//!    acknowledged synchronous write sits at or below the watermark, so a
29//!    winner necessarily carries it — the write provably survives the
30//!    failover. This is the one rule that may not be relaxed.
31//! 4. **Randomized election timeouts.** Candidates wait a randomized
32//!    interval before standing, so split votes are rare and self-correcting.
33//! 5. **Membership rules.** A quorum is a *majority of voting members*.
34//!    **Witness** members ([#836]) hold no data but vote, so `2 data + 1
35//!    witness` is a valid HA shape. A **catching-up** replica is
36//!    *non-voting* until it reaches a healthy state — it neither votes nor
37//!    stands.
38//!
39//! ## No two primaries in a term
40//!
41//! This invariant is structural, not probabilistic:
42//!
43//! * a win requires a strict majority of voting members, and two strict
44//!   majorities of the same set always intersect; and
45//! * the shared voter in any two majorities votes at most once per term
46//!   (durable last-vote), so it cannot grant two different candidates the
47//!   same term.
48//!
49//! Therefore at most one candidate can collect a majority in a given term,
50//! even under an arbitrary network partition. The partition tests exercise
51//! exactly this.
52//!
53//! ## Module shape
54//!
55//! Like [`super::failover`], the candidate-side [`ElectionCoordinator::run`]
56//! is a **pure state machine**: the clock, the per-peer vote RPC, the
57//! durable term bump, and the promotion are injected behind
58//! [`ElectionTransport`], so the whole election is exercised
59//! deterministically with a scripted fake — no clock, no network, no engine.
60//! The voter-side [`Voter`] wraps a [`LastVoteStore`] (durable on disk in
61//! production, in-memory in tests) and applies the vote rule.
62//!
63//! [#836]: https://github.com/reddb-io/reddb/issues/836
64
65use std::time::Duration;
66
67pub use reddb_file::FileLastVoteStore;
68
69// ---------------------------------------------------------------
70// Membership model
71// ---------------------------------------------------------------
72
73/// Whether a member holds data (and can therefore be promoted to primary)
74/// or is a vote-only witness (ADR 0030 — "a node that runs only the
75/// supervisor module").
76#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
77pub enum MemberKind {
78    /// Holds data; can vote and can stand for election.
79    Data,
80    /// Vote-only witness ([#836]); counts toward quorum, never primary.
81    ///
82    /// [#836]: https://github.com/reddb-io/reddb/issues/836
83    Witness,
84}
85
86/// Whether a member currently participates in voting.
87///
88/// A data replica that is still catching up (has not reached a healthy,
89/// watermark-covering state) is [`VotingState::CatchingUp`] and is excluded
90/// from the voter set entirely — it neither votes nor counts toward the
91/// majority denominator. Once healthy it becomes [`VotingState::Voting`].
92/// Witnesses are always [`VotingState::Voting`].
93#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
94pub enum VotingState {
95    /// Healthy member that participates in quorum.
96    Voting,
97    /// Replica still syncing; non-voting until healthy.
98    CatchingUp,
99}
100
101/// A cluster member as seen by the supervisor's membership view.
102#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
103pub struct Member {
104    /// Stable node identity (matches the replica registry / ack id).
105    pub id: String,
106    pub kind: MemberKind,
107    pub state: VotingState,
108}
109
110impl Member {
111    pub fn data_voting(id: impl Into<String>) -> Self {
112        Self {
113            id: id.into(),
114            kind: MemberKind::Data,
115            state: VotingState::Voting,
116        }
117    }
118
119    pub fn data_catching_up(id: impl Into<String>) -> Self {
120        Self {
121            id: id.into(),
122            kind: MemberKind::Data,
123            state: VotingState::CatchingUp,
124        }
125    }
126
127    pub fn witness(id: impl Into<String>) -> Self {
128        Self {
129            id: id.into(),
130            kind: MemberKind::Witness,
131            state: VotingState::Voting,
132        }
133    }
134
135    /// Does this member count toward quorum? Only healthy members vote;
136    /// a catching-up replica is non-voting (ADR 0030).
