Pulsar's WebSocket API
Pulsar's WebSocket API is meant to provide a simple way to interact with Pulsar using languages that do not have an official client library. Through WebSockets you can publish and consume messages and use all the features available in the Java, Go, Python and C++ client libraries.
You can use Pulsar's WebSocket API with any WebSocket client library. See examples for Python and Node.js below.
Running the WebSocket service​
The standalone variant of Pulsar that we recommend using for local development already has the WebSocket service enabled.
In non-standalone mode, there are two ways to deploy the WebSocket service:
- embedded with a Pulsar broker
- as a separate component
Embedded with a Pulsar broker​
In this mode, the WebSocket service will run within the same HTTP service that's already running in the broker. To enable this mode, set the webSocketServiceEnabled
parameter in the conf/broker.conf
configuration file in your installation.
webSocketServiceEnabled=true
As a separate component​
In this mode, the WebSocket service will be run from a Pulsar broker as a separate service. Configuration for this mode is handled in the conf/websocket.conf
configuration file. You'll need to set at least the following parameters:
Here's an example:
configurationStoreServers=zk1:2181,zk2:2181,zk3:2181
webServicePort=8080
clusterName=my-cluster
Starting the broker​
When the configuration is set, you can start the service using the pulsar-daemon
tool:
$ bin/pulsar-daemon start websocket
API Reference​
Pulsar's WebSocket API offers three endpoints for producing messages, consuming messages and reading messages.
All exchanges via the WebSocket API use JSON.
Producer endpoint​
The producer endpoint requires you to specify a tenant, namespace, and topic in the URL:
ws://broker-service-url:8080/ws/v2/producer/persistent/:tenant/:namespace/:topic
Query param​
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
sendTimeoutMillis | long | no | Send timeout (default: 30 secs) |
batchingEnabled | boolean | no | Enable batching of messages (default: false) |
batchingMaxMessages | int | no | Maximum number of messages permitted in a batch (default: 1000) |
maxPendingMessages | int | no | Set the max size of the internal-queue holding the messages (default: 1000) |
batchingMaxPublishDelay | long | no | Time period within which the messages will be batched (default: 10ms) |
messageRoutingMode | string | no | Message routing mode for the partitioned producer: SinglePartition , RoundRobinPartition |
compressionType | string | no | Compression type: LZ4 , ZLIB |
producerName | string | no | Specify the name for the producer. Pulsar will enforce only one producer with same name can be publishing on a topic |
initialSequenceId | long | no | Set the baseline for the sequence ids for messages published by the producer. |
hashingScheme | string | no | Hashing function to use when publishing on a partitioned topic: JavaStringHash , Murmur3_32Hash |
Publishing a message​
{
"payload": "SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=",
"properties": {"key1": "value1", "key2": "value2"},
"context": "1"
}
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
payload | string | yes | Base-64 encoded payload |
properties | key-value pairs | no | Application-defined properties |
context | string | no | Application-defined request identifier |
key | string | no | For partitioned topics, decides which partition to use |
replicationClusters | array | no | Restrict replication to this list of clusters, specified by name |
Example success response​
{
"result": "ok",
"messageId": "CAAQAw==",
"context": "1"
}
Example failure response​
{
"result": "send-error:3",
"errorMsg": "Failed to de-serialize from JSON",
"context": "1"
}
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
result | string | yes | ok if successful or an error message if unsuccessful |
messageId | string | yes | Message ID assigned to the published message |
context | string | no | Application-defined request identifier |
Consumer endpoint​
The consumer endpoint requires you to specify a tenant, namespace, and topic, as well as a subscription, in the URL:
ws://broker-service-url:8080/ws/v2/consumer/persistent/:tenant/:namespace/:topic/:subscription
Query param​
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
ackTimeoutMillis | long | no | Set the timeout for unacked messages (default: 0) |
subscriptionType | string | no | Subscription type: Exclusive , Failover , Shared |
receiverQueueSize | int | no | Size of the consumer receive queue (default: 1000) |
consumerName | string | no | Consumer name |
priorityLevel | int | no | Define a priority for the consumer |
maxRedeliverCount | int | no | Define a maxRedeliverCount for the consumer (default: 0). Activates Dead Letter Topic feature. |
deadLetterTopic | string | no | Define a deadLetterTopic for the consumer (default: {topic}-{subscription}-DLQ). Activates Dead Letter Topic feature. |
pullMode | boolean | no | Enable pull mode (default: false). See "Flow Control" below. |
NB: these parameter (except pullMode
) apply to the internal consumer of the WebSocket service.
