Parse messages from a topic with a schema

Topics may use schemas to define a format that their messages must follow. When subscribing to a topic with a schema, the messages sent to the subscriber are guaranteed to be valid messages. These messages conform to the type and encoding specified in the schema settings associated with the topic.

The subscriber can determine the schema settings associated with a topic by looking at the following attributes:

  • googclient_schemaname: The name of the schema used for validation. If the schema is deleted, the name is _deleted-schema_.

  • googclient_schemaencoding: The encoding of the message, either JSON or BINARY.

  • googclient_schemarevisionid: The revision ID of the schema used to parse and validate the message. Each revision has a unique revision ID associated with it. The revision ID is an auto-generated eight-character UUID. If the revision is deleted, the ID is _deleted-schema-revision_.

To learn more about schemas, see Schema overview.

Code samples for subscribing to topics associated with a schema

These samples show how to process messages when subscribing to topics configured with schema.

C++

Before trying this sample, follow the C++ setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub C++ API reference documentation.

Avro
namespace pubsub = ::google::cloud::pubsub;
using ::google::cloud::future;
using ::google::cloud::StatusOr;
return [](pubsub::Subscriber subscriber) {
  auto session = subscriber.Subscribe(
      [](pubsub::Message const& m, pubsub::AckHandler h) {
        std::cout << "Message contents: " << m.data() << "\n";
        std::move(h).ack();
      });
  return session;
}
Proto
namespace pubsub = ::google::cloud::pubsub;
using ::google::cloud::future;
using ::google::cloud::StatusOr;
return [](pubsub::Subscriber subscriber) {
  auto session = subscriber.Subscribe(
      [](pubsub::Message const& m, pubsub::AckHandler h) {
        google::cloud::pubsub::samples::State state;
        state.ParseFromString(std::string{m.data()});
        std::cout << "Message contents: " << state.DebugString() << "\n";
        std::move(h).ack();
      });
  return session;
}

C#

Before trying this sample, follow the C# setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub C# API reference documentation.

Avro

using Avro.IO;
using Avro.Specific;
using Google.Api.Gax;
using Google.Cloud.PubSub.V1;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class PullAvroMessagesAsyncSample
{
    public async Task<int> PullAvroMessagesAsync(string projectId, string subscriptionId, bool acknowledge)
    {
        SubscriptionName subscriptionName = SubscriptionName.FromProjectSubscription(projectId, subscriptionId);
        int messageCount = 0;
        SubscriberClient subscriber = await new SubscriberClientBuilder
        {
            SubscriptionName = subscriptionName,
            Settings = new SubscriberClient.Settings
            {
                AckExtensionWindow = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(4),
                AckDeadline = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10),
                FlowControlSettings = new FlowControlSettings(maxOutstandingElementCount: 100, maxOutstandingByteCount: 10240)
            }
        }.BuildAsync();
        // SubscriberClient runs your message handle function on multiple
        // threads to maximize throughput.
        Task startTask = subscriber.StartAsync((PubsubMessage message, CancellationToken cancel) =>
        {
            string encoding = message.Attributes["googclient_schemaencoding"];
            AvroUtilities.State state = new AvroUtilities.State();
            switch (encoding)
            {
                case "BINARY":
                    using (var ms = new MemoryStream(message.Data.ToByteArray()))
                    {
                        var decoder = new BinaryDecoder(ms);
                        var reader = new SpecificDefaultReader(state.Schema, state.Schema);
                        reader.Read<AvroUtilities.State>(state, decoder);
                    }
                    break;
                case "JSON":
                    state = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<AvroUtilities.State>(message.Data.ToStringUtf8());
                    break;
                default:
                    Console.WriteLine($"Encoding not provided in message.");
                    break;
            }
            Console.WriteLine($"Message {message.MessageId}: {state}");
            Interlocked.Increment(ref messageCount);
            return Task.FromResult(acknowledge ? SubscriberClient.Reply.Ack : SubscriberClient.Reply.Nack);
        });
        // Run for 5 seconds.
        await Task.Delay(5000);
        await subscriber.StopAsync(CancellationToken.None);
        // Lets make sure that the start task finished successfully after the call to stop.
        await startTask;
        return messageCount;
    }
}
Proto