137    pub fn is_voter(&self) -> bool {
138        matches!(self.state, VotingState::Voting)
139    }
140
141    /// May this member stand for election? Only a healthy, data-bearing
142    /// member can become primary — a witness holds no data and a
143    /// catching-up replica is not healthy.
144    pub fn is_electable(&self) -> bool {
145        self.kind == MemberKind::Data && self.is_voter()
146    }
147}
148
149/// Quorum threshold for a set of members: a strict majority of the
150/// *voting* members. Witnesses count; catching-up replicas do not.
151///
152/// For `n` voting members the threshold is `floor(n/2) + 1`, the smallest
153/// count such that two qualifying sets always intersect — the structural
154/// basis for "no two primaries in a term".
155pub fn quorum_threshold(members: &[Member]) -> usize {
156    let voters = members.iter().filter(|m| m.is_voter()).count();
157    voters / 2 + 1
158}
159
160// ---------------------------------------------------------------
161// Durable last-vote
162// ---------------------------------------------------------------
163
164/// A node's durable voting record: the highest term it has participated in
165/// and who, if anyone, it granted that term. Persisted so a restart cannot
166/// erase the fact that a vote was already cast (requirement 2).
167#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Default)]
168pub struct LastVote {
169    /// Highest term this node has observed in a (real) vote request.
170    pub term: u64,
171    /// Who this node granted `term` to, if anyone yet.
172    pub voted_for: Option<String>,
173}
174
175impl LastVote {
176    fn from_file(value: reddb_file::DurableLastVote) -> Self {
177        Self {
178            term: value.term,
179            voted_for: value.voted_for,
180        }
181    }
182
183    fn to_file(&self) -> reddb_file::DurableLastVote {
184        reddb_file::DurableLastVote::new(self.term, self.voted_for.clone())
185    }
186}
187
188#[derive(Debug)]
189pub enum LastVoteError {
190    Io(std::io::Error),
191    InvalidFormat(String),
192}
193
194impl std::fmt::Display for LastVoteError {
195    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
196        match self {
197            Self::Io(err) => write!(f, "last-vote io error: {err}"),
198            Self::InvalidFormat(msg) => write!(f, "invalid last-vote format: {msg}"),
199        }
200    }
201}
202
203impl std::error::Error for LastVoteError {}
204
205impl From<reddb_file::RdbFileError> for LastVoteError {
206    fn from(value: reddb_file::RdbFileError) -> Self {
207        match value {
208            reddb_file::RdbFileError::Io(err) => Self::Io(err),
209            reddb_file::RdbFileError::InvalidOperation(msg) => Self::InvalidFormat(msg),
210            // The zone message names the zone and points at scrub/salvage
211            // (ADR 0074 §2/§4); keep it verbatim rather than flattening it.
212            err @ (reddb_file::RdbFileError::ZoneUnrecoverable { .. }
213            | reddb_file::RdbFileError::ReadLimitExceeded { .. }) => {
214                Self::InvalidFormat(err.to_string())
215            }
216        }
217    }
218}
219
220/// Durable store for a node's last vote. The contract is narrow on purpose:
221/// `load` returns the persisted record (or the default `term 0, voted_for
222/// None` when nothing was ever written), and `persist` makes a record
223/// durable *before* the caller acknowledges a grant.
224pub trait LastVoteStore {
225    fn load(&self) -> Result<LastVote, LastVoteError>;
226    fn persist(&self, vote: &LastVote) -> Result<(), LastVoteError>;
227}
228
229/// In-memory last-vote store for tests and witnesses that do not need
230/// cross-restart durability. (A witness *should* still persist in
231/// production; the file store is used there.)