So messages will be subject to the redelivery settings as soon as the get into the receive queue,
even if the client doesn't consume on the WebSocket.
Receiving messages​
Server will push messages on the WebSocket session:
{
"messageId": "CAAQAw==",
"payload": "SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=",
"properties": {"key1": "value1", "key2": "value2"},
"publishTime": "2016-08-30 16:45:57.785"
}
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
messageId | string | yes | Message ID |
payload | string | yes | Base-64 encoded payload |
publishTime | string | yes | Publish timestamp |
properties | key-value pairs | no | Application-defined properties |
key | string | no | Original routing key set by producer |
Acknowledging the message​
Consumer needs to acknowledge the successful processing of the message to have the Pulsar broker delete it.
{
"messageId": "CAAQAw=="
}
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
messageId | string | yes | Message ID of the processed message |
Flow control​
Push Mode​
By default (pullMode=false
), the consumer endpoint will use the receiverQueueSize
parameter both to size its
internal receive queue and to limit the number of unacknowledged messages that are passed to the WebSocket client.
In this mode, if you don't send acknowledgements, the Pulsar WebSocket service will stop sending messages after reaching
receiverQueueSize
unacked messages sent to the WebSocket client.
Pull Mode​
If you set pullMode
to true
, the WebSocket client will need to send permit
commands to permit the
Pulsar WebSocket service to send more messages.
{
"type": "permit",
"permitMessages": 100
}
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
type | string | yes | Type of command. Must be permit |
permitMessages | int | yes | Number of messages to permit |
NB: in this mode it's possible to acknowledge messages in a different connection.
Reader endpoint​
The reader endpoint requires you to specify a tenant, namespace, and topic in the URL:
ws://broker-service-url:8080/ws/v2/reader/persistent/:tenant/:namespace/:topic
Query param​
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
readerName | string | no | Reader name |
receiverQueueSize | int | no | Size of the consumer receive queue (default: 1000) |
messageId | int or enum | no | Message ID to start from, earliest or latest (default: latest ) |
Receiving messages​
Server will push messages on the WebSocket session:
{
"messageId": "CAAQAw==",
"payload": "SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=",
"properties": {"key1": "value1", "key2": "value2"},
"publishTime": "2016-08-30 16:45:57.785"
}
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
messageId | string | yes | Message ID |
payload | string | yes | Base-64 encoded payload |
publishTime | string | yes | Publish timestamp |
properties | key-value pairs | no | Application-defined properties |
key | string | no | Original routing key set by producer |
Acknowledging the message​
In WebSocket, Reader needs to acknowledge the successful processing of the message to have the Pulsar WebSocket service update the number of pending messages. If you don't send acknowledgements, Pulsar WebSocket service will stop sending messages after reaching the pendingMessages limit.
{
"messageId": "CAAQAw=="
}
Key | Type | Required? | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
messageId | string | yes | Message ID of the processed message |
Error codes​
In case of error the server will close the WebSocket session using the following error codes:
Error Code | Error Message |
---|---|
1 | Failed to create producer |
2 | Failed to subscribe |
3 | Failed to deserialize from JSON |
4 | Failed to serialize to JSON |
5 | Failed to authenticate client |
6 | Client is not authorized |
7 | Invalid payload encoding |
8 | Unknown error |
The application is responsible for re-establishing a new WebSocket session after a backoff period.
