laravel-api-grpc

Laravel 13 gRPC — Protocol Buffers & High-Performance Microservices

When to Use

Use this skill when implementing inter-service communication in Laravel 13 microservices architectures using gRPC. gRPC uses Protocol Buffers for binary serialization and HTTP/2 for transport, offering 5-10x better performance than REST/JSON for internal service communication. Best suited for microservices, internal APIs, high-throughput systems, and real-time systems. NOT for public browser APIs — REST remains simpler for external consumers.

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gRPC vs REST Decision Matrix

┌─────────────────────────────┬────────┬────────┐
│ Criteria                    │  gRPC  │  REST  │
├─────────────────────────────┼────────┼────────┤
│ Payload size                │  Small │  Large │
│ Serialization speed         │  10x   │  1x    │
│ Schema enforcement          │  Strict│  Loose │
│ HTTP version                │  HTTP/2│  HTTP  │
│ Browser support             │  No*   │  Yes   │
│ Streaming                   │  Native│  SSE   │
│ Learning curve              │  Medium│  Low   │
│ Debugging                   │  Hard  │  Easy  │
│ Code generation             │  Auto  │  Manual│
│ Multi-language              │  Native│  Ad-hoc│
└─────────────────────────────┴────────┴────────┘
* Requires gRPC-Web or proxy (Envoy)

When to Use gRPC

✓ Internal microservice communication
✓ Real-time streaming (chat, events, logs)
✓ High-throughput systems
✓ Multi-language polyglot environments
✓ Systems requiring strong type safety
✓ Low-latency, high-performance paths

When to Avoid gRPC

✗ Public browser-facing APIs
✗ Simple CRUD applications
✗ Serverless functions (cold start overhead)
✗ When debugging transparency is critical

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Protocol Buffers

Defining Proto Files

// proto/user.proto
syntax = "proto3";

package user.v1;

option php_namespace = "App\\Grpc\\User\\V1";
option php_metadata_namespace = "App\\Grpc\\User\\V1\\Metadata";

service UserService {
    rpc GetUser (GetUserRequest) returns (User);
    rpc ListUsers (ListUsersRequest) returns (ListUsersResponse);
    rpc CreateUser (CreateUserRequest) returns (User);
    rpc UpdateUser (UpdateUserRequest) returns (User);
    rpc DeleteUser (DeleteUserRequest) returns (google.protobuf.Empty);

    // Server streaming
    rpc StreamUsers (ListUsersRequest) returns (stream User);

    // Bidirectional streaming
    rpc Chat (stream ChatMessage) returns (stream ChatMessage);
}

message User {
    string id = 1;
    string name = 2;
    string email = 3;
    UserRole role = 4;
    google.protobuf.Timestamp created_at = 5;
}

enum UserRole {
    USER_ROLE_UNSPECIFIED = 0;
    USER_ROLE_ADMIN = 1;
    USER_ROLE_EDITOR = 2;
    USER_ROLE_VIEWER = 3;
}

message GetUserRequest {
    string id = 1;
}

message ListUsersRequest {
    int32 page_size = 1;
    string page_token = 2;
    string filter = 3;
}

message ListUsersResponse {
    repeated User users = 1;
    string next_page_token = 2;
    int32 total_size = 3;
}

message CreateUserRequest {
    string name = 1;
    string email = 2;
    UserRole role = 3;
}

message UpdateUserRequest {
    string id = 1;
    string name = 2;
    string email = 3;
    UserRole role = 4;
}

message DeleteUserRequest {
    string id = 1;
}

message ChatMessage {
    string user_id = 1;
    string content = 2;
    int64 timestamp = 3;
}