Streaming Patterns

RPC Dart treats streaming as a first-class citizen. The same contract-based API covers all gRPC patterns while giving you fine-grained control over serialisation, cancellation, and flow control.

Overview

Unary

Single request, single response. Returns Future<T> on both sides.

Server streaming

Single request, multiple responses. Returns Stream<T> to the caller.

Client streaming

Multiple requests, single response. Caller sends a Stream<T>.

Bidirectional

Full-duplex messaging. Both sides use Stream<T> concurrently.

Declaring streaming methods

class ChatContract extends RpcResponderContract {
  ChatContract() : super('Chat');

  @override
  void setup() {
    addServerStreamMethod<JoinRequest, ChatMessage>(
      methodName: 'JoinRoom',
      handler: _joinRoom,
    );

    addBidirectionalMethod<ClientEvent, ChatMessage>(
      methodName: 'LiveChat',
      handler: _liveChat,
    );
  }

  Stream<ChatMessage> _joinRoom(JoinRequest request, {RpcContext? context}) {
    return chatRooms.openStream(request.roomId, request.userId);
  }

  Stream<ChatMessage> _liveChat(
    Stream<ClientEvent> events, {
    RpcContext? context,
  }) {
    return liveChatBroker.connect(events, context: context);
  }
}

On the caller side you get symmetrical helpers:

class ChatCaller extends RpcCallerContract {
  ChatCaller(RpcCallerEndpoint endpoint) : super('Chat', endpoint);

  Stream<ChatMessage> joinRoom(String roomId, String userId) {
    return callServerStream<JoinRequest, ChatMessage>(
      methodName: 'JoinRoom',
      request: JoinRequest(roomId, userId),
    );
  }

  Stream<ChatMessage> liveChat(Stream<ClientEvent> events) {
    return callBidirectionalStream<ClientEvent, ChatMessage>(
      methodName: 'LiveChat',
      requests: events,
    );
  }
}

Flow control essentials

Deadlines & cancellation

Any RpcContext passed to streaming calls is propagated to processors. When the deadline expires or the cancellation token is triggered the caller and responder terminate the stream gracefully.

Backpressure

Streams use Dart’s async primitives, so the responder honours pause/resume signals from the caller. The built-in processors buffer minimally, letting you compose with StreamTransformers for custom flow control.

Zero-copy streaming

When you omit codecs in add*StreamMethod and the transport supports supportsZeroCopy, RPC Dart forwards objects by reference even for streams – ideal for high-frequency in-process messaging.

Managing server-side fan-out with StreamDistributor

StreamDistributor<T> simplifies building broadcast or multi-subscriber channels on top of streaming RPCs. Declare events that implement IRpcSerializable so they work with both zero-copy and codec-based transports.

final distributor = StreamDistributor<ChatMessage>();

Stream<ChatMessage> connectClient(String clientId) {
  return distributor.getOrCreateClientStream(clientId);
}

void publishToRoom(ChatMessage message) {
  distributor.publish(message, metadata: {
    'roomId': message.roomId,
    'sender': message.senderId,
  });
}

Key capabilities:

• Automatic cleanup of inactive client streams.
• Targeted delivery via publishFiltered to specific clients.
• Metrics via distributor.metrics (total/current streams, total messages, average message size).
• Optional logging hooks for visibility.

Testing streaming logic

The RpcInMemoryTransport makes it trivial to test streaming handlers without a network stack:

final (clientTransport, serverTransport) = RpcInMemoryTransport.pair();
final responder = RpcResponderEndpoint(transport: serverTransport)
  ..registerServiceContract(ChatContract())
  ..start();
final caller = RpcCallerEndpoint(transport: clientTransport);

final chat = ChatCaller(caller);
final stream = chat.joinRoom('general', 'u-42');

expectLater(stream, emitsThrough(predicate<ChatMessage>((msg) => msg.roomId == 'general')));

Because the in-memory transport supports zero-copy, the exact objects your handler emits are the ones received by the client—perfect for verifying complex state transitions without serialisation noise.

Streaming RPCs let you build collaborative apps, background workers, and live updates without switching frameworks. RPC Dart keeps the API ergonomic while letting you opt into advanced features only when you need them.