json-rpc-2.0

Let your client and server talk over function calls under JSON-RPC 2.0 spec.

• Protocol agnostic
  • Use over HTTP, WebSocket, TCP, UDP, inter-process, whatever else
    • Easy migration from HTTP to WebSocket, for example
• No external dependencies
  • Keep your package small
  • Stay away from dependency hell
• Works in both browser and Node.js
• First-class TypeScript support
  • Written in TypeScript
  • Strongly typed client and server calls

Install

npm install --save json-rpc-2.0

Example

The example uses HTTP for communication protocol, but it can be anything.

Server

const express = require("express");
const bodyParser = require("body-parser");
const { JSONRPCServer } = require("json-rpc-2.0");

const server = new JSONRPCServer();

// First parameter is a method name.
// Second parameter is a method itself.
// A method takes JSON-RPC params and returns a result.
// It can also return a promise of the result.
server.addMethod("echo", ({ text }) => text);
server.addMethod("log", ({ message }) => console.log(message));

const app = express();
app.use(bodyParser.json());

app.post("/json-rpc", (req, res) => {
  const jsonRPCRequest = req.body;
  // server.receive takes a JSON-RPC request and returns a promise of a JSON-RPC response.
  // It can also receive an array of requests, in which case it may return an array of responses.
  // Alternatively, you can use server.receiveJSON, which takes JSON string as is (in this case req.body).
  server.receive(jsonRPCRequest).then((jsonRPCResponse) => {
    if (jsonRPCResponse) {
      res.json(jsonRPCResponse);
    } else {
      // If response is absent, it was a JSON-RPC notification method.
      // Respond with no content status (204).
      res.sendStatus(204);
    }
  });
});

app.listen(80);

With authentication

To hook authentication into the API, inject custom params:

const server = new JSONRPCServer();

// The method can also take a custom parameter as the second parameter.
// Use this to inject whatever information that method needs outside the regular JSON-RPC request.
server.addMethod("echo", ({ text }, { userID }) => `${userID} said ${text}`);

app.post("/json-rpc", (req, res) => {
  const jsonRPCRequest = req.body;
  const userID = getUserID(req);

  // server.receive takes an optional second parameter.
  // The parameter will be injected to the JSON-RPC method as the second parameter.
  server.receive(jsonRPCRequest, { userID }).then((jsonRPCResponse) => {
    if (jsonRPCResponse) {
      res.json(jsonRPCResponse);
    } else {
      res.sendStatus(204);
    }
  });
});

const getUserID = (req) => {
  // Do whatever to get user ID out of the request
};

Middleware

Use middleware to intercept request and response:

const server = new JSONRPCServer();

// next will call the next middleware
const logMiddleware = (next, request, serverParams) => {
  console.log(`Received ${JSON.stringify(request)}`);
  return next(request, serverParams).then((response) => {
    console.log(`Responding ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);
    return response;
  });
};

const exceptionMiddleware = async (next, request, serverParams) => {
  try {
    return await next(request, serverParams);
  } catch (error) {
    if (error.code) {
      return createJSONRPCErrorResponse(request.id, error.code, error.message);
    } else {
      throw error;
    }
  }
};

// Middleware will be called in the same order they are applied
server.applyMiddleware(logMiddleware, exceptionMiddleware);

Constructor Options

Optionally, you can pass options to JSONRPCServer constructor:

new JSONRPCServer({
  errorListener: (message: string, data: unknown): void => {
    // Listen to error here. By default, it will use console.warn to log errors.
  },
});

Client

import { JSONRPCClient } from "json-rpc-2.0";

// JSONRPCClient needs to know how to send a JSON-RPC request.
// Tell it by passing a function to its constructor. The function must take a JSON-RPC request and send it.
const client = new JSONRPCClient((jsonRPCRequest) =>
  fetch("http://localhost/json-rpc", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "content-type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(jsonRPCRequest),
  }).then((response) => {
    if (response.status === 200) {
      // Use client.receive when you received a JSON-RPC response.
      return response
        .json()
        .then((jsonRPCResponse) => client.receive(jsonRPCResponse));
    } else if (jsonRPCRequest.id !== undefined) {
      return Promise.reject(new Error(response.statusText));
    }
  })
);

// Use client.request to make a JSON-RPC request call.
// The function returns a promise of the result.
client
  .request("echo", { text: "Hello, World!" })
  .then((result) => console.log(result));

