Idempotency
Every mutating Helium MVNE endpoint (POST, PUT, DELETE) accepts an
Idempotency-Key request header. Set it, and Helium MVNE will return the
same response for the same key — no duplicate side effects — for
24 hours.
Idempotency-Key: 9d4b5b16-5b4f-4f0b-b4d1-7b6a9a3e2c3d
Generate the key on the client side before the request goes out — typically a UUIDv4 per logical operation. Reusing a key for a genuinely new operation is an error.
Scoping
Idempotency keys are scoped by (operator_id, environment_id). You
can reuse the same string in sandbox and live without collision,
and no other operator can ever collide with yours.
When a replay happens
If Helium MVNE sees a key that's already completed, it replays the original response byte-for-byte, with an extra header:
Idempotency-Replayed: true
If it sees a key whose original request is still in-flight, it
returns 409 Conflict — retry after the in-flight attempt resolves.
What to key on
- Cron jobs that fire every N minutes: key on
(job_name, run_at). - User-initiated actions: key on a per-action UUID captured once in your UI.
- Webhook handlers that re-process deliveries on retry: key on the
event's
id.
What not to key on
- The wall clock alone. Two requests can arrive in the same second.
- An incrementing integer with no scope. You will collide across environments or restarts.