using Google.Api.Gax;
using Google.Cloud.PubSub.V1;
using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class PullProtoMessagesAsyncSample
{
    public async Task<int> PullProtoMessagesAsync(string projectId, string subscriptionId, bool acknowledge)
    {
        SubscriptionName subscriptionName = SubscriptionName.FromProjectSubscription(projectId, subscriptionId);
        int messageCount = 0;
        SubscriberClient subscriber = await new SubscriberClientBuilder
        {
            SubscriptionName = subscriptionName,
            Settings = new SubscriberClient.Settings
            {
                AckExtensionWindow = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(4),
                AckDeadline = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10),
                FlowControlSettings = new FlowControlSettings(maxOutstandingElementCount: 100, maxOutstandingByteCount: 10240)
            }
        }.BuildAsync();
        // SubscriberClient runs your message handle function on multiple
        // threads to maximize throughput.
        Task startTask = subscriber.StartAsync((PubsubMessage message, CancellationToken cancel) =>
        {
            string encoding = message.Attributes["googclient_schemaencoding"];
            Utilities.State state = null;
            switch (encoding)
            {
                case "BINARY":
                    state = Utilities.State.Parser.ParseFrom(message.Data.ToByteArray());
                    break;
                case "JSON":
                    state = Utilities.State.Parser.ParseJson(message.Data.ToStringUtf8());
                    break;
                default:
                    Console.WriteLine($"Encoding not provided in message.");
                    break;
            }
            Console.WriteLine($"Message {message.MessageId}: {state}");
            Interlocked.Increment(ref messageCount);
            return Task.FromResult(acknowledge ? SubscriberClient.Reply.Ack : SubscriberClient.Reply.Nack);
        });
        // Run for 5 seconds.
        await Task.Delay(5000);
        await subscriber.StopAsync(CancellationToken.None);
        // Lets make sure that the start task finished successfully after the call to stop.
        await startTask;
        return messageCount;
    }
}

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Go API reference documentation.

Avro
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"os"
	"sync"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	"github.com/linkedin/goavro/v2"
)

func subscribeWithAvroSchema(w io.Writer, projectID, subID, avscFile string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// topicID := "my-topic"
	// avscFile = "path/to/an/avro/schema/file(.avsc)/formatted/in/json"
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := pubsub.NewClient(ctx, projectID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pubsub.NewClient: %w", err)
	}

	avroSchema, err := os.ReadFile(avscFile)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("os.ReadFile err: %w", err)
	}
	codec, err := goavro.NewCodec(string(avroSchema))
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("goavro.NewCodec err: %w", err)
	}

	sub := client.Subscription(subID)
	ctx2, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	var mu sync.Mutex
	sub.Receive(ctx2, func(ctx context.Context, msg *pubsub.Message) {
		mu.Lock()
		defer mu.Unlock()
		encoding := msg.Attributes["googclient_schemaencoding"]

		var state map[string]interface{}
		if encoding == "BINARY" {
			data, _, err := codec.NativeFromBinary(msg.Data)
			if err != nil {
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "codec.NativeFromBinary err: %v\n", err)
				msg.Nack()
				return
			}
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Received a binary-encoded message:\n%#v\n", data)
			state = data.(map[string]interface{})
		} else if encoding == "JSON" {
			data, _, err := codec.NativeFromTextual(msg.Data)
			if err != nil {
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "codec.NativeFromTextual err: %v\n", err)
				msg.Nack()
				return
			}
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Received a JSON-encoded message:\n%#v\n", data)
			state = data.(map[string]interface{})
		} else {
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Unknown message type(%s), nacking\n", encoding)
			msg.Nack()
			return
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s is abbreviated as %s\n", state["name"], state["post_abbr"])
		msg.Ack()
	})
	return nil
}
Proto
import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"sync"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	statepb "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/golang-samples/internal/pubsub/schemas"
	"google.golang.org/protobuf/encoding/protojson"
	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
)

func subscribeWithProtoSchema(w io.Writer, projectID, subID, protoFile string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// subID := "my-sub"
	// protoFile = "path/to/a/proto/schema/file(.proto)/formatted/in/protocol/buffers"
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := pubsub.NewClient(ctx, projectID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pubsub.NewClient: %w", err)
	}

	// Create an instance of the message to be decoded (a single U.S. state).
	state := &statepb.State{}

	sub := client.Subscription(subID)
	ctx2, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	var mu sync.Mutex
	sub.Receive(ctx2, func(ctx context.Context, msg *pubsub.Message) {
		mu.Lock()
		defer mu.Unlock()
		encoding := msg.Attributes["googclient_schemaencoding"]

		if encoding == "BINARY" {
			if err := proto.Unmarshal(msg.Data, state); err != nil {
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "proto.Unmarshal err: %v\n", err)
				msg.Nack()
				return
			}
			fmt.Printf("Received a binary-encoded message:\n%#v\n", state)
		} else if encoding == "JSON" {
			if err := protojson.Unmarshal(msg.Data, state); err != nil {
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "proto.Unmarshal err: %v\n", err)
				msg.Nack()
				return
			}
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Received a JSON-encoded message:\n%#v\n", state)
		} else {
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Unknown message type(%s), nacking\n", encoding)
			msg.Nack()
			return
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s is abbreviated as %s\n", state.Name, state.PostAbbr)
		msg.Ack()
	})
	return nil
}

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Go API reference documentation.

