Deploy Your First gRPC Service

This tutorial demonstrates a Cosmo Connect workflow: federating a gRPC Service into your supergraph without needing to build a GraphQL server.

Prerequisites

Cosmo CLI installed and configured

Overview

This tutorial shows you how to create a gRPC subgraph from scratch using the Cosmo CLI templates. You’ll start with a project template that includes all the necessary files and code generation to get up and running quickly. The tutorial supports both TypeScript and Go implementations using Connect RPC, which is a modern gRPC framework with a great developer experience and performance.

Step 1: Initialize a gRPC Service Template

First, list the available gRPC templates:

wgc grpc-service list-templates

This will show you the available templates:

golang-connect-rpc - Go implementation using Connect RPC
typescript-connect-rpc-fastify - TypeScript implementation using Connect RPC and Fastify

Initialize your preferred template:

TypeScript
Go

wgc grpc-service init --template typescript-connect-rpc-fastify --directory ./my-grpc-service
cd my-grpc-service

wgc grpc-service init --template golang-connect-rpc --directory ./my-grpc-service
cd my-grpc-service

Step 2: Define Your GraphQL Schema

The template includes a simple “hello” schema. Let’s replace it with a more comprehensive project management schema. Edit the schema file:

TypeScript
Go

Edit src/graph/schema.graphql:

Edit pkg/graph/schema.graphql:

type Query {
  getProject(id: ID!): Project
  listProjects: [Project!]!
}

type Mutation {
  createProject(input: CreateProjectInput!): Project!
  updateProject(id: ID!, input: UpdateProjectInput!): Project!
}

type Project {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  description: String
  status: ProjectStatus!
  createdAt: String!
  updatedAt: String!
}

input CreateProjectInput {
  name: String!
  description: String
}

input UpdateProjectInput {
  name: String
  description: String
  status: ProjectStatus
}

enum ProjectStatus {
  ACTIVE
  INACTIVE
  ARCHIVED
}

Step 3: Generate Code and Configuration

The template includes build scripts that handle all code generation:

TypeScript
Go

# Install dependencies and bootstrap the project
npm install
npm run bootstrap

This runs:

npm run generate:proto - Generates protobuf files from GraphQL schema
npm run generate:buf - Generates Connect RPC TypeScript code
npm run generate:router - Generates router execution config
npm run router:download - Downloads the Cosmo Router binary

# Generate all files and download router
make

This runs:

make generate-proto - Generates protobuf files from GraphQL schema
make generate-buf - Generates Connect RPC Go code
make compose - Generates router execution config
make download-router - Downloads the Cosmo Router binary

Step 4: Implement Your Service Logic

Now implement the business logic for your gRPC service:

TypeScript
Go

Edit src/routes.ts:

import type { ConnectRouter } from "@connectrpc/connect";
import { Service } from "./proto/service/v1/service_pb.js";

export default (router: ConnectRouter) => {
  router.service(Service, {
    queryGetProject: async (req) => {
      return {
        getProject: {
          id: req.id,
          name: "Sample Project",
          description: "A sample project",
          status: "ACTIVE",
          createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
          updatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
        },
      };
    },
    
    queryListProjects: async () => {
      return {
        listProjects: [
          {
            id: "1",
            name: "Project One",
            description: "First project",
            status: "ACTIVE",
            createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
            updatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
          },
          {
            id: "2", 
            name: "Project Two",
            description: "Second project",
            status: "INACTIVE",
            createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
            updatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
          },
        ],
      };
    },
    
    mutationCreateProject: async (req) => {
      return {
        createProject: {
          id: Math.random().toString(36).substr(2, 9),
          name: req.input?.name || "",
          description: req.input?.description || "",
          status: "ACTIVE",
          createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
          updatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
        },
      };
    },
    
    mutationUpdateProject: async (req) => {
      return {
        updateProject: {
          id: req.id,
          name: req.input?.name || "Updated Project",
          description: req.input?.description || "",
          status: req.input?.status || "ACTIVE",
          createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
          updatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
        },
      };
    },
  });
};

Edit pkg/service/service.go:

package service

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "math/rand"
    "time"

