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Kitexcall is a command-line tool for sending JSON general requests using kitex, similar to how curl is used for HTTP.

• Supports Thrift/Protobuf: It supports IDL in Thrift/Protobuf formats.
• Supports Multiple Transport Protocols: It supports transport protocols like Buffered, TTHeader, Framed, and TTHeaderFramed, as well as gRPC for streaming calls.
• Supports Streaming Calls: It supports unary, client streaming, server streaming, and bidirectional streaming RPCs.
• Supports Interactive Mode: Automatically enters interactive mode when no input file or data is specified, allowing users to input request data in real-time.
• Supports Common Client Options: It allows specify common client options, such as client.WithHostPorts, etc.
• Supports manual data input from the command line and local files: Request data can be read from command line arguments or local files.
• Supports Metadata Passing: It supports sending transient keys (WithValue) and persistent keys (WithPersistentValue), and also supports receiving backward metadata (Backward) returned by the server.
• Supports Receiving Business Custom Exceptions: It can receive business custom exception error codes, error messages, and additional information.
• Supports Multiple Output Formats: By default, it outputs a human-friendly readable format, and plans to support parseable formats for better integration with other automation tools.

go install github.com/kitex-contrib/kitexcall@latest

When using the kitexcall tool, you need to specify several required arguments, including the path to the IDL file, the method name, and the data to be sent. Example:

• IDL file：

// echo.thrift

namespace go test

struct Request {
    1: required string message,
}

struct Response {
    1: required string message,
}

service TestService {
    Response Echo (1: Request req) (streaming.mode="bidirectional"),
    Response EchoClient (1: Request req) (streaming.mode="client"),
    Response EchoServer (1: Request req) (streaming.mode="server"),

    Response EchoPingPong (1: Request req), // KitexThrift, non-streaming
}

• Creating a file input.json specifying JSON format request data:

{
    "message": "hello"
}

• Server:

// TestServiceImpl implements echo.TestService interface
type TestServiceImpl struct{}

// Echo implements bidirectional streaming
func (s *TestServiceImpl) Echo(stream echo.TestService_EchoServer) (err error) {
	for {
		req, err := stream.Recv()
		if err == io.EOF {
			return nil
		}
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		// Echo back the message
		resp := &echo.Response{
			Message: "server echo: " + req.Message,
		}
		if err := stream.Send(resp); err != nil {
			return err
		}
	}
}

// EchoClient implements client streaming
func (s *TestServiceImpl) EchoClient(stream echo.TestService_EchoClientServer) (err error) {
	var messageCount int
	for {
		req, err := stream.Recv()
		if err == io.EOF {
			// Client has finished sending
			resp := &echo.Response{
				Message: "server received " + strconv.Itoa(messageCount) + " messages",
			}
			return stream.SendAndClose(resp)
		}
		if err != nil {
			return err
		}
		messageCount++
	}
}

// EchoServer implements server streaming
func (s *TestServiceImpl) EchoServer(req *echo.Request, stream echo.TestService_EchoServerServer) (err error) {
	counter := 0
	for {
		resp := &echo.Response{
			Message: "server streaming response " + strconv.Itoa(counter) + " for request: " + req.Message,
		}
		if err := stream.Send(resp); err != nil {
			return err
		}
		counter++
	}
}

// EchoPingPong implements traditional request-response
func (s *TestServiceImpl) EchoPingPong(ctx context.Context, req *echo.Request) (resp *echo.Response, err error) {
	return &echo.Response{
		Message: "server pong: " + req.Message,
	}, nil
}

func main() {
	svr := echo.NewServer(new(TestServiceImpl),
		server.WithMetaHandler(transmeta.ServerHTTP2Handler),
	)

	err := svr.Run()
	if err != nil {
		log.Println(err.Error())
	}
}

1. Normal Calls:

# Method 1: Using file input
kitexcall --idl-path echo.thrift --method TestService/EchoPingPong --endpoint 127.0.0.1:9999 -f input.json

Output:

[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "server pong: hello"
}

# Method 2: Direct data input
kitexcall --idl-path echo.thrift --method TestService/EchoPingPong --endpoint 127.0.0.1:9999 -d '{"message": "hello"}'

Output:

[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "server pong: hello"
}

# Method 3: Interactive input
kitexcall --idl-path echo.thrift --method TestService/EchoPingPong --endpoint 127.0.0.1:9999

> {"message": "hello"}
[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "server pong: hello"
}

2. Streaming Calls:

# Client streaming (using JSONL file input)
cat > messages.jsonl << EOF
{"message": "hello 1"}
{"message": "hello 2"}
{"message": "hello 3"}
EOF

kitexcall --idl-path echo.thrift --method TestService/EchoClient --endpoint 127.0.0.1:8888 --streaming -f messages.jsonl

Output:

[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "server received 3 messages"
}

# Server streaming (using JSON file input)
kitexcall --idl-path echo.thrift --method TestService/EchoServer --endpoint 127.0.0.1:8888 --streaming -f input.json

Output:

[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "server streaming response 0 for request: hello"
}
{
    "message": "server streaming response 1 for request: hello"
}
{
    "message": "server streaming response 2 for request: hello"
}
...