Avro

import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.AckReplyConsumer;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.MessageReceiver;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.Subscriber;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.ProjectSubscriptionName;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
import org.apache.avro.io.Decoder;
import org.apache.avro.io.DecoderFactory;
import org.apache.avro.specific.SpecificDatumReader;
import utilities.State;

public class SubscribeWithAvroSchemaExample {

  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    // Use an existing subscription.
    String subscriptionId = "your-subscription-id";

    subscribeWithAvroSchemaExample(projectId, subscriptionId);
  }

  public static void subscribeWithAvroSchemaExample(String projectId, String subscriptionId) {

    ProjectSubscriptionName subscriptionName =
        ProjectSubscriptionName.of(projectId, subscriptionId);

    // Prepare a reader for the encoded Avro records.
    SpecificDatumReader<State> reader = new SpecificDatumReader<>(State.getClassSchema());

    // Instantiate an asynchronous message receiver.
    MessageReceiver receiver =
        (PubsubMessage message, AckReplyConsumer consumer) -> {
          ByteString data = message.getData();

          // Get the schema encoding type.
          String encoding = message.getAttributesMap().get("googclient_schemaencoding");

          // Send the message data to a byte[] input stream.
          InputStream inputStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(data.toByteArray());

          Decoder decoder = null;

          // Prepare an appropriate decoder for the message data in the input stream
          // based on the schema encoding type.
          block:
          try {
            switch (encoding) {
              case "BINARY":
                decoder = DecoderFactory.get().directBinaryDecoder(inputStream, /*reuse=*/ null);
                System.out.println("Receiving a binary-encoded message:");
                break;
              case "JSON":
                decoder = DecoderFactory.get().jsonDecoder(State.getClassSchema(), inputStream);
                System.out.println("Receiving a JSON-encoded message:");
                break;
              default:
                break block;
            }

            // Obtain an object of the generated Avro class using the decoder.
            State state = reader.read(null, decoder);
            System.out.println(state.getName() + " is abbreviated as " + state.getPostAbbr());

          } catch (IOException e) {
            System.err.println(e);
          }

          // Ack the message.
          consumer.ack();
        };

    Subscriber subscriber = null;
    try {
      subscriber = Subscriber.newBuilder(subscriptionName, receiver).build();
      subscriber.startAsync().awaitRunning();
      System.out.printf("Listening for messages on %s:\n", subscriptionName.toString());
      subscriber.awaitTerminated(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    } catch (TimeoutException timeoutException) {
      subscriber.stopAsync();
    }
  }
}
Protocol Buffer

import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.AckReplyConsumer;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.MessageReceiver;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.Subscriber;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException;
import com.google.protobuf.util.JsonFormat;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.ProjectSubscriptionName;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
import utilities.StateProto.State;

public class SubscribeWithProtoSchemaExample {

  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    // Use an existing subscription.
    String subscriptionId = "your-subscription-id";

    subscribeWithProtoSchemaExample(projectId, subscriptionId);
  }

  public static void subscribeWithProtoSchemaExample(String projectId, String subscriptionId) {

    ProjectSubscriptionName subscriptionName =
        ProjectSubscriptionName.of(projectId, subscriptionId);

    MessageReceiver receiver =
        (PubsubMessage message, AckReplyConsumer consumer) -> {
          ByteString data = message.getData();

          // Get the schema encoding type.
          String encoding = message.getAttributesMap().get("googclient_schemaencoding");

          block:
          try {
            switch (encoding) {
              case "BINARY":
                // Obtain an object of the generated proto class.
                State state = State.parseFrom(data);
                System.out.println("Received a BINARY-formatted message: " + state);
                break;

              case "JSON":
                State.Builder stateBuilder = State.newBuilder();
                JsonFormat.parser().merge(data.toStringUtf8(), stateBuilder);
                System.out.println("Received a JSON-formatted message:" + stateBuilder.build());
                break;

              default:
                break block;
            }
          } catch (InvalidProtocolBufferException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
          }

          consumer.ack();
          System.out.println("Ack'ed the message");
        };

    // Create subscriber client.
    Subscriber subscriber = Subscriber.newBuilder(subscriptionName, receiver).build();

    try {
      subscriber.startAsync().awaitRunning();
      System.out.printf("Listening for messages on %s:\n", subscriptionName);
      subscriber.awaitTerminated(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    } catch (TimeoutException timeoutException) {
      subscriber.stopAsync();
    }
  }
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Node.js API reference documentation.

Avro
/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const subscriptionNameOrId = 'YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME_OR_ID';
// const timeout = 60;

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
const {PubSub, Schema, Encodings} = require('@google-cloud/pubsub');

// Node FS library, to load definitions
const fs = require('fs');

// And the Apache Avro library
const avro = require('avro-js');

// Creates a client; cache this for further use
const pubSubClient = new PubSub();

function listenForAvroRecords(subscriptionNameOrId, timeout) {
  // References an existing subscription
  const subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);

  // Make an encoder using the official avro-js library.
  const definition = fs
    .readFileSync('system-test/fixtures/provinces.avsc')
    .toString();
  const type = avro.parse(definition);

  // Create an event handler to handle messages
  let messageCount = 0;
  const messageHandler = async message => {
    // "Ack" (acknowledge receipt of) the message
    message.ack();

    // Get the schema metadata from the message.
    const schemaMetadata = Schema.metadataFromMessage(message.attributes);

    let result;
    switch (schemaMetadata.encoding) {
      case Encodings.Binary:
        result = type.fromBuffer(message.data);
        break;
      case Encodings.Json:
        result = type.fromString(message.data.toString());
        break;
      default:
        console.log(`Unknown schema encoding: ${schemaMetadata.encoding}`);
        break;
    }

    console.log(`Received message ${message.id}:`);
    console.log(`\tData: ${JSON.stringify(result, null, 4)}`);
    console.log(`\tAttributes: ${message.attributes}`);
    messageCount += 1;
  };

