REST Support

[kevinmichaelchen]

• connectrpc/vanguard-go
• pets.proto
• pets example
  • the frontend is a vanguard middleware reverse proxy that can accept any protocol (REST, Connect, gRPC)
  • the backend translates RPC requests into REST requests

Support REST, gRPC, gRPC-Web, and Connect clients with one server.

Why Vanguard?

Vanguard offers a range of compelling use cases that make it an invaluable addition
to your services:

1. RESTful Transformation: By leveraging HTTP transcoding annotations, you can effortlessly support REST clients. This feature is especially handy during the migration from a REST API to a schema-driven RPC API. With the right annotations, your existing REST clients can seamlessly access your API, even as you transition your server implementations to Protobuf and RPC.

2. Efficiency and Code Generation: Unlike traditional approaches like gRPC-Gateway, Vanguard operates efficiently within Go servers, compatible with various servers such as Connect and gRPC. It doesn't rely on extensive code generation, eliminating the need for additional code generation steps. This flexibility ensures that your code can adapt dynamically, loading service definitions from configuration, schema registries, or via gRPC Server Reflection, making it a perfect fit for proxies without the hassle of recompilation and redeployment each time an RPC service schema changes.

3. Legacy Compatibility: The HTTP transcoding annotations also empower you to support legacy REST API servers when clients are accustomed to using Protobuf RPC. This lets you embrace RPC in specific teams, such as for web or mobile clients, without the prerequisite of migrating all backend API services.

4. Seamless Protocol Bridging: If your organization is transitioning from gRPC to Connect, Vanguard acts as a bridge between the protocols. This facilitates the use of your existing gRPC service handlers with Connect clients, allowing you to smoothly adapt to Connect's enhanced usability and inspectability with web browsers and mobile devices. No need to overhaul your server handler logic before migrating clients to Connect.