The base client used in the generated client code to provide remote functions for interacting with the caller.



remoteDetails

Remote

local

Local

Returns the unique identification of the caller.
```ballerina
int result = caller.getId();
```



getId

Sends the outbound response to the caller.
```ballerina
grpc:Error? err = caller->send(message);
```



send

anydata

- A `grpc:Error` if an error occurs while sending the response or else `()`


Error

Informs the caller, when the server has sent all the messages.
```ballerina
grpc:Error? result = caller->complete();
```



complete

A `grpc:Error` if an error occurs while sending the response or else `()`


Checks whether the connection is closed by the caller.
```ballerina
boolean result = caller.isCancelled();
```



isCancelled

True if the caller has already closed the connection or else false


boolean

Sends a server error to the caller.
```ballerina
grpc:Error? result = caller->sendError(error grpc:AbortedError("Operation aborted"));
```



sendError

Caller

The annotation which is used to configure a gRPC service.


ServiceConfig

GrpcServiceConfig

ServiceDescriptor

ServiceDescriptorData

Defines the Basic Auth handler for client authentication.


Initializes the Basic Auth handler for client authentication.



init

config

CredentialsConfig

Enriches the headers with the relevant authentication requirements.



enrich

The `map<string|string[]>` headers map  as an input


headers

The updated `map<string|string[]>` headers map  instance or else a `grpc:ClientAuthError` in case of an error


ClientBasicAuthHandler

Defines the Bearer token auth handler for client authentication.


Initializes the Bearer token auth handler for client authentication.



BearerTokenConfig

The Bearer token as a `string` or else a `grpc:ClientAuthError` in case of an error


ClientBearerTokenAuthHandler

Defines the self signed JWT handler for client authentication.


Initializes the self-signed JWT handler for client authentication.



JwtIssuerConfig

The updated `map<string|string[]>`headers map  instance or else a `grpc:ClientAuthError` in case of an error


ClientSelfSignedJwtAuthHandler

Defines the file store Basic Auth handler for listener authentication.


Initializes the `grpc:ListenerFileUserStoreBasicAuthHandler` object.



FileUserStoreConfig

Authenticates with the relevant authentication requirements.



authenticate

The headers map `map<string|string[]>` as an input


The `auth:UserDetails` instance or else an `UnauthenticatedError` error


Authorizes with the relevant authorization requirements.



authorize

The `auth:UserDetails` instance which is received from authentication results


userDetails

UserDetails

The expected scopes as `string` or `string[]`


expectedScopes

`()`, if it is successful or else a `PermissionDeniedError` error


PermissionDeniedError

ListenerFileUserStoreBasicAuthHandler

Defines the JWT auth handler for listener authentication.


Initializes the JWT auth handler for the listener authentication.



JwtValidatorConfig

The `jwt:Payload` instance or else an `grpc:UnauthenticatedError` error


The `jwt:Payload` instance which is received from authentication results


jwtPayload

Payload

`()`, if it is successful or else a `grpc:PermissionDeniedError` error


ListenerJwtAuthHandler

The base client used in the generated client code to provide the capability for initiating the contact and executing remote calls with a remote gRPC service.


Gets invoked to initialize the endpoint. During the initialization, the configurations provided through the `config`
record are used for the endpoint initialization.
```ballerina
HelloWorldClient helloWorldClient = check new("http://localhost:9091");
```



string

ClientConfiguration

A `grpc:Error` if an error occurs while initializing the client or else `()`


Calls when initializing the client endpoint with the service descriptor data extracted from the proto file.
```ballerina
grpc:Error? result = grpcClient.initStub(self, ROOT_DESCRIPTOR, getDescriptorMap());
```



initStub

clientEndpoint

AbstractClientEndpoint

descriptorKey

Proto descriptor map with all the dependent descriptors


descriptorMap

A `grpc:Error` if an error occurs while initializing the stub or else `()`


Calls when executing a unary gRPC service.
```ballerina
[anydata, map<string|string[]>]|grpc:Error result = grpcClient->executeSimpleRPC("HelloWorld/hello", req, headers);
```



executeSimpleRPC

methodID

Request message. The message type varies with the remote service method parameter


payload

Optional headers parameter. The header value are passed only if needed. The default value is `()`


