GRPC REPL

This is a general-purpose read-eval-print loop tool for interacting with GRPC services for debugging and testing in an ad-hoc manner.

Notable features includes:

• Supports RPC services defined across many .proto files by using a FileDescriptorSet as the basis for messages and methods.
• Interactive tab-completion / suggestion support for message names, methods, and message contents.
• Supports self-signed or private-CA SSL certificates.

This tool requires Java 8 to run.

Quickstart

Compile your .proto files with protoc the way you normally do, but with a couple of extra flags: --descriptor_set_out=my_protos.pb --include_imports --include_source_info to produce a self-contained FileDescriptorSet.

Download v0.1 and unpack the repl tool:

unzip grpc-repl-0.1.zip
./grpc-repl-0.1/bin/grpc-repl \
    -d /path/to/my_protos.pb \
    -t https://my.server

Current Status

Right now, this tool is pretty basic, intended mainly for creating ad-hoc queries or helping you create example payloads for documentation. The output of the help command is displayed here, which should give you an overview of what's currently possible.

edit
    | Edit a message.
    | 
    | Usage:
    |   * edit - List all editable messages
    |   * edit <variable> - Update an existing message
    |   * edit <variable> <message type> - Create / replace the named message

header
    | Set a header.
    | 
    | Usage:
    |   * header - List all currently-set headers
    |   * header <header> - Show the current value of the header
    |   * header <header> "new value" - Set the header
    | 
    | If the header name ends with "-bin", the value will be
    | interpreted as a base64-encoded value.

help
    | Display this message

messages
    | Describe messages types.
    | 
    | TODO: Display the SourceInfo in the descriptor set
    | 
    | Usage:
    |   * messages - To print all message names
    |   * messages mdlbx.Stat - To print message schema

print
    | Print a variable.
    | 
    | Usage:
    |   * print - List all messages
    |   * print <variable> - Print an existing message

quit
    | Exit the tool

rpc
    | Execute an RPC call.
    | 
    | If the RPC is a client-streaming message, the outgoing stream will be completed
    | when you type ^D.  The call will be cancelled on a ^C.
    | 
    | Usage:
    |   * rpc - List all RPC methods
    |   * rpc <method> - Call the method using an interactive editor
    |   * rpc <method> <variable> - Call the method using the named variable
    |   * rpc <method> <variable> <variable> .... - Call a client-streaming message

$ ./grpc-repl-0.1/bin/grpc-repl --help
GRPC REPL tool

Flags:

-d, --descriptor /path/to/file_descriptor_set.pb
    A path to the output from protoc --descriptor_set_out which contains a FileDescriptorSet.
    You probably also want to call protoc with --include_imports and --include_source_info
    to create a completely self-contained file.

-h, --help
    This message.

-t, --target https://your.server
    An https:// or http:// URI to specify the target server.  An alternate port may be specified.

--trust /path/to/trusted_keys.jks
    A path to a keystore file containing SSL certificates that should be trusted when connecting
    to SSL servers using self-signed or private-CA certificates.

    To create this file, use the java keytool command:
      keytool -import \
        -alias "development" \
        -file PATH/TO/self_signed.crt \
        -keystore trusted_keys.jks \

    The alias used for the key doesn't matter, it just needs to be distinct within the store.

--trustpasswd trustStorePassword
    The password to use when reading the trust store.  If not specified, you will be prompted.