FAQ
This FAQ answers the questions that usually come up before a team commits to Cratis. For deeper explanations, follow the linked pages.
Is Cratis only for event sourcing?
Section titled “Is Cratis only for event sourcing?”No. Chronicle is the event-sourcing engine, but Arc can be used without Chronicle for CQRS over current-state storage. Components can be used with Arc-generated proxies, and Fundamentals provides shared .NET and TypeScript utilities.
Start with Adopting Cratis and CQRS without event sourcing.
Should every feature be event-sourced?
Section titled “Should every feature be event-sourced?”No. Event sourcing is a strong default for information systems that care about history, decisions, audit, process, replay, and integration. It is not automatically worth it for static lookup tables or settings screens where the current value is the whole story.
Read When to use event sourcing and CRUD, EF Core, and Chronicle.
Can I use Chronicle without Arc?
Section titled “Can I use Chronicle without Arc?”Yes. Chronicle has its own clients and hosting model. Arc gives you an application framework around commands, queries, and generated frontend proxies, but Chronicle can be used directly from services, workers, or APIs.
Start with Chronicle getting started and Chronicle architecture.
Can I use Arc without Chronicle?
Section titled “Can I use Arc without Chronicle?”Yes. Arc supports commands, queries, validation, generated TypeScript proxies, and integrations over current-state persistence. That is useful when you want typed full-stack CQRS before adopting event sourcing, or when a bounded slice does not need an event log.
Read CQRS without event sourcing.
Is Cratis production-ready?
Section titled “Is Cratis production-ready?”The products include production-oriented pieces such as TLS configuration, storage configuration, OpenTelemetry, deployment guidance, and operational CLI diagnostics. You still need to make deliberate choices about version tags, storage, backups, secrets, identity, replay, monitoring, and incident handling.
Use Production readiness as the cross-stack checklist.
Which storage engines are supported?
Section titled “Which storage engines are supported?”Chronicle documents MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and SQLite as storage options. Arc integrates with MongoDB and Entity Framework Core for application persistence.
See Chronicle storage, Arc MongoDB, and Arc Entity Framework Core.
How does Cratis compare to MediatR, MVC, EF Core, Marten, or Wolverine?
Section titled “How does Cratis compare to MediatR, MVC, EF Core, Marten, or Wolverine?”Cratis is not a single library replacement. Chronicle is an event-sourcing engine; Arc is a CQRS and proxy-generation framework; Components is a React library built around those generated contracts. The comparisons are about architecture shape more than API surface.
Start with MediatR, MVC, and Arc and CRUD, EF Core, and Chronicle.
Where do I ask for help?
Section titled “Where do I ask for help?”Use Community and help for open questions, Feedback and suggestions for product and docs feedback, GitHub issues for durable bugs and feature requests, and Professional help when you need private, dedicated time.
Where do I see what changed?
Section titled “Where do I see what changed?”Use What’s new for curated release digests and links to repository releases.