# CRDT (Conflict-free Replicated Data Type)

**Source:** https://promtable.com/glossary/crdt

> A CRDT is a data structure designed so that concurrent edits from multiple clients automatically merge into a consistent result — used to power realtime collaboration without server-side conflict resolution.

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A CRDT is a data structure designed so that concurrent edits from multiple clients automatically merge into a consistent result — used to power realtime collaboration without server-side conflict resolution.

CRDTs (LWW, OR-Set, RGA, Yjs's tree-based CRDT, Automerge) let many clients edit shared data concurrently without a central authority resolving conflicts. By 2026 Yjs and Automerge are the production CRDT libraries powering collaborative apps (Notion-style docs, Figma-style canvases, Tiptap-style editors). The trade-off vs OT (operational transformation): CRDTs are simpler to implement at scale but produce larger metadata payloads. Choose CRDTs when you want offline-tolerant collaboration without a central conflict resolver; choose OT when central authority is acceptable and metadata size matters.

## When to use

- Multi-user collaborative editing.
- Offline-first apps with conflict resolution.

## Common mistakes

- Using CRDT metadata payloads naively — sizes can balloon.
- Conflating CRDTs with realtime sync — they solve the merge problem, you still need a transport.

## Related terms

- [realtime-sync](https://promtable.com/glossary/realtime-sync)

*Last updated: 2026-06-01*
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Original page: https://promtable.com/glossary/crdt
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