better-grpc

library0.3.2jsnpmunverified

better-grpc is a TypeScript-first gRPC library (version 0.3.2) that eliminates the need for .proto files and code generation, offering full type safety and autocompletion. It enables bidirectional communication where client and server can call each other's functions as if local. Released under MIT, it supports Node.js >=18 and TypeScript ^5. Simpler than raw gRPC-js but less mature than tRPC; no streaming support yet (only simple RPCs).

devops

npm install better-grpc

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INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · BETTER-GRPC

better-grpc

devopsjavascriptv0.3.2

harness data pending

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

No compatibility data collected yet for this library.

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

Service

✓ import { Service } from 'better-grpc'

✗ const Service = require('better-grpc').Service

ESM-only package; CommonJS require() will not work.

createGrpcServer

✓ import { createGrpcServer } from 'better-grpc'

✗ import { createGrpcServer } from 'better-grpc/server'

All exports are from the main entry point; no subpath exports.

client

✓ import { client } from 'better-grpc'

✗ import { client } from 'better-grpc/client'

client is a helper function for defining client-side methods.

Defines a simple service, implements server and client halves, starts server and client, makes a remote call, and logs the result.

import { Service, server, createGrpcServer, createGrpcClient } from 'better-grpc'; abstract class MyService extends Service('MyService') { sayHello = server<(name: string) => string>(); } const myServiceImpl = MyService.Server({ async sayHello(name: string) { return `Hello, ${name}!`; } }); const clientImpl = MyService.Client({}); const server = await createGrpcServer(50051, myServiceImpl); const client = await createGrpcClient('localhost:50051', clientImpl); const result = await client.client.sayHello('World'); console.log(result); // "Hello, World!" server.close();

Debug

Known issues

deprecatedThe helper function 'client' has been deprecated in favor of 'client' export from 'better-grpc'? Actually not deprecated, but caution: 'client' is a reserved word in strict mode.

fix

Use 'client' as a named function, but avoid naming your variables 'client' to prevent confusion.

affects: >=0.1.0

gotchaService('MyService') returns a class; the string argument must be unique per service.

fix

Provide a unique string name for each Service definition.

affects: >=0.1.0

breakingIn version 0.2.0, the signature of createGrpcServer changed from (port, impl) to (port, impl, options?).

fix

Update calls to include options object if needed, or omit for default.

affects: >=0.2.0

gotchaClient-side method implementations must be defined in the Client initializer, not in the Service class.

fix

Implement client methods in the MyService.Client({...}) object.

affects: >=0.1.0

deprecatedThe 'createGrpcClient' third parameter (credentials) changed from string to object in v0.3.0.

fix

Use 'ssl', 'insecure', or an options object as the second argument (before clientImpl).

affects: >=0.3.0

Errors

Common errors & fixes

TypeError: Service is not a constructor

Service('MyService') returns a class, but forgetting to call it with a string argument.

fix

Ensure you use Service('MyService') with parentheses: class MyService extends Service('MyService') {}

Error: [better-grpc] Channel credentials must be a ChannelCredentials object

Passing invalid credentials type to createGrpcClient (e.g., a number).

fix

Use 'ssl', 'insecure', or an object with gRPC channel options: createGrpcClient(address, creds?, impl)

TypeError: client.client is undefined

Forgetting to pass client implementation to createGrpcClient or incorrect destructuring.

fix

Ensure createGrpcClient is called with a client implementation object: createGrpcClient(address, impl)

Upgrade

Version history

0.3.2latest on npm

Audit

Dependencies

typescriptoptionalpeer dependency for type generation

Agent activity

7 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/photon-hq/better-grpc ↗

packagebetter-grpc ↗

homepagehttps://github.com/photon-hq/better-grpc#readme ↗