# Aggregates

Published articles for Aggregates.

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## What Should Repositories Return in Domain-Driven Design?

DevFeed: [What Should Repositories Return in Domain-Driven Design?](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/what-should-repositories-return-in-domain-driven-design-39768.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://furkankolcu.com/post/what-should-repositories-return-in-domain-driven-design>)

Author: Furkan Kolcu

Published: 2025-09-09T16:41:47Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Furkan Kolcu - Software Engineer Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/furkan-kolcu-software-engineer-blog.md>)

Topics: [Domain-driven design (DDD)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/domain-driven-design.md>), [Repositories](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/repositories.md>), [Persistence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/persistence.md>)

Tags: [aggregates](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/aggregates.md>), [clean-architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/clean-architecture.md>), [design-patterns](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design-patterns.md>), [domain-driven-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/domain-driven-design.md>), [domain-driven-design-ddd](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/domain-driven-design-ddd.md>), [examples](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/examples.md>), [lightweight](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/lightweight.md>), [practical](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/practical.md>), [repositories](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/repositories.md>), [repository-pattern](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/repository-pattern.md>), [software-architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-architecture.md>), [software-engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineering.md>), [technology](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/technology.md>)

### AI overview

This article examines what repositories should return in Domain-Driven Design. It compares aggregates, DTOs or arrays, and primitives or special results, concluding that repositories should return aggregates when domain behavior is needed and primitives when they express valid domain-level answers.

### Source excerpt

Repositories are a core part of Domain-Driven Design, but what they should return is often debated. Should it be aggregates, DTOs, or simple values? In this post, I share practical guidelines, examples, and tradeoffs to help clarify how to keep repositories focused on serving the domain.