juanfont/headscale

Evaluate ConnectRPC over gRPC + webgateway

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#2305 opened on Dec 17, 2024

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Description

We currently use plain gRPC and grpc-gateway (for our http+json) api, it has worked fine, but also there are a couple of drawbacks, and it kind of feels a bit hacky.

One of the drawbacks is that some parts of gRPC is unsupported by grpc-gateway, and it does not support OpenAPI 3.0. oneof is for example not supported https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/issues/2237.

ConnectRPC seem to be a rethinking of this, where the gRPC and the HTTP part is "equally" important. It might be better, it might be worse, they advertise with good client code generators so might be worth a look.

Initial thoughts:

  • Con: This will break current web UIs
  • Pro: they can use a generated client instead of handwriting API
  • Cant see any OpenAPI support, but if their code gen is good, then I dont think that matters
  • "If it aint broke, dont fix it"

I would value peoples views, particularly if you have experience using this.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
gogrpcrest api
Domain
apibackend
Issue type
research
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
Go programminggRPCgrpc gatewayProtocol Buffers
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
15
Research direction
Investigate the current gRPC and grpc gateway setup in the repository, particularly the use of protobuf definitions and any known limitations such as the lack of oneof support (see issue #2237). Evaluate ConnectRPC's generated client code quality, OpenAPI support, and its impact on the existing web UI. Check the ConnectRPC documentation and community examples for migration patterns from grpc gateway. Discuss findings in the issue thread with maintainers to gauge acceptance criteria.