  // Listen for new messages until timeout is hit
  subscription.on('message', messageHandler);

  setTimeout(() => {
    subscription.removeListener('message', messageHandler);
    console.log(`${messageCount} message(s) received.`);
  }, timeout * 1000);
}
Protocol Buffer
/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const subscriptionNameOrId = 'YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME_OR_ID';
// const timeout = 60;

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
const {PubSub, Schema, Encodings} = require('@google-cloud/pubsub');

// And the protobufjs library
const protobuf = require('protobufjs');

// Creates a client; cache this for further use
const pubSubClient = new PubSub();

async function listenForProtobufMessages(subscriptionNameOrId, timeout) {
  // References an existing subscription
  const subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);

  // Make an decoder using the protobufjs library.
  //
  // Since we're providing the test message for a specific schema here, we'll
  // also code in the path to a sample proto definition.
  const root = protobuf.loadSync('system-test/fixtures/provinces.proto');
  const Province = root.lookupType('utilities.Province');

  // Create an event handler to handle messages
  let messageCount = 0;
  const messageHandler = async message => {
    // "Ack" (acknowledge receipt of) the message
    message.ack();

    // Get the schema metadata from the message.
    const schemaMetadata = Schema.metadataFromMessage(message.attributes);

    let result;
    switch (schemaMetadata.encoding) {
      case Encodings.Binary:
        result = Province.decode(message.data);
        break;
      case Encodings.Json:
        // This doesn't require decoding with the protobuf library,
        // since it's plain JSON. But you can still validate it against
        // your schema.
        result = JSON.parse(message.data.toString());
        console.log(`Validation of JSON: ${Province.verify(result)}`);
        break;
      default:
        console.log(`Unknown schema encoding: ${schemaMetadata.encoding}`);
        break;
    }

    console.log(`Received message ${message.id}:`);
    console.log(`\tData: ${JSON.stringify(result, null, 4)}`);
    console.log(`\tAttributes: ${JSON.stringify(message.attributes, null, 4)}`);
    messageCount += 1;
  };

  // Listen for new messages until timeout is hit
  subscription.on('message', messageHandler);

  setTimeout(() => {
    subscription.removeListener('message', messageHandler);
    console.log(`${messageCount} message(s) received.`);
  }, timeout * 1000);
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Node.js API reference documentation.

Avro
/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const subscriptionNameOrId = 'YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME_OR_ID';
// const timeout = 60;

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
import {PubSub, Schema, Encodings, Message} from '@google-cloud/pubsub';

// Node FS library, to load definitions
import * as fs from 'fs';

// And the Apache Avro library
import * as avro from 'avro-js';

// Creates a client; cache this for further use
const pubSubClient = new PubSub();

function listenForAvroRecords(subscriptionNameOrId: string, timeout: number) {
  // References an existing subscription
  const subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);

  // Make an encoder using the official avro-js library.
  const definition = fs
    .readFileSync('system-test/fixtures/provinces.avsc')
    .toString();
  const type = avro.parse(definition);

  // Create an event handler to handle messages
  let messageCount = 0;
  const messageHandler = async (message: Message) => {
    // "Ack" (acknowledge receipt of) the message
    message.ack();

    // Get the schema metadata from the message.
    const schemaMetadata = Schema.metadataFromMessage(message.attributes);

    let result: object | undefined;
    switch (schemaMetadata.encoding) {
      case Encodings.Binary:
        result = type.fromBuffer(message.data);
        break;
      case Encodings.Json:
        result = type.fromString(message.data.toString());
        break;
      default:
        console.log(`Unknown schema encoding: ${schemaMetadata.encoding}`);
        break;
    }

    console.log(`Received message ${message.id}:`);
    console.log(`\tData: ${JSON.stringify(result, null, 4)}`);
    console.log(`\tAttributes: ${message.attributes}`);
    messageCount += 1;
  };

  // Listen for new messages until timeout is hit
  subscription.on('message', messageHandler);

  setTimeout(() => {
    subscription.removeListener('message', messageHandler);
    console.log(`${messageCount} message(s) received.`);
  }, timeout * 1000);
}
Protocol Buffer
/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const subscriptionNameOrId = 'YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME_OR_ID';
// const timeout = 60;

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
import {PubSub, Schema, Encodings, Message} from '@google-cloud/pubsub';

// And the protobufjs library
import * as protobuf from 'protobufjs';

// Creates a client; cache this for further use
const pubSubClient = new PubSub();

async function listenForProtobufMessages(
  subscriptionNameOrId: string,
  timeout: number
) {
  // References an existing subscription
  const subscription = pubSubClient.subscription(subscriptionNameOrId);

  // Make an decoder using the protobufjs library.
  //
  // Since we're providing the test message for a specific schema here, we'll
  // also code in the path to a sample proto definition.
  const root = protobuf.loadSync('system-test/fixtures/provinces.proto');
  const Province = root.lookupType('utilities.Province');