# Bidirectional streaming (using interactive input)
kitexcall --idl-path echo.thrift --method TestService/Echo --endpoint 127.0.0.1:8888 --streaming

> {"message": "hello"}
[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "server echo: hello"
}

# Use Ctrl+D to end input (no more requests will be sent, but streaming responses will still be received if the server continues to send)
# Use Ctrl+C to terminate the streaming session (force close the connection)

• -help or -h Outputs the usage instructions.
• -type or -t Specifies the IDL type: thrift or protobuf. Supports inference based on the IDL file type. Default is thrift.
• -idl-path or -p Specifies the path to the IDL file.
• -include-path Adds a search path for the IDL. Multiple paths can be added and will be searched in order.
• -method or -m [Required] Specifies the method name, in the format IDLServiceName/MethodName or just MethodName. When the server has MultiService mode enabled, IDLServiceName must be specified, and the transport protocol must be TTHeader or TTHeaderFramed.
• -file or -f Specifies the input file path, which must be in JSON format.
• -data or -d Specifies the data to be sent, in JSON string format.
• -endpoint or -e Specifies the server address. Multiple can be specified.
• -transport Specifies the transport protocol type. Can be TTHeader, Framed, or TTHeaderFramed. Default is Buffered.
• -biz-error Enables the client to receive business errors returned by the server.
• -meta Specifies one-way metadata passed to the server. Multiple can be specified, in the format key=value.
• -meta-persistent Specifies persistent metadata passed to the server. Multiple can be specified, in the format key=value.
• -meta-backward Enables receiving backward metadata (Backward) returned by the server.
• -q Only outputs JSON response, no other information.
• -verbose or -v Enables verbose mode for more detailed output information.

Use the -type or -t flag to specify the IDL type. Supported types are thrift and protobuf, with a default of thrift.

kitexcall -t thrift

Use the -idl-path or -p flag to specify the path to the IDL file.

kitexcall -idl-path /path/to/idl/file.thrift

Use the -method or -m flag to specify the method name. The format can be IDLServiceName/MethodName or just MethodName. When the server side has MultiService mode enabled, IDLServiceName must be specified, and the transport protocol must be TTHeader or TTHeaderFramed.

kitexcall -m GenericService/ExampleMethod
kitexcall -m ExampleMethod

Use the -data or -d flag to specify the data to be sent, which should be a JSON formatted string. Alternatively, use the -file or -f flag to specify the path to a JSON file containing the data.

Assuming we want to send the data {"message": "hello"}, we can specify the data like this:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -d '{"message": "hello"}'

Or, we can save the data in a JSON file, such as input.json, and then specify the file path:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -f input.json

Use the -endpoint or -e flag to specify one or more server addresses.

Assuming we have two server addresses, 127.0.0.1:9919 and 127.0.0.1:9920, we can specify the server addresses like this:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -e 127.0.0.1:9919 -e 127.0.0.1:9920

• Transient keys (WithValue): Use the -meta flag to specify, multiple can be specified, in the format key=value.
• Persistent keys (WithPersistentValue): Use the -meta-persistent flag to specify. Multiple can be specified, in the format key=value.
• Backward metadata (Backward): Enable the -meta-backward option to support receiving backward metadata (Backward) returned by the server.

Assuming we want to pass Transient metadata temp=temp-value and persistent metadata logid=12345 to the server and receive backward metadata, we can specify it like this:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -meta temp=temp-value -meta-persistent logid=12345 -meta-backward

If the server returns a business exception, you can enable the client to receive business custom exception error codes, error messages, and additional information through the -biz-error flag.

Assuming the server returns a business error status code 404 and message not found, we can enable business error handling like this:

kitexcall -m ExampleMethod -biz-error

Use the -verbose or -v flag to enable verbose mode, providing more detailed output information.

Kitexcall supports gRPC streaming RPC calls. When using streaming mode, the transport protocol is automatically set to gRPC.

• --streaming: Enables streaming mode. The streaming type is automatically determined based on the method definition in the IDL file.

For client and bidirectional streaming, which require sending multiple messages, you can use:

• A single JSON file (.json) for sending a single message
• A JSONL file (.jsonl) for sending multiple messages, with one JSON object per line

Client Streaming Example:

# Create a file with multiple messages (one per line)
cat > messages.jsonl << EOF
{"message": "hello 1"}
{"message": "hello 2"}
{"message": "hello 3"}
EOF

# Send multiple messages with client streaming
kitexcall -idl-path echo.thrift -m echo -f messages.jsonl --streaming

Server Streaming Example:

# Send a single request and receive multiple responses
kitexcall -idl-path echo.thrift -m echo -d '{"message": "hello"}' --streaming

Bidirectional Streaming Example:

# Send multiple messages and receive multiple responses
kitexcall -idl-path echo.thrift -m echo -f messages.jsonl --streaming

When no input file (-f) or data (-d) is specified, kitexcall automatically enters interactive mode. In interactive mode, you can:

1. Input request data in real-time
2. View server responses
3. Continue inputting new request data
4. Use Ctrl+D to end input (no more requests will be sent, but streaming responses will still be received if the server continues to send)
5. Use Ctrl+C to terminate the streaming session (force close the connection)

Example:

# No input file or data specified, automatically enters interactive mode
kitexcall -idl-path echo.thrift -m echo

# Input data in interactive mode
> {"message": "hello"}
[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "hello"
}

> {"message": "world"}
[Status]: Success
{
    "message": "world"
}

# Use Ctrl+D to end input (no more requests will be sent, but streaming responses will still be received if the server continues to send)
# Use Ctrl+C to terminate the streaming session (force close the connection)

Interactive mode is particularly useful for:

• Scenarios requiring multiple requests with different data
• Debugging and testing service interfaces
• Real-time viewing of service responses