// Use client.notify to make a JSON-RPC notification call.
// By definition, JSON-RPC notification does not respond.
client.notify("log", { message: "Hello, World!" });

With authentication

Just like JSONRPCServer, you can inject custom params to JSONRPCClient too:

const client = new JSONRPCClient(
  // It can also take a custom parameter as the second parameter.
  (jsonRPCRequest, { token }) =>
    fetch("http://localhost/json-rpc", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        "content-type": "application/json",
        authorization: `Bearer ${token}`, // Use the passed token
      },
      body: JSON.stringify(jsonRPCRequest),
    }).then((response) => {
      // ...
    })
);

// Pass the custom params as the third argument.
client.request("echo", { text: "Hello, World!" }, { token: "foo's token" });
client.notify("log", { message: "Hello, World!" }, { token: "foo's token" });

With timeout

Sometimes you don't want to wait for the response indefinitely. You can use timeout to automatically fail the request after certain delay:

const client = new JSONRPCClient(/* ... */);

client
  .timeout(10 * 1000) // Automatically fails if it didn't get a response within 10 sec
  .request("echo", { text: "Hello, World!" });

// Create a custom error response
const createTimeoutJSONRPCErrorResponse = (
  id: JSONRPCID
): JSONRPCErrorResponse =>
  createJSONRPCErrorResponse(id, 123, "Custom error message");

client
  .timeout(10 * 1000, createTimeoutJSONRPCErrorResponse)
  .request("echo", { text: "Hello, World!" });

Bi-directional JSON-RPC

For bi-directional JSON-RPC, use JSONRPCServerAndClient.

const webSocket = new WebSocket("ws://localhost");

const serverAndClient = new JSONRPCServerAndClient(
  new JSONRPCServer(),
  new JSONRPCClient((request) => {
    try {
      webSocket.send(JSON.stringify(request));
      return Promise.resolve();
    } catch (error) {
      return Promise.reject(error);
    }
  })
);

webSocket.onmessage = (event) => {
  serverAndClient.receiveAndSend(JSON.parse(event.data.toString()));
};

// On close, make sure to reject all the pending requests to prevent hanging.
webSocket.onclose = (event) => {
  serverAndClient.rejectAllPendingRequests(
    `Connection is closed (${event.reason}).`
  );
};

serverAndClient.addMethod("echo", ({ text }) => text);

serverAndClient
  .request("add", { x: 1, y: 2 })
  .then((result) => console.log(`1 + 2 = ${result}`));

Constructor Options

Optionally, you can pass options to JSONRPCServerAndClient constructor:

new JSONRPCServerAndClient(server, client, {
  errorListener: (message: string, data: unknown): void => {
    // Listen to error here. By default, it will use console.warn to log errors.
  },
});

Error handling

To respond an error, reject with an Error. On the client side, the promise will be rejected with an Error object with the same message.

server.addMethod("fail", () =>
  Promise.reject(new Error("This is an error message."))
);

client.request("fail").then(
  () => console.log("This does not get called"),
  (error) => console.error(error.message) // Outputs "This is an error message."
);

If you want to return a custom error response, use JSONRPCErrorException:

import { JSONRPCErrorException } from "json-rpc-2.0";

const server = new JSONRPCServer();

server.addMethod("throws", () => {
  const errorCode = 123;
  const errorData = {
    foo: "bar",
  };

  throw new JSONRPCErrorException(
    "A human readable error message",
    errorCode,
    errorData
  );
});

Alternatively, use advanced APIs or implement mapErrorToJSONRPCErrorResponse:

import {
  createJSONRPCErrorResponse,
  JSONRPCErrorResponse,
  JSONRPCID,
  JSONRPCServer,
} from "json-rpc-2.0";

const server = new JSONRPCServer();

server.mapErrorToJSONRPCErrorResponse = (
  id: JSONRPCID,
  error: any
): JSONRPCErrorResponse => {
  return createJSONRPCErrorResponse(
    id,
    error?.code || 0,
    error?.message || "An unexpected error occurred",
    // Optional 4th argument. It maps to error.data of the response.
    { foo: "bar" }
  );
};

Advanced APIs

Use the advanced APIs to handle raw JSON-RPC messages.

