> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.orbisprotocol.com/orbis/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.orbisprotocol.com/orbis/design-considerations/liveness-and-safety.md). # Liveness and Safety In discussing the correctness of a distributed system, two properties are usually referred to as safety and liveness. A safety property of a distributed system means that nothing “bad” ever happens during the execution of a concurrent program. This means the system never enters a state that is considered incorrect by the protocol that it follows. Liveness, defined informally, is a property that asserts that “good” things eventually happen during the system execution. Meaning, that the system continues operating according to its protocol. The liveness analysis of Orbis will operate under the assumption of a partially synchronous network, which guarantees that the messages are delivered within some finite time-bound. But in the full asynchronous model, liveness cannot be guaranteed. We plan for Orbis to be a system that is safe throughout its entire execution, even in a fully asynchronous model. If congestion exists on L1 (Cardano), Orbis will not be able to push zk-SNARK updates to the verifier smart contract, but it will be able to periodically forge new blocks and eventually push an update to L1 after the congestion is no longer present. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.orbisprotocol.com/orbis/design-considerations/liveness-and-safety.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.