The response as an `anydata` type value or else a `grpc:Error`


Calls when executing a server streaming call with a gRPC service.
```ballerina
[stream<anydata, grpc:Error?>, map<string|string[]>]|grpc:Error result = grpcClient->executeServerStreaming("HelloWorld/hello", req, headers);
```



executeServerStreaming

A `stream<anydata, grpc:Error?>` or a `grpc:Error` when an error occurs while sending the request


Calls when executing a client streaming call with a gRPC service.
```ballerina
grpc:StreamingClient|grpc:Error result = grpcClient->executeClientStreaming("HelloWorld/hello", headers);
```



executeClientStreaming

A `grpc:StreamingClient` object or a `grpc:Error` when an error occurs


Calls when executing a bi-directional streaming call with a gRPC service.
```ballerina
grpc:StreamingClient|grpc:Error result = grpcClient->executeBidirectionalStreaming("HelloWorld/hello", headers);
```



executeBidirectionalStreaming

Client

Defines the OAuth2 handler for client authentication.


Initializes the OAuth2 handler for client authentication.



OAuth2 refresh token grant configurations


OAuth2GrantConfig

The updated `map<string|string[]>` headers map  instance or else a `grpc:ClientAuthError` in case of
an error


ClientOAuth2Handler

Defines the LDAP store Basic Auth handler for listener authentication.


Initializes the LDAP user store Basic Auth handler for listener authentication.



LdapUserStoreConfig

The `auth:UserDetails` instance or else an `grpc:UnauthenticatedError` error


ListenerLdapUserStoreBasicAuthHandler

Defines the OAuth2 handler for listener authentication.


Initializes the OAuth2 handler for the listener authentication.



OAuth2 introspection server configurations


OAuth2IntrospectionConfig

Authorizes with the relevant authentication & authorization requirements.



Map of optionalParams parameters that need to be sent to introspection endpoint


optionalParams

The `oauth2:IntrospectionResponse` instance or else `grpc:UnauthenticatedError` or `grpc:PermissionDeniedError` type error


ListenerOAuth2Handler

The base client used in the generated client code to provide the gRPC streaming client actions for
interacting  with the gRPC server.


Sends the request message to the server.
```ballerina
grpc:Error? err = sClient->send(message);
```



Informs the server when the caller has sent all the messages.
```ballerina
grpc:Error? result = sClient->complete();
```



Sends an error message to the server.
```ballerina
grpc:Error? result = sClient->sendError(error grpc:AbortedError("Operation aborted"));
```



Receives server responses in client streaming and bidirectional streaming.
```ballerina
[anydata, map<string|string[]>]|grpc:Error? result = streamingClient->receive();
```



receive

StreamingClient

Represents the Authorization header name.


AUTH_HEADER

The prefix used to denote the Basic authentication scheme.


AUTH_SCHEME_BASIC

The prefix used to denote the Bearer authentication scheme.


AUTH_SCHEME_BEARER

Always set accept-encoding/content-encoding in outbound request/response.


COMPRESSION_ALWAYS

When service behaves as a HTTP gateway inbound request/response accept-encoding option is set as the
outbound request/response accept-encoding/content-encoding option.


COMPRESSION_AUTO

Never set accept-encoding/content-encoding header in outbound request/response.


COMPRESSION_NEVER

DEALINE_HEADER

PERMISSION_DENIED_ERROR_MSG

UNAUTHENTICATED_ERROR_MSG

## Overview

This module provides APIs for connecting and interacting with gRPC endpoints. 

gRPC is an inter-process communication technology that allows you to connect, invoke, and operate distributed, heterogeneous applications as easily as making a local function call. The gRPC protocol is layered over HTTP/2 and uses Protocol Buffers for marshaling/unmarshaling messages. This makes gRPC highly efficient on wire and a simple service definition framework.

When you develop a gRPC application, the first thing you do is define a service definition using Protocol Buffers.