Server

import { JSONRPC, JSONRPCResponse, JSONRPCServer } from "json-rpc-2.0";

const server = new JSONRPCServer();

// Advanced method takes a raw JSON-RPC request and returns a raw JSON-RPC response
server.addMethodAdvanced(
  "doSomething",
  (jsonRPCRequest: JSONRPCRequest): PromiseLike<JSONRPCResponse> => {
    if (isValid(jsonRPCRequest.params)) {
      return {
        jsonrpc: JSONRPC,
        id: jsonRPCRequest.id,
        result: "Params are valid",
      };
    } else {
      return {
        jsonrpc: JSONRPC,
        id: jsonRPCRequest.id,
        error: {
          code: -100,
          message: "Params are invalid",
          data: jsonRPCRequest.params,
        },
      };
    }
  }
);

// You can remove the added method if needed
server.removeMethod("doSomething");

Client

import {
  JSONRPC,
  JSONRPCClient,
  JSONRPCRequest,
  JSONRPCResponse,
} from "json-rpc-2.0";

const send = () => {
  // ...
};
let nextID: number = 0;
const createID = () => nextID++;

// To avoid conflict ID between basic and advanced method request, inject a custom ID factory function.
const client = new JSONRPCClient(send, createID);

const jsonRPCRequest: JSONRPCRequest = {
  jsonrpc: JSONRPC,
  id: createID(),
  method: "doSomething",
  params: {
    foo: "foo",
    bar: "bar",
  },
};

// Advanced method takes a raw JSON-RPC request and returns a raw JSON-RPC response
// It can also send an array of requests, in which case it returns an array of responses.
client
  .requestAdvanced(jsonRPCRequest)
  .then((jsonRPCResponse: JSONRPCResponse) => {
    if (jsonRPCResponse.error) {
      console.log(
        `Received an error with code ${jsonRPCResponse.error.code} and message ${jsonRPCResponse.error.message}`
      );
    } else {
      doSomethingWithResult(jsonRPCResponse.result);
    }
  });

Typed client and server

To strongly type request and addMethod methods, use TypedJSONRPCClient, TypedJSONRPCServer and TypedJSONRPCServerAndClient interfaces.

import {
  JSONRPCClient,
  JSONRPCServer,
  JSONRPCServerAndClient,
  TypedJSONRPCClient,
  TypedJSONRPCServer,
  TypedJSONRPCServerAndClient,
} from "json-rpc-2.0";

// Use `type` instead of `interface`. In TypeScript, interface can be exnteded,
// so the type checker considers the possibility of the interface being extended,
// resulting in an error.
// Reference: https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/2/everyday-types.html#differences-between-type-aliases-and-interfaces
type Methods = {
  echo(params: { message: string }): string;
  sum(params: { x: number; y: number }): number;
};

const server: TypedJSONRPCServer<Methods> = new JSONRPCServer(/* ... */);
const client: TypedJSONRPCClient<Methods> = new JSONRPCClient(/* ... */);

// Types are infered from the Methods type
server.addMethod("echo", ({ message }) => message);
server.addMethod("sum", ({ x, y }) => x + y);
// These result in type error
// server.addMethod("ech0", ({ message }) => message); // typo in method name
// server.addMethod("echo", ({ messagE }) => messagE); // typo in param name
// server.addMethod("echo", ({ message }) => 123); // return type must be string

client
  .request("echo", { message: "hello" })
  .then((result) => console.log(result));
client.request("sum", { x: 1, y: 2 }).then((result) => console.log(result));
// These result in type error
// client.request("ech0", { message: "hello" }); // typo in method name
// client.request("echo", { messagE: "hello" }); // typo in param name
// client.request("echo", { message: 123 }); // message param must be string
// client
//   .request("echo", { message: "hello" })
//   .then((result: number) => console.log(result)); // return type must be string

// The same rule applies to TypedJSONRPCServerAndClient
type ServerAMethods = {
  echo(params: { message: string }): string;
};

type ServerBMethods = {
  sum(params: { x: number; y: number }): number;
};

const serverAndClientA: TypedJSONRPCServerAndClient<
  ServerAMethods,
  ServerBMethods
> = new JSONRPCServerAndClient(/* ... */);
const serverAndClientB: TypedJSONRPCServerAndClient<
  ServerBMethods,
  ServerAMethods
> = new JSONRPCServerAndClient(/* ... */);

serverAndClientA.addMethod("echo", ({ message }) => message);
serverAndClientB.addMethod("sum", ({ x, y }) => x + y);

serverAndClientA
  .request("sum", { x: 1, y: 2 })
  .then((result) => console.log(result));
serverAndClientB
  .request("echo", { message: "hello" })
  .then((result) => console.log(result));

Build

npm run build

Test

npm test