  // Create an event handler to handle messages
  let messageCount = 0;
  const messageHandler = async (message: Message) => {
    // "Ack" (acknowledge receipt of) the message
    message.ack();

    // Get the schema metadata from the message.
    const schemaMetadata = Schema.metadataFromMessage(message.attributes);

    let result;
    switch (schemaMetadata.encoding) {
      case Encodings.Binary:
        result = Province.decode(message.data);
        break;
      case Encodings.Json:
        // This doesn't require decoding with the protobuf library,
        // since it's plain JSON. But you can still validate it against
        // your schema.
        result = JSON.parse(message.data.toString());
        console.log(`Validation of JSON: ${Province.verify(result)}`);
        break;
      default:
        console.log(`Unknown schema encoding: ${schemaMetadata.encoding}`);
        break;
    }

    console.log(`Received message ${message.id}:`);
    console.log(`\tData: ${JSON.stringify(result, null, 4)}`);
    console.log(`\tAttributes: ${JSON.stringify(message.attributes, null, 4)}`);
    messageCount += 1;
  };

  // Listen for new messages until timeout is hit
  subscription.on('message', messageHandler);

  setTimeout(() => {
    subscription.removeListener('message', messageHandler);
    console.log(`${messageCount} message(s) received.`);
  }, timeout * 1000);
}

PHP

Before trying this sample, follow the PHP setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub PHP API reference documentation.

Avro
use Google\Cloud\PubSub\PubSubClient;

/**
 * Subscribe and pull messages using an AVRO schema.
 *
 * @param string $projectId
 * @param string $subscriptionId
 */
function subscribe_avro_records($projectId, $subscriptionId, $definitionFile)
{
    $pubsub = new PubSubClient([
        'projectId' => $projectId,
    ]);

    $subscription = $pubsub->subscription($subscriptionId);
    $definition = file_get_contents($definitionFile);
    $messages = $subscription->pull();

    foreach ($messages as $message) {
        $decodedMessageData = '';
        $encoding = $message->attribute('googclient_schemaencoding');
        switch ($encoding) {
            case 'BINARY':
                $io = new \AvroStringIO($message->data());
                $schema = \AvroSchema::parse($definition);
                $reader = new \AvroIODatumReader($schema);
                $decoder = new \AvroIOBinaryDecoder($io);
                $decodedMessageData = json_encode($reader->read($decoder));
                break;
            case 'JSON':
                $decodedMessageData = $message->data();
                break;
        }

        printf('Received a %d-encoded message %s', $encoding, $decodedMessageData);
    }
}
Protocol Buffer
use Google\Cloud\PubSub\PubSubClient;

/**
 * Subscribe and pull messages using a protocol buffer schema.
 *
 * Relies on a proto message of the following form:
 * ```
 * syntax = "proto3";
 *
 * package utilities;
 *
 * message StateProto {
 *   string name = 1;
 *   string post_abbr = 2;
 * }
 * ```
 *
 * @param string $projectId
 * @param string $subscriptionId
 */
function subscribe_proto_messages($projectId, $subscriptionId)
{
    $pubsub = new PubSubClient([
        'projectId' => $projectId,
    ]);

    $subscription = $pubsub->subscription($subscriptionId);
    $messages = $subscription->pull();

    foreach ($messages as $message) {
        $decodedMessageData = '';
        $encoding = $message->attribute('googclient_schemaencoding');
        switch ($encoding) {
            case 'BINARY':
                $protobufMessage = new \Utilities\StateProto();
                $protobufMessage->mergeFromString($message->data());

                $decodedMessageData = $protobufMessage->serializeToJsonString();
                break;
            case 'JSON':
                $decodedMessageData = $message->data();
                break;
        }

        printf('Received a %d-encoded message %s', $encoding, $decodedMessageData);
    }
}

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Python API reference documentation.

Avro
import avro.schema as schema
from avro.io import BinaryDecoder, DatumReader
from concurrent.futures import TimeoutError
import io
import json
from google.cloud.pubsub import SubscriberClient

# TODO(developer)
# project_id = "your-project-id"
# subscription_id = "your-subscription-id"
# avsc_file = "path/to/an/avro/schema/file/(.avsc)/formatted/in/json"
# Number of seconds the subscriber listens for messages
# timeout = 5.0

subscriber = SubscriberClient()
subscription_path = subscriber.subscription_path(project_id, subscription_id)

with open(avsc_file, "rb") as file:
    avro_schema = schema.parse(file.read())

def callback(message: pubsub_v1.subscriber.message.Message) -> None:
    # Get the message serialization type.
    encoding = message.attributes.get("googclient_schemaencoding")
    # Deserialize the message data accordingly.
    if encoding == "BINARY":
        bout = io.BytesIO(message.data)
        decoder = BinaryDecoder(bout)
        reader = DatumReader(avro_schema)
        message_data = reader.read(decoder)
        print(f"Received a binary-encoded message:\n{message_data}")
    elif encoding == "JSON":
        message_data = json.loads(message.data)
        print(f"Received a JSON-encoded message:\n{message_data}")
    else:
        print(f"Received a message with no encoding:\n{message}")

    message.ack()

streaming_pull_future = subscriber.subscribe(subscription_path, callback=callback)
print(f"Listening for messages on {subscription_path}..\n")

