Semantic Conflict Model for Collaborative Data Structures

2026-02-22

AI Summary

This work proposes a semantic-dependency-based conflict resolution model to address the challenge of explicitly and decentrally handling concurrent operation conflicts in distributed collaborative editing. By introducing semantic dependencies into the Conflict-Free Replicated Data Type (CRDT) framework for the first time, the approach integrates three-way merging with operational rebasing to enable explicit conflict identification and resolution without centralized coordination, all within a local-first architecture. Operation histories are maintained via replicated logs, supporting a semi-automatic coordination mechanism that remains interpretable to users. Experimental results demonstrate the model’s effectiveness in collaborative register scenarios, where it not only explicitly captures Last-Writer-Wins semantics but also extends naturally to multi-register entities, thereby enhancing the transparency and controllability of conflict resolution.

Technology Category

• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Distributed CSP/Optimization
• Search and Optimization: Distributed Search
• Multiagent Systems: Coordination and Collaboration

Application Category

• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Semantics and Knowledge: Provenance, trust, security and privacy, and ethical issues in managing semantic data
• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance

Abstract

Digital collaboration systems support asynchronous work over replicated data, where conflicts arise when concurrent operations cannot be unambiguously integrated into a shared history. While Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs) ensure convergence through built-in conflict resolution, this resolution is typically implicit and opaque to users, whereas existing reconciliation techniques often rely on centralized coordination. This paper introduces a conflict model for collaborative data structures that enables explicit, local-first conflict resolution without central coordination. The model identifies conflicts using semantic dependencies between operations and resolves them by rebasing conflicting operations onto a reconciling operation via a three-way merge over a replicated journal. We demonstrate our approach on collaborative registers, including an explicit formulation of the Last-Writer-Wins Register and a multi-register entity supporting semi-automatic reconciliation.

Problem

• semantic conflict
• collaborative data structures
• conflict resolution
• replicated data
• local-first

Innovation

• semantic conflict model
• local-first
• three-way merge
• replicated journal
• explicit reconciliation