    "connectrpc.com/connect"
    pb "github.com/wundergraph/service/pkg/generated/service/v1"
)

type Service struct{}

func (s *Service) QueryGetProject(ctx context.Context, req *connect.Request[pb.QueryGetProjectRequest]) (*connect.Response[pb.QueryGetProjectResponse], error) {
    now := time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
    project := &pb.Project{
        Id:          req.Msg.Id,
        Name:        "Sample Project",
        Description: "A sample project",
        Status:      pb.ProjectStatus_PROJECT_STATUS_ACTIVE,
        CreatedAt:   now,
        UpdatedAt:   now,
    }
    
    return connect.NewResponse(&pb.QueryGetProjectResponse{
        GetProject: project,
    }), nil
}

func (s *Service) QueryListProjects(ctx context.Context, req *connect.Request[pb.QueryListProjectsRequest]) (*connect.Response[pb.QueryListProjectsResponse], error) {
    now := time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
    projects := []*pb.Project{
        {
            Id:          "1",
            Name:        "Project One", 
            Description: "First project",
            Status:      pb.ProjectStatus_PROJECT_STATUS_ACTIVE,
            CreatedAt:   now,
            UpdatedAt:   now,
        },
        {
            Id:          "2",
            Name:        "Project Two",
            Description: "Second project", 
            Status:      pb.ProjectStatus_PROJECT_STATUS_INACTIVE,
            CreatedAt:   now,
            UpdatedAt:   now,
        },
    }
    
    return connect.NewResponse(&pb.QueryListProjectsResponse{
        ListProjects: projects,
    }), nil
}

func (s *Service) MutationCreateProject(ctx context.Context, req *connect.Request[pb.MutationCreateProjectRequest]) (*connect.Response[pb.MutationCreateProjectResponse], error) {
    now := time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
    project := &pb.Project{
        Id:          fmt.Sprintf("%d", rand.Intn(10000)),
        Name:        req.Msg.Input.Name,
        Description: req.Msg.Input.Description,
        Status:      pb.ProjectStatus_PROJECT_STATUS_ACTIVE,
        CreatedAt:   now,
        UpdatedAt:   now,
    }
    
    return connect.NewResponse(&pb.MutationCreateProjectResponse{
        CreateProject: project,
    }), nil
}

func (s *Service) MutationUpdateProject(ctx context.Context, req *connect.Request[pb.MutationUpdateProjectRequest]) (*connect.Response[pb.MutationUpdateProjectResponse], error) {
    now := time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
    project := &pb.Project{
        Id:          req.Msg.Id,
        Name:        req.Msg.Input.Name,
        Description: req.Msg.Input.Description,
        Status:      req.Msg.Input.Status,
        CreatedAt:   now,
        UpdatedAt:   now,
    }
    
    return connect.NewResponse(&pb.MutationUpdateProjectResponse{
        UpdateProject: project,
    }), nil
}

Step 5: Run Your gRPC Service and Router

Start both the gRPC service and the Cosmo Router:

TypeScript
Go

# Start both service and router
npm run start

This runs both services concurrently:

gRPC service on port 50051
Cosmo Router on port 3002

# Start both service and router
make start

This runs both services concurrently:

gRPC service on port 50051
Cosmo Router on port 3002

Step 6: Test Your Integration

Open your browser to http://localhost:3002 to access the GraphQL Playground. Try these queries:

query ListProjects {
  listProjects {
    id
    name
    description
    status
    createdAt
    updatedAt
  }
}

query GetProject {
  getProject(id: "1") {
    id
    name
    description
    status
    createdAt
    updatedAt
  }
}

mutation CreateProject {
  createProject(input: {
    name: "New Project"
    description: "A new project"
  }) {
    id
    name
    description
    status
    createdAt
    updatedAt
  }
}

Understanding the Generated Files

The template creates several important files:

TypeScript
Go

src/graph/schema.graphql - Your GraphQL schema (source of truth)
src/proto/service/v1/ - Generated protobuf files
router.compose.yaml - Router composition configuration
router.config.yaml - Router runtime configuration
router.execution.config.json - Generated router execution config
package.json - Build scripts and dependencies

pkg/graph/schema.graphql - Your GraphQL schema (source of truth)
pkg/proto/service/v1/ - Generated protobuf files
pkg/generated/service/v1/ - Generated Go code
router.compose.yaml - Router composition configuration
router.config.yaml - Router runtime configuration
router.execution.config.json - Generated router execution config
Makefile - Build targets and commands

Tutorials

Deploy Your First gRPC Service

Prerequisites

Overview

Step 1: Initialize a gRPC Service Template

Step 2: Define Your GraphQL Schema

Step 3: Generate Code and Configuration

Step 4: Implement Your Service Logic

Step 5: Run Your gRPC Service and Router

Step 6: Test Your Integration

Understanding the Generated Files

Further Information

​Prerequisites

​Overview

​Step 1: Initialize a gRPC Service Template

​Step 2: Define Your GraphQL Schema

​Step 3: Generate Code and Configuration

​Step 4: Implement Your Service Logic

​Step 5: Run Your gRPC Service and Router

​Step 6: Test Your Integration

​Understanding the Generated Files

​Further Information

Prerequisites

Overview

Step 1: Initialize a gRPC Service Template

Step 2: Define Your GraphQL Schema

Step 3: Generate Code and Configuration

Step 4: Implement Your Service Logic

Step 5: Run Your gRPC Service and Router

Step 6: Test Your Integration

Understanding the Generated Files

Further Information