232#[derive(Debug, Default)]
233pub struct MemoryLastVoteStore {
234    inner: std::sync::Mutex<LastVote>,
235}
236
237impl MemoryLastVoteStore {
238    pub fn new() -> Self {
239        Self::default()
240    }
241
242    /// Seed an initial record — used by tests to simulate a node that
243    /// already voted before a restart.
244    pub fn seeded(vote: LastVote) -> Self {
245        Self {
246            inner: std::sync::Mutex::new(vote),
247        }
248    }
249}
250
251impl LastVoteStore for MemoryLastVoteStore {
252    fn load(&self) -> Result<LastVote, LastVoteError> {
253        Ok(self.inner.lock().expect("last-vote mutex").clone())
254    }
255
256    fn persist(&self, vote: &LastVote) -> Result<(), LastVoteError> {
257        *self.inner.lock().expect("last-vote mutex") = vote.clone();
258        Ok(())
259    }
260}
261
262impl LastVoteStore for FileLastVoteStore {
263    fn load(&self) -> Result<LastVote, LastVoteError> {
264        self.load_file()
265            .map(LastVote::from_file)
266            .map_err(LastVoteError::from)
267    }
268
269    fn persist(&self, vote: &LastVote) -> Result<(), LastVoteError> {
270        self.persist_file(&vote.to_file())
271            .map_err(LastVoteError::from)
272    }
273}
274
275// ---------------------------------------------------------------
276// Vote request / decision
277// ---------------------------------------------------------------
278
279/// A request for a vote, sent by a candidate to a voter.
280#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
281pub struct VoteRequest {
282    /// The candidate's stable identity.
283    pub candidate_id: String,
284    /// The term the candidate is standing for. For a real election this is
285    /// `current_term + 1`; for a dry-run probe it is the *prospective* term
286    /// the candidate would stand for, evaluated without committing to it.
287    pub term: u64,
288    /// The candidate's log frontier — the highest LSN durably in its log.
289    /// The watermark rule compares this against the commit watermark.
290    pub last_log_lsn: u64,
291    /// A dry-run probe gathers a would-be vote without persisting it or
292    /// advancing the voter's term (requirement 1). A real election sets
293    /// this `false`, which is the only path that persists a last-vote.
294    pub dry_run: bool,
295}
296
297impl VoteRequest {
298    pub fn probe(candidate_id: impl Into<String>, term: u64, last_log_lsn: u64) -> Self {
299        Self {
300            candidate_id: candidate_id.into(),
301            term,
302            last_log_lsn,
303            dry_run: true,
304        }
305    }
306
307    pub fn real(candidate_id: impl Into<String>, term: u64, last_log_lsn: u64) -> Self {
308        Self {
309            candidate_id: candidate_id.into(),
310            term,
311            last_log_lsn,
312            dry_run: false,
313        }
314    }
315}
316
317/// Why a voter refused a candidate.
318#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
319pub enum RefusalReason {
320    /// The candidate's log does not cover the commit watermark, so an
321    /// acknowledged synchronous write could be lost — the safety core
322    /// refuses (requirement 3).
323    WatermarkNotCovered { candidate_lsn: u64, watermark: u64 },
324    /// The candidate's term is not newer than a term this voter already
325    /// participated in, and the voter already granted that term to someone
326    /// else (durable double-vote guard, requirement 2).
327    AlreadyVoted { term: u64, voted_for: String },
328    /// The candidate's term is older than the voter's current term — a
329    /// stale candidate from a superseded term.
330    StaleTerm {
331        candidate_term: u64,
332        voter_term: u64,
333    },
334}
335
336/// The outcome of a voter considering a [`VoteRequest`].
337#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
338pub enum VoteDecision {
339    /// Vote granted. For a real (non-dry-run) request the grant has already
340    /// been persisted durably before this value was produced.
341    Granted,
342    /// Vote refused, with the reason.