### Protocol buffers
This is a mechanism to serialize the structured data introduced by Google and used by the gRPC framework. Defining the service using Protocol Buffers includes defining remote methods in the service and defining message types that are sent across the network. A sample service definition is shown below.

```proto
syntax = "proto3";

service Helloworld {
    rpc hello(HelloRequest) returns (HelloResponse);
}

message HelloRequest {
    string name = 1;
}

message HelloResponse {
    string message = 1;
}
```

gRPC allows client applications to directly call the server-side methods using the auto-generated stubs. Protocol
 Buffer compiler is used to generate the stubs for the specified language. In Ballerina, the stubs are generated using the built-in 'Protocol Buffers to Ballerina' tool. 

For information on how to generate Ballerina code for Protocol Buffers definition, see [Write a gRPC service with Ballerina](https://ballerina.io/learn/write-a-grpc-service-with-ballerina/).

### gRPC communication patterns
The common communication pattern between a client and server is simple request-response style communication. However, with gRPC, you can leverage different inter-process communication patterns other than the simple request-response pattern.
This module supports four fundamental communication patterns used in gRPC-based applications: simple RPC(unary RPC), server streaming RPC, client streaming RPC, and bidirectional streaming RPC.

#### Simple RPC (Unary RPC) 
In this pattern, the client invokes a remote function of a server and sends a single request to the server. The server sends a single response in return to the client along with status details.

```proto
service HelloWorld {
    rpc hello (google.protobuf.StringValue)
          returns (google.protobuf.StringValue);
}
```
##### Implement the gRPC server
The code snippet given below contains a service that sends a response to each request.

```ballerina
// The gRPC service is attached to the listener.
service HelloWorld on new grpc:Listener(9090)  {
    // The function accepts a string message.
    remote function hello(string name) returns string|error {
        // Send the response to the client.
        return "Hi " + name + "! Greetings from gRPC service!");
    }
}
```
##### Implement the gRPC client
The code snippet given below calls the above service in a synchronized manner using an auto-generated Ballerina stub.

```ballerina
// Use ‘HelloWorldClient’ to execute the call in the synchronized mode.
HelloWorldClient helloClient = check new("http://localhost:9090");

// Call the service remote function using a client stub.
string responseFromServer = check helloClient->hello("Ballerina");
```

#### Server streaming RPC
In server-side streaming RPC, the server sends back a sequence of responses after getting the client's request message. After sending all the server responses, the server marks the end of the stream by sending the server status details.
You can invoke this in a non-blocking manner.

```proto
service HelloWorld {
    rpc lotsOfReplies (google.protobuf.StringValue)
          returns (stream google.protobuf.StringValue);
}
```
##### Implement the gRPC server
The code snippet given below contains a service that sends a sequence of responses to each request.

```ballerina
// The gRPC service is attached to the listener.
service HelloWorld on new grpc:Listener(9090) {
    remote function lotsOfReplies(string name) returns stream<string, grpc:Error?> {
        string[] greets = ["Hi " + name, "Welcome " + name];
        // Send multiple responses to the client.
        return greets.toStream();
   }
}
```

##### Implement the gRPC server
The code snippet given below calls the above service using the auto-generated Ballerina client stub and reads multiple server responses using a stream.
Here, the message stream is ended with a `()` value.

```ballerina
   // Client endpoint configurations.
    HelloWorldClient helloworldClient = check new("http://localhost:9090");

    // Execute the service streaming call by registering a message listener.
    stream<string, grpc:Error?> result = 
                                check helloworldClient->lotsOfReplies("Ballerina");
```

#### Client streaming RPC
In client streaming RPC, the client sends multiple messages to the server instead of a single request. The server sends back a single response to the client.

```proto
service HelloWorld {
    rpc lotsOfGreetings (stream google.protobuf.StringValue)
          returns (google.protobuf.StringValue);
}
```