Client examples​
Below you'll find code examples for the Pulsar WebSocket API in Python and Node.js.
Python​
This example uses the websocket-client
package. You can install it using pip:
$ pip install websocket-client
You can also download it from PyPI.
Python producer​
Here's an example Python producer that sends a simple message to a Pulsar topic:
import websocket, base64, json
TOPIC = 'ws://localhost:8080/ws/v2/producer/persistent/public/default/my-topic'
ws = websocket.create_connection(TOPIC)
# Send one message as JSON
ws.send(json.dumps({
'payload' : base64.b64encode('Hello World'),
'properties': {
'key1' : 'value1',
'key2' : 'value2'
},
'context' : 5
}))
response = json.loads(ws.recv())
if response['result'] == 'ok':
print 'Message published successfully'
else:
print 'Failed to publish message:', response
ws.close()
Python consumer​
Here's an example Python consumer that listens on a Pulsar topic and prints the message ID whenever a message arrives:
import websocket, base64, json
TOPIC = 'ws://localhost:8080/ws/v2/consumer/persistent/public/default/my-topic/my-sub'
ws = websocket.create_connection(TOPIC)
while True:
msg = json.loads(ws.recv())
if not msg: break
print "Received: {} - payload: {}".format(msg, base64.b64decode(msg['payload']))
# Acknowledge successful processing
ws.send(json.dumps({'messageId' : msg['messageId']}))
ws.close()
Python reader​
Here's an example Python reader that listens on a Pulsar topic and prints the message ID whenever a message arrives:
import websocket, base64, json
TOPIC = 'ws://localhost:8080/ws/v2/reader/persistent/public/default/my-topic'
ws = websocket.create_connection(TOPIC)
while True:
msg = json.loads(ws.recv())
if not msg: break
print "Received: {} - payload: {}".format(msg, base64.b64decode(msg['payload']))
# Acknowledge successful processing
ws.send(json.dumps({'messageId' : msg['messageId']}))
ws.close()
Node.js​
This example uses the ws
package. You can install it using npm:
$ npm install ws
Node.js producer​
Here's an example Node.js producer that sends a simple message to a Pulsar topic:
var WebSocket = require('ws'),
topic = "ws://localhost:8080/ws/v2/producer/persistent/public/default/my-topic",
ws = new WebSocket(topic);
var message = {
"payload" : new Buffer("Hello World").toString('base64'),
"properties": {
"key1" : "value1",
"key2" : "value2"
},
"context" : "1"
};
ws.on('open', function() {
// Send one message
ws.send(JSON.stringify(message));
});
ws.on('message', function(message) {
console.log('received ack: %s', message);
});
Node.js consumer​
Here's an example Node.js consumer that listens on the same topic used by the producer above:
var WebSocket = require('ws'),
topic = "ws://localhost:8080/ws/v2/consumer/persistent/public/default/my-topic/my-sub",
ws = new WebSocket(topic);
ws.on('message', function(message) {
var receiveMsg = JSON.parse(message);
console.log('Received: %s - payload: %s', message, new Buffer(receiveMsg.payload, 'base64').toString());
var ackMsg = {"messageId" : receiveMsg.messageId};
ws.send(JSON.stringify(ackMsg));
});
NodeJS reader​
var WebSocket = require('ws'),
topic = "ws://localhost:8080/ws/v2/reader/persistent/public/default/my-topic",
ws = new WebSocket(topic);
ws.on('message', function(message) {
var receiveMsg = JSON.parse(message);
console.log('Received: %s - payload: %s', message, new Buffer(receiveMsg.payload, 'base64').toString());
var ackMsg = {"messageId" : receiveMsg.messageId};
ws.send(JSON.stringify(ackMsg));
});