Domain-Driven Design Tactical Patterns

Model complex business domains with entities, value objects, and bounded contexts.

Overview

• Modeling complex business logic
• Separating domain from infrastructure
• Establishing clear boundaries between subdomains
• Building rich domain models with behavior
• Implementing ubiquitous language in code

Building Blocks Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    DDD Building Blocks                       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ENTITIES           VALUE OBJECTS        AGGREGATES         │
│  Order (has ID)     Money (no ID)        [Order]→Items      │
│                                                              │
│  DOMAIN SERVICES    REPOSITORIES         DOMAIN EVENTS      │
│  PricingService     IOrderRepository     OrderSubmitted     │
│                                                              │
│  FACTORIES          SPECIFICATIONS       MODULES            │
│  OrderFactory       OverdueOrderSpec     orders/, payments/ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Quick Reference

Entity (Has Identity)

from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from uuid import UUID
from uuid_utils import uuid7

@dataclass
class Order:
    """Entity: Has identity, mutable state, lifecycle."""
    id: UUID = field(default_factory=uuid7)
    customer_id: UUID = field(default=None)
    status: str = "draft"

    def __eq__(self, other: object) -> bool:
        if not isinstance(other, Order):
            return NotImplemented
        return self.id == other.id  # Identity equality

    def __hash__(self) -> int:
        return hash(self.id)

ID generation is a house rule, not a taste call: Read("${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/domain-driven-design/references/ork-delta.md").

Value Object (Immutable)

from dataclasses import dataclass
from decimal import Decimal

@dataclass(frozen=True)  # MUST be frozen!
class Money:
    """Value Object: Defined by attributes, not identity."""
    amount: Decimal
    currency: str

    def __add__(self, other: "Money") -> "Money":
        if self.currency != other.currency:
            raise ValueError("Cannot add different currencies")
        return Money(self.amount + other.amount, self.currency)

Canonical Address / DateRange boilerplate is not restated here. See the upstream coverage table below.

Key Decisions

Decision	Recommendation
Entity vs VO	Has unique ID + lifecycle? Entity. Otherwise VO
Entity equality	By ID, not attributes
Value object mutability	Always immutable (frozen=True)
Repository scope	One per aggregate root
Domain events	Collect in entity, publish after persist
Context boundaries	By business capability, not technical

Rules Quick Reference

Rule	Impact	What It Covers
aggregate-boundaries (load ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/domain-driven-design/rules/aggregate-boundaries.md)	HIGH	Aggregate root design, reference by ID, one-per-transaction
aggregate-invariants (load ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/domain-driven-design/rules/aggregate-invariants.md)	HIGH	Business rule enforcement, specification pattern
aggregate-sizing (load ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/domain-driven-design/rules/aggregate-sizing.md)	HIGH	Right-sizing, when to split, eventual consistency

When NOT to Use

Under 5 entities? Skip DDD entirely. The ceremony costs more than the benefit.

Pattern	Interview	Hackathon	MVP	Growth	Enterprise	Simpler Alternative
Aggregates	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	SELECTIVE	APPROPRIATE	Plain dataclasses with validation
Bounded contexts	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	BORDERLINE	APPROPRIATE	Python packages with clear imports
CQRS	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	WHEN JUSTIFIED	Single model for read/write
Value objects	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	BORDERLINE	APPROPRIATE	REQUIRED	Typed fields on the entity
Domain events	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	SELECTIVE	APPROPRIATE	Direct method calls between services
Repository pattern	OVERKILL	OVERKILL	BORDERLINE	APPROPRIATE	REQUIRED	Direct ORM queries in service layer

Rule of thumb: DDD adds ~40% code overhead. Only worth it when domain complexity genuinely demands it (5+ entities with invariants spanning multiple objects). A CRUD app with DDD is a red flag.

Anti-Patterns (FORBIDDEN)

# NEVER have anemic domain models (data-only classes)
@dataclass
class Order:
    id: UUID
    items: list  # WRONG - no behavior!

# NEVER leak infrastructure into domain
class Order:
    def save(self, session: Session):  # WRONG - knows about DB!

# NEVER use mutable value objects
@dataclass  # WRONG - missing frozen=True
class Money:
    amount: Decimal

# NEVER have repositories return ORM models
async def get(self, id: UUID) -> OrderModel:  # WRONG - return domain!

Upstream coverage (do not restate)

These topics are documented first-party. Read the source instead of re-deriving them here; only the
house consequences are kept, in references/ork-delta.md.

Topic	Source
Entity / value-object dataclass mechanics: frozen, __post_init__, inherited field ordering, kw_only	https://docs.python.org/3/library/dataclasses.html
Domain event definition, deferred dispatch, handler wiring, dispatch before vs after commit	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/architecture/microservices/microservice-ddd-cqrs-patterns/domain-events-design-implementation
Bounded contexts, context map, ubiquitous language, integration patterns (shared kernel, customer-supplier, conformist, open host service, published language)	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/microservices/model/domain-analysis
Anti-corruption layer: what it translates and what it costs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/patterns/anti-corruption-layer
UUIDv7 generation, server side and in Python	https://www.postgresql.org/docs/18/functions-uuid.html and https://github.com/aminalaee/uuid-utils
Payment amounts in minor units, zero-decimal currencies	https://docs.stripe.com/currencies
Publishing events to a Redis Stream (XADD field maps, pipelining)	https://redis.io/docs/latest/commands/xadd/
Layered architecture enforcement, project-structure validation, test standards	the architecture-patterns skill in this plugin

Two subjects deliberately stay in this skill rather than routing upstream: the repository and
Unit of Work implementation, which lives in full in references/repositories.md, and aggregate
boundaries, invariants, and sizing, which live in full in rules/.

Related Skills

• rules/aggregate-boundaries.md, rules/aggregate-invariants.md, rules/aggregate-sizing.md - aggregate design, in this skill
• ork:architecture-patterns - Layer boundaries and project structure validation
• ork:distributed-systems - Cross-aggregate coordination
• ork:database-patterns - Schema design for DDD

References

Load on demand with Read("${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/domain-driven-design/references/<file>"):

File	Content
ork-delta.md	House rules: UUIDv7, event drain ordering, ACL boundary, source layout
repositories.md	Repository pattern, Unit of Work, SQLAlchemy mapping

Capability Details

entities

Keywords: entity, identity, lifecycle, mutable, domain object
Solves: Identity equality by ID, and the house UUIDv7 ID rule in references/ork-delta.md. Dataclass mechanics route upstream.

value-objects

Keywords: value object, immutable, frozen, dataclass, structural equality
Solves: When to use VO vs entity. frozen=True semantics and inherited field ordering route upstream.

domain-services

Keywords: domain service, business logic, cross-aggregate, stateless
Solves: When to use domain service, logic spanning aggregates

repositories

Keywords: repository, persistence, collection, IRepository, protocol
Solves: Implement repository pattern, abstract DB access, ORM mapping

bounded-contexts

Keywords: bounded context, context map, ACL, subdomain, ubiquitous language
Solves: The house ACL boundary and context-first source layout in references/ork-delta.md. Context mapping and integration patterns route upstream.