"This is how Stripe, Shopify, and Amazon actually handle scale."
Motia OrderFlow is a high-performance orchestration engine designed to manage the complex lifecycle of e-commerce orders. Built on the Motia Unified Backend, it replaces brittle API chains with a robust, event-driven architecture that handles payments, inventory, and fulfillment with built-in resiliency.
The Problem: Traditional e-commerce backends often suffer from "Distributed Monolith" syndrome. Systems attempt to process payments, update inventory, and notify shipping in a single synchronous request.
- If the payment gateway is slow or the database locks, the entire transaction fails, the user sees a spinning wheel, and data becomes inconsistent.
The Solution: Motia OrderFlow uses an Event-Driven Orchestration model.
- The system accepts orders instantly and orchestrates fulfillment offline. If a payment fails, it retries automatically. If inventory is low, a background watchdog triggers an alert. This ensures 100% data consistency and a flawless user experience.
Motia OrderFlow is powered by 14 specialized Step modules, unifying high-frequency APIs with long-running background workflows.
Technical Reference: 14 Step Modules
The following modules in backend_motia/steps form the core logic of the system:
| Step Module | Language | Primary Functionality |
|---|---|---|
| order_create_api | TS | High-speed entry point for new order ingestion. |
| order_submision_api | JS | Secondary API handler for legacy order submission. |
| payment_processing | TS | Processes payments with built-in retry logic. |
| fraudGuard | TS | Checks for fraudulent activities in transactions. |
| inventory_update | TS | Updates records for sales and restocks. |
| check_inventory | TS | Cron Job: Actively monitors stock levels across products. |
| order_fulfillment | TS | Manages the picking, packing, and prep process. |
| delivery.step | TS | State machine for the shipping and transit process. |
| order_tracking_api | TS | Provides real-time status updates to the end-user. |
| alert_listener | TS | Triggers workflows based on system-wide events. |
| alert.step | JS | Handles the lifecycle and management of active alerts. |
| dashboard_stats_api | TS | Aggregates real-time metrics for the Admin UI. |
| db_init | TS | Initializes the global state and database connections. |
| seed_database | JS | Seeds inventory data for demo environments. |
The "Wow" Factor
- Resiliency & Retries: Automatic recovery from failures using exponential backoff principles.
- Multi-Tenancy: Isolated state and notifications for multiple stores via the
X-Store-IDheader. - Visual Workflow: Watch events hop from TypeScript APIs to workers in the Motia Workbench.
- Real-Time Dashboard: See "Low Stock" and "Payment Retrying" alerts appear instantly.
- Mock Gateway: Includes a standalone Express server to simulate bank responses and outages.
motia/
├── backend_motia/ # The Brain (Event-Driven Engine)
│ ├── steps/ # 14 specialized business logic steps
│ └── payment_gateway/ # External Mock Service (Simulated Bank)
└── front_end_next/ # The Face (React/Vite Dashboard)
cd backend_motia/payment_gateway
npm install && node server.jscd backend_motia
npm install
npm run devWorkbench: http://localhost:3000/_motia (The core demo tool)
cd front_end_next
npm install
npm run dev| Event Topic | Meaning |
|---|---|
order.created |
Order received and validated |
payment.processed |
Payment successfully charged |
inventory.updated |
Stock levels reduced successfully |
inventory.threshold_reached |
Warning: Low stock detected via Cron |
- Open the Frontend (
http://localhost:5173) in your browser. - Use the UI to submit a new test order.
- Open the Motia Workbench (
http://localhost:3000/_motia) to watch the order flow in real-time!- You will see the API Step trigger.
- Watch the event hand-off to the TypeScript Worker.
- Observe the final state updates.
| Component | Technology | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Core Framework | Motia | The unified backend primitive. |
| Backend Langs | TypeScript, Python | For logic and data processing. |
| Frontend UI | React + Tailwind | Component-based interactive UI. |
| Build Tool | Vite | Next-generation frontend tooling. |
| Event Bus | Motia Events | Implicitly managed event distribution. |
We welcome contributions! Please see the CONTRIBUTING.md (coming soon) for details on how to submit pull requests, report issues, and request features.
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
Built with ❤️ by Girma Wakeyo