##### Implement the gRPC server
The code snippet given below contains a service that receives a sequence of requests from the client and sends a single response in return.

```ballerina
// The gRPC service is attached to the listener.
service HelloWorld on new grpc:Listener(9090) {

    // This function is triggered when a new client connection is initialized.
    remote function lotsOfGreetings(stream<string, grpc:Error?> clientStream) 
                                                        returns string|error {
        // Iterate through the client stream
        check clientStream.forEach(function(string name) {
            // Handle the message sent from the stream here
        });
        // A nil value is returned once the client stream is ended
        // Return server response to the client.
        return "Ack";
    }
}
```

##### Implement the gRPC server
The code snippet given below calls the above service using the auto-generated Ballerina client stub and sends multiple request messages from the server.

```ballerina
    // Client endpoint configurations.
    HelloWorldClient helloworldClient = check new("http://localhost:9090");

    // Execute the service streaming call by registering a message listener.
    LotsOfGreetingsStreamingClient streamingClient = 
                                        check helloworldClient->lotsOfGreetings();

    // Send multiple messages to the server.
    string[] greets = ["Hi", "Hey", "GM"];
    foreach string greet in greets {
        grpc:Error? connErr = streamingClient->sendstring(greet + " " + "Ballerina");
    }

    // Once all the messages are sent, the client notifies the server 
    // by closing the stream.
    grpc:Error? result = streamingClient->complete();
    // Receive the message from the server.
    string|grpc:Error response = streamingClient->receiveString();
...
```

#### Bidirectional streaming RPC
In bidirectional streaming RPC, the client is sending a request to the server as a stream of messages. The server also responds with a stream of messages.

```proto
service Chat {
    rpc chat (stream ChatMessage)
          returns (stream google.protobuf.StringValue);
}
```
##### Implement the gRPC server
The code snippet given below includes a service that handles bidirectional streaming.

```ballerina
// The gRPC service is attached to the listener.
service Chat on new grpc:Listener(9090) {

    //This `resource` is triggered when a new caller connection is initialized.
    remote function chat(ChatStringCaller caller, 
                                    stream<ChatMessage, grpc:Error?> clientStream) {
        //Iterate through the client stream
        check clientStream.forEach(function(ChatMessage chatMsg) {
            // Handle the streamed messages sent from the client here
            grpc:Error? err = caller->sendString(
                                    string `${chatMsg.name}: ${chatMsg.message}`);
        });
        // A nil value is returned once the client stream is ended
        // Handle once the client has completed streaming
        caller->complete();
    }
}
```
##### Implement the gRPC server
The code snippet given below calls the above service using the auto-generated Ballerina client stub and sends multiple request messages to the server and receives multiple responses from the server.

```ballerina
    // Client endpoint configurations.
    ChatClient chatClient = check new("http://localhost:9090");

    // Execute the service streaming call by registering a message listener.
    ChatStreamingClient streamingClient = check chatClient->chat();

    // Send multiple messages to the server.
    string[] greets = ["Hi", "Hey", "GM"];
    foreach string greet in greets {
        ChatMessage mes = {name: "Ballerina", message: greet};
        grpc:Error? connErr = streamingClient->sendChatMessage(mes);
    }

    // Once all the messages are sent, the server notifies the caller 
    // with a `complete` message.
    grpc:Error? result = streamingClient->complete();
    ...

    // Receive the server stream response iteratively.
    string? result = check streamingClient->receiveString();
    while !(result is ()) {
        io:println(result);
        result = streamingClient->receiveString();
    }
```

### Advanced use cases

#### Use the TLS protocol

The Ballerina gRPC module allows the use of TLS in communication. This setting expects a secure socket to be 
set in the connection configuration as shown below.

