---
type: "Glossary term"
title: "Compensation"
description: "Undoing or offsetting a completed step in a multi-step workflow."
tags: [glossary]
generated: { by: human:crpage, at: 2026-07-09T09:44:00Z }
aliases: "compensation; compensating action; rollback"
status: stable
---

# Definition
An action that undoes or offsets a completed step when a later step fails — the multi-step analogue of rollback. A runtime concern, not a model concern.

# Used in this bundle
Appears in: [execution-and-orchestration](../stack/execution-and-orchestration.md).

# Related terms
[idempotency](idempotency.md).