343    Refused(RefusalReason),
344}
345
346impl VoteDecision {
347    pub fn is_granted(&self) -> bool {
348        matches!(self, VoteDecision::Granted)
349    }
350}
351
352// ---------------------------------------------------------------
353// Voter (voter-side vote rule)
354// ---------------------------------------------------------------
355
356/// A voting member. Wraps the durable [`LastVoteStore`] and applies the
357/// vote rule. The voter is the seat of correctness: the watermark rule and
358/// the durable double-vote guard both live here.
359pub struct Voter<S: LastVoteStore> {
360    id: String,
361    store: S,
362}
363
364impl<S: LastVoteStore> Voter<S> {
365    pub fn new(id: impl Into<String>, store: S) -> Self {
366        Self {
367            id: id.into(),
368            store,
369        }
370    }
371
372    pub fn id(&self) -> &str {
373        &self.id
374    }
375
376    /// This voter's current term — the highest term it has durably recorded.
377    pub fn current_term(&self) -> Result<u64, LastVoteError> {
378        Ok(self.store.load()?.term)
379    }
380
381    /// Consider a vote request against the current `commit_watermark`.
382    ///
383    /// The decision order is deliberate:
384    ///
385    /// 1. **Watermark first** — the safety core. A candidate that cannot
386    ///    carry an acknowledged write is refused regardless of term, so the
387    ///    durability guarantee can never be traded away for liveness.
388    /// 2. **Stale term** — reject candidates from a superseded term.
389    /// 3. **Double-vote guard** — within a term, a voter grants exactly one
390    ///    candidate; a re-ask by the *same* candidate is idempotently
391    ///    re-granted.
392    ///
393    /// For a real (non-dry-run) grant, the new `(term, candidate)` is
394    /// persisted **before** `Granted` is returned, so the durability holds
395    /// across a crash at any point after the caller observes the grant.
396    pub fn consider(
397        &self,
398        req: &VoteRequest,
399        commit_watermark: u64,
400    ) -> Result<VoteDecision, LastVoteError> {
401        // 1. Watermark rule — never relaxed, checked before anything else.
402        if req.last_log_lsn < commit_watermark {
403            return Ok(VoteDecision::Refused(RefusalReason::WatermarkNotCovered {
404                candidate_lsn: req.last_log_lsn,
405                watermark: commit_watermark,
406            }));
407        }
408
409        let last = self.store.load()?;
410
411        // 2. Stale term — the candidate is behind a term we already moved past.
412        if req.term < last.term {
413            return Ok(VoteDecision::Refused(RefusalReason::StaleTerm {
414                candidate_term: req.term,
415                voter_term: last.term,
416            }));
417        }
418
419        // 3. Double-vote guard within the *same* term.
420        if req.term == last.term {
421            match &last.voted_for {
422                // Already voted for someone else this term — refuse.
423                Some(other) if other != &req.candidate_id => {
424                    return Ok(VoteDecision::Refused(RefusalReason::AlreadyVoted {
425                        term: last.term,
426                        voted_for: other.clone(),
427                    }));
428                }
429                // Already voted for this same candidate — idempotent re-grant.
430                Some(_) => return Ok(VoteDecision::Granted),
431                // Same term observed but no vote cast yet — fall through to grant.
432                None => {}
433            }
434        }
435
436        // Grant. A dry-run probe must not persist or advance the term
437        // (requirement 1); a real grant persists durably before acking.
438        if !req.dry_run {
439            self.store.persist(&LastVote {
440                term: req.term,
441                voted_for: Some(req.candidate_id.clone()),
442            })?;
443        }
444        Ok(VoteDecision::Granted)
445    }
446}
447
448// ---------------------------------------------------------------
449// Randomized election timeout
450// ---------------------------------------------------------------
451
452/// A randomized election timeout in `[base, base + jitter)`.
453///
454/// Randomization keeps candidates from standing in lockstep, which is what
455/// makes split votes rare and self-correcting (requirement 4). The function
456/// is pure in `seed` so tests pin a deterministic value; production passes
457/// an entropy-derived seed.