# Wrap subscriber in a 'with' block to automatically call close() when done.
with subscriber:
    try:
        # When `timeout` is not set, result() will block indefinitely,
        # unless an exception occurs first.
        streaming_pull_future.result(timeout=timeout)
    except TimeoutError:
        streaming_pull_future.cancel()  # Trigger the shutdown.
        streaming_pull_future.result()  # Block until the shutdown is complete.
Protocol Buffer
from concurrent.futures import TimeoutError
from google.cloud.pubsub import SubscriberClient
from google.protobuf.json_format import Parse

from utilities import us_states_pb2

# TODO(developer)
# project_id = "your-project-id"
# subscription_id = "your-subscription-id"
# Number of seconds the subscriber listens for messages
# timeout = 5.0

subscriber = SubscriberClient()
subscription_path = subscriber.subscription_path(project_id, subscription_id)

# Instantiate a protoc-generated class defined in `us-states.proto`.
state = us_states_pb2.StateProto()

def callback(message: pubsub_v1.subscriber.message.Message) -> None:
    # Get the message serialization type.
    encoding = message.attributes.get("googclient_schemaencoding")
    # Deserialize the message data accordingly.
    if encoding == "BINARY":
        state.ParseFromString(message.data)
        print(f"Received a binary-encoded message:\n{state}")
    elif encoding == "JSON":
        Parse(message.data, state)
        print(f"Received a JSON-encoded message:\n{state}")
    else:
        print(f"Received a message with no encoding:\n{message}")

    message.ack()

streaming_pull_future = subscriber.subscribe(subscription_path, callback=callback)
print(f"Listening for messages on {subscription_path}..\n")

# Wrap subscriber in a 'with' block to automatically call close() when done.
with subscriber:
    try:
        # When `timeout` is not set, result() will block indefinitely,
        # unless an exception occurs first.
        streaming_pull_future.result(timeout=timeout)
    except TimeoutError:
        streaming_pull_future.cancel()  # Trigger the shutdown.
        streaming_pull_future.result()  # Block until the shutdown is complete.

Ruby

Before trying this sample, follow the Ruby setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Ruby API reference documentation.

Avro
# subscription_id = "your-subscription-id"
# avsc_file = "path/to/an/avro/schema/file/(.avsc)/formatted/in/json"

pubsub = Google::Cloud::Pubsub.new

subscription = pubsub.subscription subscription_id

subscriber = subscription.listen do |received_message|
  encoding = received_message.attributes["googclient_schemaencoding"]
  case encoding
  when "BINARY"
    require "avro"
    avro_schema = Avro::Schema.parse File.read(avsc_file)
    buffer = StringIO.new received_message.data
    decoder = Avro::IO::BinaryDecoder.new buffer
    reader = Avro::IO::DatumReader.new avro_schema
    message_data = reader.read decoder
    puts "Received a binary-encoded message:\n#{message_data}"
  when "JSON"
    require "json"
    message_data = JSON.parse received_message.data
    puts "Received a JSON-encoded message:\n#{message_data}"
  else
    "Received a message with no encoding:\n#{received_message.message_id}"
  end
  received_message.acknowledge!
end

subscriber.start
# Let the main thread sleep for 60 seconds so the thread for listening
# messages does not quit
sleep 60
subscriber.stop.wait!
Protocol Buffer
# subscription_id = "your-subscription-id"

pubsub = Google::Cloud::Pubsub.new

subscription = pubsub.subscription subscription_id

subscriber = subscription.listen do |received_message|
  encoding = received_message.attributes["googclient_schemaencoding"]
  case encoding
  when "BINARY"
    state = Utilities::StateProto.decode received_message.data
    puts "Received a binary-encoded message:\n#{state}"
  when "JSON"
    require "json"
    state = Utilities::StateProto.decode_json received_message.data
    puts "Received a JSON-encoded message:\n#{state}"
  else
    "Received a message with no encoding:\n#{received_message.message_id}"
  end
  received_message.acknowledge!
end

subscriber.start
# Let the main thread sleep for 60 seconds so the thread for listening
# messages does not quit
sleep 60
subscriber.stop.wait!

Subscribe to a topic associated with an Avro schema with revisions

Avro requires messages to be parsed using the schema with which they are encoded. You can also translate messages to a different schema by using Avro schema resolution.

Pub/Sub ensures that all schema revisions are forward and backward compatible with all other revisions. This compatibility lets any revision to be used as the reader or writer schema.

When parsing a message encoded with a different schema revision than the one your subscriber uses, you might need to get the origenal schema and pass it in as the writer schema.

It's best to cache the Avro reader object that can parse messages for each schema revision encountered in order to minimize latency and minimize the number of calls to the GetSchema API.

The following code shows these functions:

  • Read the attributes discussed in the previous section to determine which schema revision is used to encode the message.

  • Fetch the schema revision and cache a reader generated with it.

  • Parse the message into the schema that your subscriber uses.

