1. Idempotent Operations
- Pipelines should be able to run multiple times safely.
- Use deterministic logic—avoid randomization or stateful side effects.
- Use upserts, merges, or truncate-load patterns where appropriate.
2. Checkpointing & State Tracking
- Track watermark or last successfully processed records.
- Store state externally (database, metadata store) instead of relying on logs.
- Enable partial replays (e.g., rerun only failed partitions).
3. Isolate Failures
- Break pipelines into smaller logical stages.
- Ensure each stage validates inputs and outputs.
- Avoid long chains where one failure halts everything.
4. Retry Logic
- Implement exponential backoff for transient errors.
- Fail fast on predictable non-recoverable issues.
- Record retries and error metadata for debugging.
5. Recovery Workflows
- Document how to resume after a failure.
- Provide scripts or runbooks for worst-case scenarios.
- Automate as much of the operational recovery process as possible.
A restartable pipeline strategy reduces incident severity and mean time to recover (MTTR). Automated rule checks—via platforms like Undraleu—help enforce these standards consistently.