kitexcall: the CLI tool for sending RPC call in JSON format

kitexcall(https://github.com/kitex-contrib/kitexcall) is a command-line tool (CLI) for sending JSON generic requests using Kitex. It supports IDL in both Thrift and Protobuf formats, offers various client options, and is compatible with multiple transport protocols. Future versions will also support GRPC.

Features

• Supports Thrift/Protobuf: It supports IDL in Thrift/Protobuf formats.
• Supports Multiple Transport Protocols: It supports transport protocols like Buffered, TTHeader, Framed, and TTHeaderFramed, with plans to support GRPC (Protobuf and Thrift Streaming) in the future.
• Supports Common Client Options: It allows specify common client options, such as client.WithHostPorts, etc.
• Supports manual data input from the command line and local files: Request data can be read from command line arguments or local files.
• Supports Metadata Passing: It supports sending transient keys (WithValue) and persistent keys (WithPersistentValue), and also supports receiving backward metadata (Backward) returned by the server.
• Supports Receiving Business Custom Exceptions: It can receive business custom exception error codes, error messages, and additional information.
• Supports Multiple Output Formats: By default, it outputs a human-friendly readable format, and plans to support parseable formats for better integration with other automation tools.

Installation

go install github.com/kitex-contrib/kitexcall@latest

Usage

Basic Usage

When using the kitexcall tool, you need to specify several required arguments, including the path to the IDL file, the method name, and the data to be sent. Example:

• IDL file：

// echo.thrift

namespace go api

struct Request {
    1: string message
}

struct Response {
    1: string message
}

service Echo {
    Response echo(1: Request req)
}

• Creating a file input.json specifying JSON format request data:

{
    "message": "hello"
}

• Server:

var _ api.Echo = &EchoImpl{}

// EchoImpl implements the last service interface defined in the IDL.
type EchoImpl struct{}

// Echo implements the Echo interface.
func (s *EchoImpl) Echo(ctx context.Context, req *api.Request) (resp *api.Response, err error) {
    klog.Info("echo called")
    return &api.Response{Message: req.Message}, nil
}

func main() {
    svr := echo.NewServer(new(EchoImpl))
    if err := svr.Run(); err != nil {
        log.Println("server stopped with error:", err)
    } else {
        log.Println("server stopped")
    }
}

• Directly specifying request data:

kitexcall -idl-path echo.thrift -m echo -d '{"message": "hello"}' -e 127.0.0.1:9999

Output:

[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "hello"
}

• Or reading request data from a file:

kitexcall -idl-path echo.thrift -m echo -e 127.0.0.1:9999 -f input.json

Output:

[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "hello"
}

Command Line Options

• -help or -h: Outputs the usage instructions.
• -type or -t: Specifies the IDL type: thrift or protobuf. It supports inference based on the IDL file type. The default is thrift..
• -idl-path or -p: Specifies the path to the IDL file.
• -method or -m: Required, specifies the method name in the format IDLServiceName/MethodName or just MethodName. When the server side has MultiService mode enabled, IDLServiceName must be specified, and the transport protocol must be TTHeader or TTHeaderFramed.
• -file or -f: Specifies the input file path, which must be in JSON format.
• -data or -d: Specifies the data to be sent, in JSON string format.
• -endpoint or -e: Specifies the server address, multiple can be specified.
• -transport: Specifies the transport protocol type. It can be TTHeader, Framed, or TTHeaderFramed. If not specified, the default is Buffered.
• -biz-error: Enables the client to receive business errors returned by the server.
• -meta: Specifies one-way metadata passed to the server. Multiple can be specified, in the format key=value.
• -meta-persistent: Specifies persistent metadata passed to the server. Multiple can be specified, in the format key=value.
• -meta-backward: Enables receiving backward metadata (Backward) returned by the server.
• -verbose or -v: Enables verbose mode for more detailed output information.

Detailed Description

IDL Type

Use the -type or -t flag to specify the IDL type. Supported types are thrift and protobuf, with a default of thrift.

kitexcall -t thrift

IDL Path

Use the -idl-path or -p flag to specify the path to the IDL file.

kitexcall -idl-path /path/to/idl/file.thrift

Method to Call (Required)

Use the -method or -m flag to specify the method name. The format can be IDLServiceName/MethodName or just MethodName. When the server side has MultiService mode enabled, IDLServiceName must be specified, and the transport protocol must be TTHeader or TTHeaderFramed.

kitexcall -m GenericService/ExampleMethod
kitexcall -m ExampleMethod

Request Data

Use the -data or -d flag to specify the data to be sent, which should be a JSON formatted string. Alternatively, use the -file or -f flag to specify the path to a JSON file containing the data.

Assuming we want to send the data {"message": "hello"}, we can specify the data like this:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -d '{"message": "hello"}'

Or, we can save the data in a JSON file, such as input.json, and then specify the file path:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -f input.json

Server Address

Use the -endpoint or -e flag to specify one or more server addresses.

Assuming we have two server addresses, 127.0.0.1:9919 and 127.0.0.1:9920, we can specify the server addresses like this:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -e 127.0.0.1:9919 -e 127.0.0.1:9920

Metadata

• Transient keys (WithValue): Use the -meta flag to specify, multiple can be specified, in the format key=value.
• Persistent keys (WithPersistentValue): Use the -meta-persistent flag to specify. Multiple can be specified, in the format key=value.
• Backward metadata (Backward): Enable the -meta-backward option to support receiving backward metadata (Backward) returned by the server.

Assuming we want to pass Transient metadata temp=temp-value and persistent metadata logid=12345 to the server and receive backward metadata, we can specify it like this:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -meta temp=temp-value -meta-persistent logid=12345 -meta-backward

Business Exceptions

If the server returns a business exception, you can enable the client to receive business custom exception error codes, error messages, and additional information through the -biz-error flag.

Assuming the server returns a business error status code 404 and message not found, we can enable business error handling like this:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -biz-error

Enable Verbose Mode

Use the -verbose or -v flag to enable verbose mode, providing more detailed output information.