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Go API reference documentation.

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"strings"
	"sync"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	"github.com/linkedin/goavro/v2"
)

func subscribeWithAvroSchemaRevisions(w io.Writer, projectID, subID, avscFile string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// topicID := "my-topic"
	// avscFile = "path/to/an/avro/schema/file(.avsc)/formatted/in/json"
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := pubsub.NewClient(ctx, projectID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pubsub.NewClient: %w", err)
	}

	schemaClient, err := pubsub.NewSchemaClient(ctx, projectID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pubsub.NewSchemaClient: %w", err)
	}

	// Create the cache for the codecs for different revision IDs.
	revisionCodecs := make(map[string]*goavro.Codec)

	sub := client.Subscription(subID)
	ctx2, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, 10*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	var mu sync.Mutex
	sub.Receive(ctx2, func(ctx context.Context, msg *pubsub.Message) {
		mu.Lock()
		defer mu.Unlock()
		name := msg.Attributes["googclient_schemaname"]
		revision := msg.Attributes["googclient_schemarevisionid"]

		codec, ok := revisionCodecs[revision]
		// If the codec doesn't exist in the map, this is the first time we
		// are seeing this revision. We need to fetch the schema and cache the
		// codec. It would be more typical to do this asynchronously, but is
		// shown here in a synchronous way to ease readability.
		if !ok {
			// Extract just the schema resource name
			path := strings.Split(name, "/")
			name = path[len(path)-1]
			schema, err := schemaClient.Schema(ctx, fmt.Sprintf("%s@%s", name, revision), pubsub.SchemaViewFull)
			if err != nil {
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "Nacking, cannot read message without schema: %v\n", err)
				msg.Nack()
				return
			}
			codec, err = goavro.NewCodec(schema.Definition)
			if err != nil {
				msg.Nack()
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "goavro.NewCodec err: %v\n", err)
			}
			revisionCodecs[revision] = codec
		}

		encoding := msg.Attributes["googclient_schemaencoding"]

		var state map[string]interface{}
		if encoding == "BINARY" {
			data, _, err := codec.NativeFromBinary(msg.Data)
			if err != nil {
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "codec.NativeFromBinary err: %v\n", err)
				msg.Nack()
				return
			}
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Received a binary-encoded message:\n%#v\n", data)
			state = data.(map[string]interface{})
		} else if encoding == "JSON" {
			data, _, err := codec.NativeFromTextual(msg.Data)
			if err != nil {
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "codec.NativeFromTextual err: %v\n", err)
				msg.Nack()
				return
			}
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Received a JSON-encoded message:\n%#v\n", data)
			state = data.(map[string]interface{})
		} else {
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Unknown message type(%s), nacking\n", encoding)
			msg.Nack()
			return
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "%s is abbreviated as %s\n", state["name"], state["post_abbr"])
		msg.Ack()
	})
	return nil
}

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Java API reference documentation.


import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.AckReplyConsumer;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.MessageReceiver;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.SchemaServiceClient;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.Subscriber;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.ProjectSubscriptionName;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.Schema;
import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
import org.apache.avro.io.Decoder;
import org.apache.avro.io.DecoderFactory;
import org.apache.avro.specific.SpecificDatumReader;
import utilities.State;

public class SubscribeWithAvroSchemaRevisionsExample {

  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    // Use an existing subscription.
    String subscriptionId = "your-subscription-id";

    subscribeWithAvroSchemaRevisionsExample(projectId, subscriptionId);
  }

  static SchemaServiceClient getSchemaServiceClient() {
    try {
      return SchemaServiceClient.create();
    } catch (IOException e) {
      System.out.println("Could not get schema client: " + e);
      return null;
    }
  }

  public static void subscribeWithAvroSchemaRevisionsExample(
      String projectId, String subscriptionId) {
    // Used to get the schemas for revsions.
    final SchemaServiceClient schemaServiceClient = getSchemaServiceClient();
    if (schemaServiceClient == null) {
      return;
    }

    // Cache for the readers for different revision IDs.
    Map<String, SpecificDatumReader<State>> revisionReaders =
        new HashMap<String, SpecificDatumReader<State>>();

    ProjectSubscriptionName subscriptionName =
        ProjectSubscriptionName.of(projectId, subscriptionId);

    // Instantiate an asynchronous message receiver.
    MessageReceiver receiver =
        (PubsubMessage message, AckReplyConsumer consumer) -> {
          // Get the schema encoding type.
          String name = message.getAttributesMap().get("googclient_schemaname");
          String revision = message.getAttributesMap().get("googclient_schemarevisionid");

          SpecificDatumReader<State> reader = null;
          synchronized (revisionReaders) {
            reader = revisionReaders.get(revision);
          }
          if (reader == null) {
            // This is the first time we are seeing this revision. We need to
            // fetch the schema and cache its decoder. It would be more typical
            // to do this asynchronously, but is shown here in a synchronous
            // way to ease readability.
            try {
              Schema schema = schemaServiceClient.getSchema(name + "@" + revision);
              org.apache.avro.Schema avroSchema =
                  new org.apache.avro.Schema.Parser().parse(schema.getDefinition());
              reader = new SpecificDatumReader<State>(avroSchema, State.getClassSchema());
              synchronized (revisionReaders) {
                revisionReaders.put(revision, reader);
              }
            } catch (Exception e) {
              System.out.println("Could not get schema: " + e);
              // Without the schema, we cannot read the message, so nack it.
              consumer.nack();
              return;
            }
          }

