better-grpc

Simple, typed gRPC for TypeScript

better-grpc is a library that provides a new way to define and use RPC services in TypeScript, focusing on developer experience and type safety. It eliminates the need for .proto files and code generation, allowing you to define your services entirely in TypeScript.

The core idea is to enable seamless communication between a client and a server, allowing you to call server-side functions from the client and client-side functions from the server, as if they were local.

Features

• Type-Safe: Define your services in TypeScript and get full type safety and autocompletion for your clients and servers.
• No .proto files: No need to write .proto files or use protoc to generate code.
• Simple API: The API is designed to be simple and intuitive.
• Symmetric Experience: Call client-side functions from the server with the same syntax as calling server-side functions from the client.

Installation

bun add better-grpc
# or
npm install better-grpc
# or
yarn add better-grpc

Usage

1. Define a Service

Create an abstract class that extends Service to define your service. Use the server and client helpers to define where your function is implemented and executed.

import { Service, client, server, bidi } from 'better-grpc';

abstract class MyService extends Service('MyService') {
    // This function is implemented and executed on the server.
    sayHello = server<(name: string) => string>();

    // This function is implemented and executed on the client.
    log = client<(message: string) => void>();

    // This function supports bidirectional streaming between client and server.
    chat = bidi<(message: string) => void>();
}

2. Implement the Service

Provide the implementations for the functions you defined for both the server and the client.

// Server-side implementation
const myServiceImpl = MyService.Server({
    async sayHello(name: string) {
        return `Hello, ${name}!`;
    },
});

// Client-side implementation
const myClientImpl = MyService.Client({
    async log(message: string) {
        console.log(`[Server]: ${message}`);
    }
});

3. Create a Server

Create and start the server, passing in your service implementation.

import { createGrpcServer } from 'better-grpc';

const server = await createGrpcServer(50051, myServiceImpl);
console.log('Server listening on port 50051');

4. Create a Client

Create a client for your service.

import { createGrpcClient } from 'better-grpc';

const client = await createGrpcClient('localhost:50051', myClientImpl);

5. Make remote calls

Now you can call remote functions from both the client and the server.

// On the client, call the server's `sayHello` function
const response = await client.MyService.sayHello('world');
console.log(response); // Outputs: 'Hello, world!'

// On the server, call client's `log` function
await server.MyService.log('Greeting from server');
// The client's console will show: '[Server]: Greeting from server'

6. Use bidirectional streams

Bidirectional gRPCs expose a function that both emits values (when you invoke it) and acts as an async iterator so you can consume the opposite side's messages.

// Client usage
await client.MyService.chat('hello from client'); // emit to the server

for await (const [message] of client.MyService.chat) {
    console.log('Server replied:', message);
    break;
}

// Server usage mirrors the client
await server.MyService.chat('hello from server'); // emit to the client

for await (const [message] of server.MyService.chat) {
    console.log('Client replied:', message);
    break;
}

7. Attach typed metadata

Define metadata requirements with Zod schemas, and better-grpc will automatically type the context on both sides and marshal the payload into gRPC metadata.

import { Service, server, bidi } from 'better-grpc';
import { z } from 'zod';

abstract class GreeterService extends Service('GreeterService') {
    greet = server<(name: string) => string>()({
        metadata: z.object({ requestId: z.string() }),
    });

    chat = bidi<(message: string) => void>()({
        metadata: z.object({ room: z.string() }),
    });
}

Server implementations receive the typed metadata as the first argument:

const GreeterServerImpl = GreeterService.Server({
    async greet(context, name) {
        console.log('Request', context.metadata.requestId);
        return `Hello, ${name}!`;
    },
});

On the client, unary calls that require metadata expose a .withMeta() helper, and bidi streams provide a .context() helper that must be awaited and called before sending messages (the bidi stream will be established after calling .context()):

await client.GreeterService.greet('Ada').withMeta({ requestId: crypto.randomUUID() });

await client.GreeterService.chat.context({
    metadata: { room: 'general' },
});
// you must provide the context before calling the bidi function;
// otherwise, it will continue to wait.
await client.GreeterService.chat('hello from client');

On the server side, the bidi function expose a .context value that can be used to access metadata:

const chatContext = await server.GreeterService.chat.context;
console.log(chatContext.metadata.room); // 'general'

Why better-grpc?

The traditional workflow for creating gRPC services with TypeScript involves writing .proto files, using protoc to generate TypeScript code, and then using that generated code. This process can be cumbersome and result in a disconnect between your service definition and your code.

better-grpc solves this problem by allowing you to define your services entirely in TypeScript. This has several advantages:

• Single Source of Truth: Your service definition lives in your TypeScript code, right next to your implementation.
• Improved Type Safety: Leverage TypeScript's powerful type system for excellent autocompletion and type safety across your client and server.
• Simplified Workflow: No more .proto files, no more code generation. Just write TypeScript.
• Symmetric Communication: The server can invoke client functions with the same ease that the client invokes server functions, enabling powerful, bidirectional communication patterns.

API

• Service(name: string)

A factory function that creates an abstract service class.

• server<T>()

Defines a server-side unary function signature. T should be a function type. Call the returned descriptor with ({ metadata: z.object({...}) }) to require typed metadata for that RPC. Client code then calls client.MyService.fn(...args).withMeta({...}), and server handlers receive the context object as the first argument.

• client<T>()

Defines a client-side unary function signature. T should be a function type.

• bidi<T>()

Defines a bidirectional stream signature. T should be a function type that returns void. Like server(), you can pass ({ metadata: schema }) to type the attached metadata; client stubs expose bidiFn.context({ metadata }) and server stubs expose await bidiFn.context to read it.

• createGrpcServer(port: number, ...services: ServiceImpl[])

Creates and starts a gRPC server.

• createGrpcClient(address: string, ...services: ServiceImpl[])

Creates and starts a gRPC client.

Benchmarks

Simple "Hello World"

Note

This benchmark's server and client were run on same local machine.

tRPC

tRPC: 1543.021833ms

Elysia

Elysia: 128.935791ms

better-grpc

better-grpc: 126.681042ms

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.