twitchtv/twirp
Twirp
Twirp is a Protocol Buffers RPC framework designed for implementing type-safe, distributed microservices communication over HTTP. It functions as a microservices communication framework and API code generator that produces strongly typed client stubs and server interfaces from schema definitions to eliminate manual network boilerplate.
The framework ensures compatibility with existing web infrastructure by executing remote procedure calls over standard HTTP transport. It uses schema-driven contracts as a single source of truth to enable cross-language interoperability and decouple business logic from network transport.
The system covers several core capability areas, including interface-driven routing, multi-format data serialization supporting both JSON and binary, and request lifecycle middleware for cross-cutting concerns. It also provides a standardized error mapping system to translate service failures into machine-readable codes and includes tools for client compatibility verification.
Features
- Typed RPC Systems - Implements a type-safe RPC system using Protocol Buffers for distributed function invocations over HTTP.
- Schema-Driven RPC Implementations - Implements remote procedure calls over HTTP using schema-driven contracts for backend communication.
- API Code Generators - Automates the production of server stubs and client libraries from API interface definitions.
- Schema-Driven Code Generators - Automatically generates type-safe client stubs and server interfaces from Protobuf schema definitions.
- Protobuf RPC Frameworks - Offers a complete framework for service communication leveraging Protobuf for interface definition and serialization.
- HTTP Transports - Executes remote procedure calls over standard HTTP transport to maintain compatibility with existing web infrastructure.
- Cross-Language Service Communication - Uses a common communication protocol to enable services written in different languages to exchange data.
- Interface-Based Request Routing - Maps incoming HTTP requests to specific service methods using routing logic derived from API interfaces.
- Remote Procedure Call Frameworks - Provides a framework for invoking methods on remote services over HTTP as if they were local functions.
- RPC Frameworks - Offers a complete framework for executing remote procedures across network nodes using optimized transport protocols.
- Service Communication Libraries - Provides a library that simplifies routing and serialization for request-response inter-service communication.
- Service Contract Definitions - Uses structured definition files as the single source of truth to enforce consistent API behavior across distributed systems.
- Protobuf Stub Generators - Generates type-safe client and server stubs from Protocol Buffer interface definitions to eliminate network boilerplate.
- Service Request Routing - Implements routing strategies that map network calls to service instances based on API definitions.
- Microservice Frameworks - Provides a framework for building lightweight, production-ready distributed microservices using structured data exchange.
- Type-Safe Client Generators - Generates type-safe client and server code from API specifications to eliminate manual network boilerplate.
- Service Action Exposure - Wraps internal service methods and exposes them as standard HTTP endpoints for remote procedure calls.
- HTTP RPC Transports - Implements an HTTP-based transport layer specifically designed for remote procedure calls.
- Multi-Format Serializers - Supports both binary and JSON serialization formats for flexible and efficient data exchange between services.
- Format Selection - Supports both JSON and binary serialization to match client requirements and optimize data exchange.
- Error Metadata Extensions - Allows attaching custom key-value pairs to API error responses for additional diagnostic context and retry hints.
- Structured Error Responses - Provides standardized object formats for delivering API errors with consistent identifiers and detail fields.
- Request Middleware - Implements a sequence of interceptor functions to process requests and responses for cross-cutting concerns.
- Logic Decoupling - Employs architectural patterns to separate business logic from the underlying HTTP transport layer.
- Transport-Agnostic Use Cases - Separates business logic from transport-specific details by using generated interfaces that abstract network paths.
- Machine-Readable Error Codes - Translates service failures and proxy errors into consistent, machine-readable codes for programmatic handling.
- Structured Error Responses - Sends structured error responses containing both machine-readable codes and human-readable descriptive messages.
- Service Middleware Pipelines - Provides composable chains of request and response interceptors for managing microservice cross-cutting concerns.
- Messaging and RPC - A simple RPC framework based on Protocol Buffers.
- Microservices and RPC - Simple RPC framework using protobuf definitions.
- RPC Frameworks - Simple RPC framework utilizing protobuf service definitions.
