Grpc Go

gRPC in Go

Proto Definition

// api/user/v1/user.proto
syntax = "proto3";
package user.v1;
option go_package = "github.com/myorg/myapp/gen/user/v1;userv1";

service UserService {
    rpc GetUser(GetUserRequest) returns (GetUserResponse);
    rpc ListUsers(ListUsersRequest) returns (stream UserResponse);
    rpc CreateUser(CreateUserRequest) returns (CreateUserResponse);
}

message GetUserRequest  { string id = 1; }
message GetUserResponse { User user = 1; }
message User {
    string id    = 1;
    string email = 2;
    string name  = 3;
}

# Generate Go code
protoc --go_out=gen --go_opt=paths=source_relative \
       --go-grpc_out=gen --go-grpc_opt=paths=source_relative \
       api/user/v1/user.proto

Server Implementation

package main

import (
    "context"
    "net"

    pb "github.com/myorg/myapp/gen/user/v1"
    "google.golang.org/grpc"
    "google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
    "google.golang.org/grpc/status"
)

type userServer struct {
    pb.UnimplementedUserServiceServer  // forward-compat
    repo UserRepository
}

func (s *userServer) GetUser(ctx context.Context, req *pb.GetUserRequest) (*pb.GetUserResponse, error) {
    user, err := s.repo.FindByID(ctx, req.Id)
    if err != nil {
        if errors.Is(err, ErrNotFound) {
            return nil, status.Errorf(codes.NotFound, "user %s not found", req.Id)
        }
        return nil, status.Errorf(codes.Internal, "internal error: %v", err)
    }
    return &pb.GetUserResponse{User: toProto(user)}, nil
}

func (s *userServer) ListUsers(req *pb.ListUsersRequest, stream pb.UserService_ListUsersServer) error {
    users, err := s.repo.List(stream.Context())
    if err != nil { return status.Errorf(codes.Internal, "%v", err) }
    for _, u := range users {
        if err := stream.Send(toProto(u)); err != nil { return err }
    }
    return nil
}

func main() {
    lis, _ := net.Listen("tcp", ":50051")
    srv := grpc.NewServer(
        grpc.ChainUnaryInterceptor(loggingInterceptor, authInterceptor),
    )
    pb.RegisterUserServiceServer(srv, &userServer{repo: NewPGRepo(db)})
    srv.Serve(lis)
}

Interceptors (Middleware)

func loggingInterceptor(ctx context.Context, req any, info *grpc.UnaryServerInfo, handler grpc.UnaryHandler) (any, error) {
    start := time.Now()
    resp, err := handler(ctx, req)
    log.Printf("method=%s duration=%s err=%v", info.FullMethod, time.Since(start), err)
    return resp, err
}

func authInterceptor(ctx context.Context, req any, info *grpc.UnaryServerInfo, handler grpc.UnaryHandler) (any, error) {
    md, ok := metadata.FromIncomingContext(ctx)
    if !ok { return nil, status.Error(codes.Unauthenticated, "missing metadata") }
    tokens := md.Get("authorization")
    if len(tokens) == 0 || !validateToken(tokens[0]) {
        return nil, status.Error(codes.Unauthenticated, "invalid token")
    }
    return handler(ctx, req)
}

Client Setup

func NewUserClient(addr string) (pb.UserServiceClient, error) {
    conn, err := grpc.NewClient(addr,
        grpc.WithTransportCredentials(insecure.NewCredentials()),  // use TLS in prod
        grpc.WithChainUnaryInterceptor(clientAuthInterceptor),
    )
    if err != nil { return nil, err }
    return pb.NewUserServiceClient(conn), nil
}

func clientAuthInterceptor(ctx context.Context, method string, req, reply any, cc *grpc.ClientConn, invoker grpc.UnaryInvoker, opts ...grpc.CallOption) error {
    ctx = metadata.AppendToOutgoingContext(ctx, "authorization", "Bearer "+getToken())
    return invoker(ctx, method, req, reply, cc, opts...)
}

gRPC Health Check

import "google.golang.org/grpc/health/grpc_health_v1"
import "google.golang.org/grpc/health"

healthSrv := health.NewServer()
grpc_health_v1.RegisterHealthServer(grpcServer, healthSrv)
healthSrv.SetServingStatus("user.v1.UserService", grpc_health_v1.HealthCheckResponse_SERVING)

Common Anti-Patterns

• Not embedding Unimplemented*Server — breaks when new RPCs are added to the proto
• Returning raw Go errors — always wrap with status.Errorf(codes.X, ...)
• Blocking stream without context check — check stream.Context().Done() in loops
• Ignoring connection draining — call grpc.GracefulStop() on shutdown, not Stop()
• Hardcoded TLS-less credentials in prod — use credentials.NewTLS(tlsConfig) in production