Connect-Web
Connect-Web is a simple library to call remote procedures from a web browser. Unlike REST, you get a type-safe client and never have to think about serialization again.
The procedures are defined in a Protocol Buffer schema implemented by your backend, and Connect-Web generates the clients and related types to access the backend. The clients support two protocols: gRPC-web, and Connect's own protocol.
The Connect protocol is a simple, POST-only protocol that works over HTTP/1.1 or HTTP/2. It supports server-streaming methods just like gRPC-Web, but is easy to debug in the network inspector. Calling a Connect API is easy enough just with the fetch API. Try it with our live demo:
const res = await fetch("https://demo.connect.build/buf.connect.demo.eliza.v1.ElizaService/Say", {
method: "POST",
headers: {"content-type": "application/json"},
body: `{"sentence": "I feel happy."}`
});
const answer = await res.json();
console.log(answer);
// {sentence: 'When you feel happy, what do you do?'}Using the client generated by Connect-Web, the same call becomes quite a bit simpler:
const answer = await eliza.say({sentence: "I feel happy."});
console.log(answer);
// {sentence: 'When you feel happy, what do you do?'}To get started, head over to the docs for a tutorial. You will also find API documentation and best practices there. For using connect-web with your favorite framework, take a look at connect-web-integration.
Supported Browsers
Connect-Web supports all modern web browsers that implement the widely available fetch API and the Encoding API. The library and the generated code are compatible with ES2017 and TypeScript 4.1.
Connect for Node.js (Preview)
With @bufbuild/connect-node,
you have the option to use the same clients from Connect-Web on Node.js v18. You can
also use it for servers using the Node.js http, https, or http2 modules.
Connect-Node is still in preview, so we want your feedback! We’d love to learn about your use cases and what you’d like to do with Connect-Node. For example, do you plan to use it with React, Remix, or on the edge with Vercel’s Edge Runtime? You can reach us either through the Buf Slack or by filing a GitHub issue and we’d be more than happy to chat!
Packages
- @bufbuild/connect-web: Implements browser clients for the Connect and gRPC-web protocols (source code).
- @bufbuild/connect-node: Implements Node.js clients and servers for the Connect, gRPC-web, and gRPC protocols (source code).
- @bufbuild/protoc-gen-connect-web: Code generator plugin for the services in your schema (source code).
Ecosystem
- connect-web-integration: Example projects using Connect-Web with various JS frameworks and tooling
- connect-query: TypeScript-first expansion pack for TanStack Query that gives you Protobuf superpowers
- connect-go: Go implementation of gRPC, gRPC-Web, and Connect
- connect-demo: demonstration service powering demo.connect.build
- Buf Studio: web UI for ad-hoc RPCs
- connect-crosstest: gRPC-Web and Connect interoperability tests
Status
This project is a beta: we rely on it in production, but we may make a few changes as we gather feedback from early adopters. Join us on Slack or see the roadmap discussion for details.
Legal
Offered under the Apache 2 license.