fullstorydev/grpcurl
Grpcurl
grpcurl is a command-line interface and client tool for invoking gRPC methods and inspecting service definitions. It serves as a server debugger and reflection client, allowing users to call remote procedures and verify server responses from the terminal using JSON or protobuf formats.
The tool distinguishes itself through the ability to discover available services and methods dynamically via a server reflection service or by loading local protobuf schema files. It can extract service descriptions from a server for local use and print specific schema symbol definitions.
It covers a broad range of diagnostic capabilities, including API testing, request debugging through binary-to-JSON transcoding, and service discovery. The tool also manages transport security, supporting plain-text, TLS, and mutual TLS connections using CA certificates and private keys.
Features
- gRPC Command-Line Clients - Ships a command-line interface for calling gRPC methods and inspecting service definitions directly from the terminal.
- Method Invocation - Provides a command-line tool to invoke gRPC methods using JSON or protobuf formats.
- JSON-Protobuf Mapping - Converts input data in JSON or protobuf text formats into binary messages for server transmission.
- Dynamic Serialization - Converts JSON or text input into binary protobuf messages using descriptors retrieved at runtime.
- gRPC Request Debugging - Formats binary gRPC messages into human-readable JSON to troubleshoot communication and data payloads.
- Reflection Services - Lists available services and methods by querying the server's reflection service.
- Response Formatting - Translates raw protobuf binary responses into human-readable JSON strings for debugging.
- gRPC Service Discovery - Retrieves a full list of exposed services and methods from a server or schema files.
- Remote Procedure Execution - Allows users to invoke remote procedures from the terminal to trigger server actions and inspect responses.
- Server Reflection - Allows discovery of available services and file descriptors using server reflection.
- gRPC API Testing - Sends requests to gRPC servers from the command line to verify functionality and inspect responses.
- Definition Loading - Imports service descriptors using server reflection, raw source files, or compiled protoset files.
- Schema Inspectors - Ships a tool to list services and describe protobuf message structures using server reflection or local files.
- Service Description Exporters - Extracts service descriptions from a remote server and saves them as source or binary files for local use.
- Symbol Description - Prints the type and definition of specific schema symbols using reflection or local files.
- Server Debuggers - Provides a utility for testing remote procedure calls and verifying server responses without writing a dedicated client.
- Protobuf Descriptor Loading - Parses local .proto or binary protoset files to build an in-memory map of service and message types.
- Mutual TLS Configurations - Tests transport security and authentication by configuring TLS and mutual TLS connections.
- Secure Connection Managers - Establishes encrypted and authenticated communication channels using CA certificates, client certificates, and private keys.
- TLS Transfer Security - Establishes encrypted connections using X.509 certificates and private keys.
- Transport Security Configurations - Allows configuring transport security using plain-text, TLS, or mutual TLS with custom certificates.
- HTTP/2 Transport Layers - Handles the underlying HTTP/2 transport for unary and various streaming gRPC communication patterns.
- API Clients - CLI tool for inspecting and invoking gRPC methods.
- Command Line Tools - Command-line tool for interacting with gRPC servers like cURL.
- RPC Frameworks - Command-line tool for interacting with gRPC services.
