REST-over-sockets

REST API over (Web)sockets using an Express style interface

• 100% native javascript
• Compatible with Websockets, Sockhop and socket.io
• Uses express-style controller declarations (see Asseverate if you want to write rest-over-sockets- and express-compatible controllers)
• Supports parameter capture, automatic error handling, and response encoding

Why

You have an application whose only clients connect directly over TCP/IP or your clients all support Websockets/socket.io and
you don't see the point in programming multiple API endpoints - some REST over HTTP, some over Websockets.

Details

Check out the full documentation here

Request

Incoming requests are simple native object, presumably transmitted over the wire using JSON. You can do this yourself, or you can use a library like Sockhop or socket.io -- depending on if you are in browser or not. Alternatively, you can use the ROSRequest object together with the .toJSON() method to ensure a correct format.

Parameter	Type	Example	Required	Notes
method	string	"POST"	Y	Must be upper-case
path	string	"/photos/cat.jpg"	Y
header	?object	{ "content-type": "application/json" }	N	Ought to be lower-case keys, though this is coerced on the server
body	?object	{ "some": "data" }	N
params	object	{ id: 23 }		RESERVED - auto populated from URL capture parameters
query	object	{ limit: 100 }		RESERVED - auto populated from URL capture parameters

{
    "method": "GET",
    "path": "/apple/3444"
}

Response

If your handler throws an exception, the error will automatically result in a HTTP style 500 response. Routes that don't exist return a HTTP style 404 error. The response body will look like this. Note that the headers are coerced to be lower-case, following the express.js convention for headers.

{
    "statusCode": 200,
    "headers": {
        "content-type": "application/json"
    },
    "data": [
        {
            "type": "Apple",
            "id": "23",
            "attributes": {
                "flavor": "sweet"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Examples

Checkout the examples folder for the source code:

Raw Websockets

Server using (raw) Websockets

const wss=new (require("ws")).Server({ port: 8080 });
const restos=new (require("rest-over-sockets"))();

// Set up a server
wss.on("connection", (ws)=>{

  ws.on("message", (message)=> {

    restos.receive(JSON.parse(message),(response)=>{

      ws.send(JSON.stringify(response));
    });
  });
});
 
// Add an Express-style route
restos.get("/widget/:id", (req, res)=>{

    res
      .set('Content-Type', 'text/json') // note, this gets coerced lower-case
        .status(200)
        .json([{ type:"Apple", id:req.params.id, attributes:{ flavor: "sweet" }}])
});

Client using (raw) Websockets

const ws= new (require("ws"))("ws://localhost:8080/");

ws.on("open", ()=>{

  ws.send(JSON.stringify({

    method : "GET",
    path : "/widget/23"

  }));
});

ws.on("message", (data)=>{

  console.log(data);  // {"status":200,"headers":{"content-type":"text/json"},"data":[{"type":"Apple","id":"23","attributes":{"flavor":"sweet"}}]}
  ws.close();
});

Of course, Websockets has it's limitations, and so these days lots of people are using socket.io as a nice abstraction layer to handle these details. Rest-over-sockets integrates nicely into your pre-existing socket.io infastructure

Socket.io

Server using socket.io

const http = require('http');
const { Server:IOServer } = require('socket.io');

const server = http.createServer();
server.listen(3000, () => {
    console.log("Listening on http://localhost:3000");
});

const io = new IOServer(server);
const restos=new (require("rest-over-sockets"))();

// Set up a server
io.on("connection", (sock)=>{
    // Request will be emitted on "ROSRequest" by the ROSClient
    sock.on("ROSRequest", (msg, callback)=> {
        console.log("Received message", msg);
        restos.receive(msg,callback);
    });
});
 
// Add an Express-style route
restos.get("/widget/:id", (req, res)=>{
    res
    .set('Content-Type', 'text/json') // note, this gets coerced lower-case
    .status(200)
    .json([{ type:"Apple", id:req.params.id, attributes:{ flavor: "sweet" }}])
});

Client using socket.io

const { ROSClient } = require("rest-over-sockets");
const { io } = require('socket.io-client');

const socket = io('http://localhost:3000');
const client = ROSClient.socketio(socket);

socket.on("connect", ()=>{
    client.get("/widget/3444").then(response=>{
        console.log(`Response: ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);
        socket.disconnect();
    });
});

Socket.io is great, but sometimes you are using native (i.e. tcp or unix) sockets, In that case: try Sockhop, since it will automatically handle reconnections, remote callbacks to ensure the response is given to the request that called it, and also JSON encoding and possible packetization / fragmentation across the wire. Basically, it fixes all the nasty edge-cases of raw tcp sockets so that you can just focus on the real work of writing the interface.

Sockhop

Server using Sockhop callbacks (old-style)

const server=new (require("sockhop").server)();
const restos=new (require("rest-over-sockets"))();

server.listen();
// Assume everything that comes over the wire is a ROSRequest
server.on("receive", (o, meta)=>restos.receive(o, meta.callback));

restos.get("/apple/:id", (req, res)=>{
    res
      .set('Content-Type', 'text/json') // note, this gets coerced lower-case
        .status(200)
        .json([{ type:"Apple", id:req.params.id, attributes:{ flavor: "sweet" }}])
});

Client using Sockhop callbacks (old-style)

const client=new (require("sockhop").client)();

client.connect().then(()=>{

  client.send({
    method: "GET",
    path: "/apple/3444"
  },(response)=>{

    console.log(`Response: ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);
    client.disconnect();
  });
});

Server using Sockhop requests (new-style)

const server=new (require("sockhop").server)();
const restos=new (require("rest-over-sockets"))();

server.listen();
server.on("request", (req,res,meta)=> {
    // Request will be sent as a "ROSRequest" type by the ROSClient
    if ( req.type !== "ROSRequest" ) return; // ignore other types
    restos.receive(req.data, (obj) => res.send(obj))
});

restos.get("/apple/:id", (req, res)=>{
    res
      .set('Content-Type', 'text/json') // note, this gets coerced lower-case
        .status(200)
        .json([{ type:"Apple", id:req.params.id, attributes:{ flavor: "sweet" }}])
});

Client using Sockhop requests (new-style)

const { ROSClient } = require("rest-over-sockets");
const sock=new (require("sockhop").client)();
const client = ROSClient.sockhop(sock);

sock.connect().then(()=>{
    return client.get("/apple/3444")
}).then(response => {
    console.log(`Response: ${JSON.stringify(response)}`);
    sock.disconnect();
});

Notes

Make sure your handlers (added by calling .get(), .post(), etc) run asynchronously. Example:

// BAD!
restos.get("/some/path", (req, res)=>{
  
    NASTY_BLOCKING_TASK();

    /* ... */

    res.send();  
});


// GOOD
restos.get("/some/path", (req, res)=>{
  
    return new Promise((resolve)=>{

      NASTY_BLOCKING_TASK();

      /* ... */

      resolve();
    })
    .then(res.send);
});

TODO

• Add cookie support?
• Support streaming?
• Support more content types?
• Default 404 and 500 message types

License

MIT