An open source FaaS (Function as a service) framework for writing portable Node.js functions -- brought to you by the Google Cloud Functions team.
The Functions Framework lets you write lightweight functions that run in many different environments, including:
- Google Cloud Functions
- Your local development machine
- Cloud Run and Cloud Run on GKE
- Knative-based environments
The framework allows you to go from:
exports.helloWorld = (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello, World');
};
To:
curl http://my-url
# Output: Hello, World
All without needing to worry about writing an HTTP server or complicated request handling logic.
- Spin up a local development server for quick testing
- Invoke a function in response to a request
- Automatically unmarshal events conforming to the CloudEvents spec
- Portable between serverless platforms
Add the Functions Framework to your package.json
file using npm
.
npm install @google-cloud/functions-framework
Create an index.js
file with the following contents:
exports.helloWorld = (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello, World');
};
Run the following command:
npx @google-cloud/functions-framework --target=helloWorld
Open http://localhost:8080/ in your browser and see Hello, World.
Create an index.js
file with the following contents:
exports.helloWorld = (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello, World');
};
To run a function locally, first create a package.json
file using npm init
:
npm init
Now install the Functions Framework:
npm install @google-cloud/functions-framework
Add a start
script to package.json
, with configuration passed via
command-line arguments:
"scripts": {
"start": "functions-framework --target=helloWorld"
}
Use npm start
to start the built-in local development server:
npm start
...
Serving function...
Function: helloWorld
URL: http://localhost:8080/
Send requests to this function using curl
from another terminal window:
curl localhost:8080
# Output: Hello, World
The
Node.js 10 runtime on Google Cloud Functions
is based on the Functions Framework. On Cloud Functions, the Functions Framework
is completely optional: if you don't add it to your package.json
, it will be
installed automatically.
After you've written your function, you can simply deploy it from your local
machine using the gcloud
command-line tool.
Check out the Cloud Functions quickstart.
Once you've written your function, added the Functions Framework and updated your start
script in package.json
, all that's left is to create a container image. Check out the Cloud Run quickstart for Node.js to create a container image and deploy it to Cloud Run. You'll write a Dockerfile
when you build your container. This Dockerfile
allows you to specify exactly what goes into your container (including custom binaries, a specific operating system, and more).
If you want even more control over the environment, you can deploy your container image to Cloud Run on GKE. With Cloud Run on GKE, you can run your function on a GKE cluster, which gives you additional control over the environment (including use of GPU-based instances, longer timeouts and more).
Cloud Run and Cloud Run on GKE both implement the Knative Serving API. The Functions Framework is designed to be compatible with Knative environments. Just build and deploy your container to a Knative environment.
You can configure the Functions Framework using command-line flags or environment variables. If you specify both, the environment variable will be ignored.
Command-line flag | Environment variable | Description |
---|---|---|
--port |
PORT |
The port on which the Functions Framework listens for requests. Default: 8080 |
--target |
FUNCTION_TARGET |
The name of the exported function to be invoked in response to requests. Default: function |
--signature-type |
FUNCTION_SIGNATURE_TYPE |
The signature used when writing your function. Controls unmarshalling rules and determines which arguments are used to invoke your function. Default: http ; accepted values: http or event |
You can set command-line flags in your package.json
via the start
script.
For example:
"scripts": {
"start": "functions-framework --target=helloWorld"
}
The Functions Framework can unmarshall incoming
CloudEvents payloads to data
and context
objects.
These will be passed as arguments to your function when it receives a request.
Note that your function must use the event-style function signature:
exports.helloEvents = (data, context) => {
console.log(data);
console.log(context);
};
To enable automatic unmarshalling, set the function signature type to event
using a command-line flag or an environment variable. By default, the HTTP
signature will be used and automatic event unmarshalling will be disabled.
For more details on this signature type, check out the Google Cloud Functions documentation on background functions.
The setup for cloud functions that accept events is very similar to the instructions in the quickstart, with the following adjustments:
In your package.json, add a signature type (in bold) to your start command:
"scripts": { "start": "functions-framework --target=helloWorld --signature-type=event" }
Upon running sh npm start
, you'll see the function is still being served at http://localhost:8080/. However it is no longer accessible via GET requests from the browser. Instead, send a POST request where the request body conforms to the API defined by push subscriptions.
Create mockPubsub.json file with the following contents:
{
"message": {
"attributes": {
"key": "value"
},
"data": "SGVsbG8gQ2xvdWQgUHViL1N1YiEgSGVyZSBpcyBteSBtZXNzYWdlIQ==",
"messageId": "136969346945"
},
"subscription": "projects/myproject/subscriptions/mysubscription"
}
The file can be in any folder on your computer. From the terminal, goto the directory where mockPubsub.json
is located, and run the following command assuming your cloud function is hosted locally on port 8080:
curl -d "@mockPubsub.json" -X POST http://localhost:8080
Another way to test your cloud function pubsub endpoint is to use the pubsub emulator. This allows you to use the pubsub notification from another service to trigger your cloud function.
The high level approach is to:
- Start the pubsub emulator
- Use the pubsub client library to create a subscription and set the pushEndpoint to http://localhost:8080.
After that, all notifications to the subscription topic will be pushed to your cloud function.
Sample script for creating subscription with pushEndpoint:
{ PubSub } require('@google-cloud/pubsub');
async function main() {
const pubsub = new PubSub({
apiEndpoint: 'localhost:8085', // Pubsub emulator endpoint
projectId: 'myproject',
});
const topic = await pubsub.topic('my-topic');
const [topicExists] = await topic.exists();
if (!topicExists) {
await topic.create();
}
const createSubscriptionResponse = await topic.createSubscription('my_subscription', {
pushEndpoint: 'https://localhost:8080',
});
}
main();
Contributions to this library are welcome and encouraged. See CONTRIBUTING for more information on how to get started.