##### Configure TLS in server side

```ballerina
// Server endpoint configuration with the SSL configurations.
listener grpc:Listener ep = new (9090, {
    host: "localhost",
    secureSocket: {
        key: {
            certFile: "../resource/path/to/public.crt",
            keyFile: "../resource/path/to/private.key"
        }
    }
});

service HelloWorld on ep {
    
}
```

##### Configure TLS in client side

```ballerina
    // Client endpoint configuration with SSL configurations.
    HelloWorldClient helloWorldClient = check new ("https://localhost:9090", {
        secureSocket: {
            cert: "../resource/path/to/public.crt"
        }
    });
```

#### Use headers

The Ballerina gRPC module allows to send/receive headers with the request and response using the context record type. The
 context record type consists of two fields called headers and content. E.g: For the string message, a type generated context record type will be as follows.
  
```ballerina
public type ContextString record {|
    string content;
    map<string|string[]> headers;
|};
```

##### Use headers at the client side

```ballerina
    // Set the custom headers to the request.
    ContextString requestMessage =
    {content: "WSO2", headers: {client_header_key: "0987654321"}};
    // Execute the remote call.
    ContextString result = check ep->helloContext(requestMessage);
    // Read Response content.
    string content = result.content;
    // Read Response header value.
    string headerValue = check grpc:getHeader(result.headers, 
                                                    "server_header_key");
```

##### Use headers at the server side

```ballerina
service "HelloWorld" on new grpc:Listener(9090) {
    remote function hello(ContextString request) returns ContextString|error {
        // Read the request content.
        string message = "Hello " + request.content;

        // Read custom headers in request message.
        string reqHeader = check grpc:getHeader(request.headers, 
                                                        "client_header_key");

        // Send response with custom headers.
        return {content: message, 
                        headers: {server_header_key: "Response Header value"}};
    }
}
```

#### Use deadlines

Deadlines allow gRPC clients to specify how long they are willing to wait for an RPC to complete before the RPC is
 terminated with the `DEADLINE_EXCEEDED` error. In Ballerina, a deadline value is set directly to the headers and it is sent
  via the request headers.

##### Set a deadline in the request headers

```ballerina
    time:Utc current = time:utcNow();
    time:Utc deadline = time:utcAddSeconds(current, 300);
    map<string|string[]> headers = grpc:setDeadline(deadline);
```

##### Check the deadlines

```ballerina
    boolean cancel = check grpc:isCancelled(request.headers);
    if (cancel) {
        return error DeadlineExceededError("Deadline exceeded");
    }
```


Represents certification validation type options.


OCSP_CRL

OCSP_STAPLING

CertValidationType

Compression types that are supported.
GZIP - Gzip compression


GZIP

CompressionType

DTLS

Protocol

REQUIRE

OPTIONAL

VerifyClient

Represents error occur when operation is aborted.


AbortedError

Represents error scenario where the maximum retry attempts are done and still received an error.


ResiliencyError

AllRetryAttemptsFailed

Represents error occur when attempt to create an entity which already exists.


AlreadyExistsError

Represents the operation canceled(typically by the caller) error.


CancelledError

Represents an error when client authentication error occured.


ClientAuthError

Represents unrecoverable data loss or corruption erros.


DataLossError

Represents an error when expected data type is not available.


DataMismatchError

Represents operation expired before completion error.


DeadlineExceededError

Represents error occur when operation is rejected because the system is not in a state required for the operation's execution.


FailedPreconditionError

InternalError

Represents client specified an invalid argument error.


InvalidArgumentError

Represents requested entity (e.g., file or directory) not found error.


NotFoundError

Represents error occur when specified value is out of range.


OutOfRangeError

Represents error occur when the caller does not have permission to execute the specified operation.


Represents all the resiliency-related errors.


Represents error occur when the resource is exhausted.


ResourceExhaustedError

Represents an error when calling next when the stream has closed.


StreamClosedError

Represents error occur when the request does not have valid authentication credentials for the operation.


UnauthenticatedError

Represents error occur when the service is currently unavailable.


UnavailableError

Represents error occur when operation is not implemented or not supported/enabled in this service.


UnimplementedError

Represents unknown error(e.g., Status value received is unknown).


UnKnownError

Uses for declarative auth design, where the authentication/authorization decision is taken
by reading the auth annotations provided in service/resource and the `Authorization` header of request.



authenticateResource

The service reference where the resource locates


serviceRef

This module provides APIs for connecting and interacting with gRPC endpoints. 


Client: Caller

Remote Methods

Methods

Fields

send

Parameters

Return Type

complete

Return Type

sendError

Parameters

Return Type

getId

Return Type

isCancelled

Return Type