458pub fn randomized_election_timeout(base: Duration, jitter: Duration, seed: u64) -> Duration {
459    if jitter.is_zero() {
460        return base;
461    }
462    let jitter_ms = jitter.as_millis().max(1) as u64;
463    base + Duration::from_millis(seed % jitter_ms)
464}
465
466// ---------------------------------------------------------------
467// ElectionCoordinator (candidate-side state machine)
468// ---------------------------------------------------------------
469
470/// A request to run an election on behalf of `candidate`.
471#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
472pub struct ElectionRequest {
473    /// The candidate standing for election. Must be electable (a healthy,
474    /// data-bearing member) or [`ElectionCoordinator::run`] refuses up front.
475    pub candidate: Member,
476    /// The term the cluster is serving now. A real election stands for
477    /// `current_term + 1`.
478    pub current_term: u64,
479    /// The candidate's log frontier — the highest LSN durably in its log.
480    pub last_log_lsn: u64,
481    /// The commit watermark the candidate believes is in force. The
482    /// candidate must itself cover it to be electable; voters re-check
483    /// against their own watermark view.
484    pub commit_watermark: u64,
485}
486
487impl ElectionRequest {
488    /// The term a successful election produces.
489    pub fn new_term(&self) -> u64 {
490        self.current_term + 1
491    }
492}
493
494/// The result of an election attempt.
495#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
496pub enum ElectionOutcome {
497    /// Won a majority and was promoted under `term`. `votes`/`needed` record
498    /// the tally (including the candidate's self-vote).
499    Elected {
500        term: u64,
501        votes: usize,
502        needed: usize,
503    },
504    /// The dry-run probe did not reach a majority, so no term was bumped and
505    /// no real election was attempted (requirement 1).
506    ProbeFailed { votes: usize, needed: usize },
507    /// A real election was attempted (term bumped) but did not reach a
508    /// majority — e.g. votes split or peers came online between probe and
509    /// election. The term has advanced; a later attempt stands for a higher
510    /// term.
511    Lost {
512        term: u64,
513        votes: usize,
514        needed: usize,
515    },
516    /// The candidate is not electable (a witness, or a catching-up replica,
517    /// or its own log does not cover the watermark). No probe was sent.
518    NotElectable,
519    /// The election ran past its randomized timeout before collecting a
520    /// majority. No promotion happened.
521    TimedOut { votes: usize, needed: usize },
522}
523
524impl ElectionOutcome {
525    pub fn is_elected(&self) -> bool {
526        matches!(self, ElectionOutcome::Elected { .. })
527    }
528}
529
530/// Cluster operations the candidate drives, injected so the state machine
531/// stays pure and deterministically testable. Production backs these onto
532/// the membership view, the per-peer vote RPC, the durable term store, and
533/// the FAILOVER handover; tests back them onto a scripted fake.
534pub trait ElectionTransport {
535    /// The candidate's current view of cluster membership. The denominator
536    /// for the majority is the *voting* members of this set.
537    fn members(&self) -> Vec<Member>;
538
539    /// Ask one peer for its vote. The candidate never asks itself (it always
540    /// self-grants). Implementors route this to the peer's [`Voter`].
541    fn request_vote(&mut self, peer_id: &str, req: &VoteRequest) -> VoteDecision;
542
543    /// Time elapsed since the election began, so the coordinator enforces
544    /// the randomized timeout without owning a clock.
545    fn elapsed(&self) -> Duration;
546
547    /// Durably advance this node's current term to `new_term`. Called once,
548    /// only when a real election begins (never for a dry-run). Persisted
549    /// alongside the node's other durable replication state.
550    fn bump_term(&mut self, new_term: u64);
551
552    /// Promote the candidate to primary under `new_term`, reusing the
553    /// FAILOVER handover machinery ([`super::failover`]). Called only after
554    /// a majority is collected in the real election.
