Local transactions are supported by an application view instance that can switch from a stateless session bean to a stateful session bean in order to open a connection for a local transaction. The state that the stateful session bean holds is ten the connection. The stateful session bean can hold the connection open across multiple requests in the local transaction interface allows a user to manage the transaction in the application view, and to switch the application view between a stateless session bean and a stateful session bean. A local transaction interface can contain a local transaction management contract, which enables an application server to provide an infrastructure and run-time environment for management of the transaction.