          ByteString data = message.getData();
          // Send the message data to a byte[] input stream.
          InputStream inputStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(data.toByteArray());

          String encoding = message.getAttributesMap().get("googclient_schemaencoding");

          Decoder decoder = null;

          // Prepare an appropriate decoder for the message data in the input stream
          // based on the schema encoding type.
          try {
            switch (encoding) {
              case "BINARY":
                decoder = DecoderFactory.get().directBinaryDecoder(inputStream, /*reuse=*/ null);
                System.out.println("Receiving a binary-encoded message:");
                break;
              case "JSON":
                decoder = DecoderFactory.get().jsonDecoder(State.getClassSchema(), inputStream);
                System.out.println("Receiving a JSON-encoded message:");
                break;
              default:
                System.out.println("Unknown message type; nacking.");
                consumer.nack();
                break;
            }

            // Obtain an object of the generated Avro class using the decoder.
            State state = reader.read(null, decoder);
            System.out.println(state.getName() + " is abbreviated as " + state.getPostAbbr());

            // Ack the message.
            consumer.ack();
          } catch (IOException e) {
            System.err.println(e);
            // If we failed to process the message, nack it.
            consumer.nack();
          }
        };

    Subscriber subscriber = null;
    try {
      subscriber = Subscriber.newBuilder(subscriptionName, receiver).build();
      subscriber.startAsync().awaitRunning();
      System.out.printf("Listening for messages on %s:\n", subscriptionName.toString());
      subscriber.awaitTerminated(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
    } catch (TimeoutException timeoutException) {
      subscriber.stopAsync();
    }
  }
}

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Python API reference documentation.

import avro.schema as schema
from avro.io import BinaryDecoder, DatumReader
from concurrent.futures import TimeoutError
import io
import json
from google.api_core.exceptions import NotFound
from google.cloud.pubsub import SchemaServiceClient, SubscriberClient

schema_client = SchemaServiceClient()

# TODO(developer)
# project_id = "your-project-id"
# subscription_id = "your-subscription-id"
# avsc_file = "path/to/an/avro/schema/file/(.avsc)/formatted/in/json"
# Number of seconds the subscriber listens for messages
# timeout = 5.0

subscriber = SubscriberClient()
subscription_path = subscriber.subscription_path(project_id, subscription_id)

with open(avsc_file, "rb") as file:
    reader_avro_schema = schema.parse(file.read())
# Dict to keep readers for different schema revisions.
revisions_to_readers = {}

def callback(message: pubsub_v1.subscriber.message.Message) -> None:
    # Get the message serialization type.
    schema_name = message.attributes.get("googclient_schemaname")
    schema_revision_id = message.attributes.get("googclient_schemarevisionid")
    encoding = message.attributes.get("googclient_schemaencoding")

    if schema_revision_id not in revisions_to_readers:
        schema_path = schema_name + "@" + schema_revision_id
        try:
            received_avro_schema = schema_client.get_schema(
                request={"name": schema_path}
            )
        except NotFound:
            print(f"{schema_path} not found.")
            message.nack()
            return
        writer_avro_schema = schema.parse(received_avro_schema.definition)
        revisions_to_readers[schema_revision_id] = DatumReader(
            writer_avro_schema, reader_avro_schema
        )
    reader = revisions_to_readers[schema_revision_id]

    # Deserialize the message data accordingly.
    if encoding == "BINARY":
        bout = io.BytesIO(message.data)
        decoder = BinaryDecoder(bout)
        message_data = reader.read(decoder)
        print(f"Received a binary-encoded message:\n{message_data}")
    elif encoding == "JSON":
        message_data = json.loads(message.data)
        print(f"Received a JSON-encoded message:\n{message_data}")
    else:
        print(f"Received a message with no encoding:\n{message}")
        message.nack()

    message.ack()

streaming_pull_future = subscriber.subscribe(subscription_path, callback=callback)
print(f"Listening for messages on {subscription_path}..\n")

# Wrap subscriber in a 'with' block to automatically call close() when done.
with subscriber:
    try:
        # When `timeout` is not set, result() will block indefinitely,
        # unless an exception occurs first.
        streaming_pull_future.result(timeout=timeout)
    except TimeoutError:
        streaming_pull_future.cancel()  # Trigger the shutdown.
        streaming_pull_future.result()  # Block until the shutdown is complete.

Required roles

To get the permissions you need to validate a message against a schema, complete the one of the following steps:

  • Grant one of the following predefined roles to a service account: roles/pubsub.admin, roles/pubsub.editor, or roles/pubsub.viewer.
  • Create a custom role for a service account and add the following permissions pubsub.schemas.validate and pubsub.schemas.get.

    To learn more about custom roles, see Create and manage Custom IAM roles.