555    fn promote(&mut self, new_term: u64);
556}
557
558/// The quorum-gated election state machine.
559pub struct ElectionCoordinator;
560
561impl ElectionCoordinator {
562    /// Run an election for `req`, driving the cluster through `tx`, bounded
563    /// by `timeout` (use [`randomized_election_timeout`]).
564    ///
565    /// The flow is: electability guard → dry-run probe (no term bump) →
566    /// real election (bump term, collect votes) → promote on majority. See
567    /// the module docs for the full contract.
568    pub fn run(
569        req: &ElectionRequest,
570        tx: &mut dyn ElectionTransport,
571        timeout: Duration,
572    ) -> ElectionOutcome {
573        // Electability guard. A witness or catching-up replica may not
574        // stand; nor may a candidate whose own log does not cover the
575        // watermark (it would violate the safety core the instant it won).
576        if !req.candidate.is_electable() || req.last_log_lsn < req.commit_watermark {
577            return ElectionOutcome::NotElectable;
578        }
579
580        let members = tx.members();
581        let needed = quorum_threshold(&members);
582        let new_term = req.new_term();
583
584        // The peers we ask: every *other* voting member. The candidate
585        // self-grants, so it is one vote without an RPC.
586        let peers: Vec<String> = members
587            .iter()
588            .filter(|m| m.is_voter() && m.id != req.candidate.id)
589            .map(|m| m.id.clone())
590            .collect();
591
592        // ---- Phase 1: dry-run probe (does NOT bump the term) ----
593        let probe = VoteRequest::probe(&req.candidate.id, new_term, req.last_log_lsn);
594        let probe_votes = match Self::collect(tx, &peers, &probe, needed, timeout) {
595            CollectResult::Reached(v) => v,
596            CollectResult::Exhausted(v) => {
597                return ElectionOutcome::ProbeFailed { votes: v, needed }
598            }
599            CollectResult::TimedOut(v) => return ElectionOutcome::TimedOut { votes: v, needed },
600        };
601        debug_assert!(probe_votes >= needed);
602
603        // ---- Phase 2: real election (bumps the term, then collects) ----
604        tx.bump_term(new_term);
605        let ballot = VoteRequest::real(&req.candidate.id, new_term, req.last_log_lsn);
606        match Self::collect(tx, &peers, &ballot, needed, timeout) {
607            CollectResult::Reached(votes) => {
608                tx.promote(new_term);
609                ElectionOutcome::Elected {
610                    term: new_term,
611                    votes,
612                    needed,
613                }
614            }
615            CollectResult::Exhausted(votes) => ElectionOutcome::Lost {
616                term: new_term,
617                votes,
618                needed,
619            },
620            CollectResult::TimedOut(votes) => ElectionOutcome::TimedOut { votes, needed },
621        }
622    }
623
624    /// Collect votes from `peers`, starting at 1 for the candidate's
625    /// self-vote, until `needed` is reached, the peers are exhausted, or the
626    /// timeout elapses. Stops early on success — no need to ask the rest.
627    fn collect(
628        tx: &mut dyn ElectionTransport,
629        peers: &[String],
630        req: &VoteRequest,
631        needed: usize,
632        timeout: Duration,
633    ) -> CollectResult {
634        let mut votes = 1usize; // self-vote
635        if votes >= needed {
636            return CollectResult::Reached(votes);
637        }
638        for peer in peers {
639            if tx.elapsed() >= timeout {
640                return CollectResult::TimedOut(votes);
641            }
642            if tx.request_vote(peer, req).is_granted() {
643                votes += 1;
644                if votes >= needed {
645                    return CollectResult::Reached(votes);
646                }
647            }
648        }
649        CollectResult::Exhausted(votes)
650    }
651}
652
653enum CollectResult {
654    Reached(usize),
655    Exhausted(usize),
656    TimedOut(usize),
657}
658
659#[cfg(test)]
660mod tests;