Publishing messages to Lite topics

This page explains how to publish messages to Lite topics. You can publish messages with the Pub/Sub Lite client library for Java.

After publishing messages and creating a Lite subscription to a Lite topic, you can receive messages from the Lite subscription.

Message format

A message consists of fields with the message data and metadata. Specify any of the following in the message:

The client library automatically assigns the message to a partition, and the Pub/Sub Lite service adds the following fields to the message:

  • A message ID unique within the partition
  • A timestamp for when the Pub/Sub Lite service stores the message in the partition

Publishing messages

To publish messages, request a streaming connection to the Lite topic and then send messages over the streaming connection.

The following sample shows you how to publish messages to a Lite topic:

gcloud

This command requires Python 3.6 or greater, and requires the grpcio Python package to be installed. For MacOS, Linux, and Cloud Shell users, run:

sudo pip3 install grpcio
export CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_SITEPACKAGES=1

To publish a message, use the gcloud pubsub lite-topics publish command:

gcloud pubsub lite-topics publish TOPIC_ID \
    --location=LITE_LOCATION \
    --message=MESSAGE_DATA

Replace the following:

  • TOPIC_ID: the ID of the Lite topic
  • LITE_LOCATION: the location of the Lite topic
  • MESSAGE_DATA: a string with the message data

Go

Before running this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 


package main

import (
	"context"
	"flag"
	"fmt"
	"log"
	"sync"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsublite/pscompat"
	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
)

func main() {
	// NOTE: Set these flags for an existing Pub/Sub Lite topic when running this
	// sample.
	projectID := flag.String("project_id", "", "Cloud Project ID")
	zone := flag.String("zone", "", "Cloud Zone where the topic resides, e.g. us-central1-a")
	topicID := flag.String("topic_id", "", "Existing Pub/Sub Lite topic")
	messageCount := flag.Int("message_count", 100, "The number of messages to send")
	flag.Parse()

	ctx := context.Background()
	topicPath := fmt.Sprintf("projects/%s/locations/%s/topics/%s", *projectID, *zone, *topicID)

	// Create the publisher client.
	publisher, err := pscompat.NewPublisherClient(ctx, topicPath)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("pscompat.NewPublisherClient error: %v", err)
	}

	// Ensure the publisher will be shut down.
	defer publisher.Stop()

	// Collect any messages that need to be republished with a new publisher
	// client.
	var toRepublish []*pubsub.Message
	var toRepublishMu sync.Mutex

	// Publish messages. Messages are automatically batched.
	g := new(errgroup.Group)
	for i := 0; i < *messageCount; i   {
		msg := &pubsub.Message{
			Data: []byte(fmt.Sprintf("message-%d", i)),
		}
		result := publisher.Publish(ctx, msg)

		g.Go(func() error {
			// Get blocks until the result is ready.
			id, err := result.Get(ctx)
			if err != nil {
				// NOTE: A failed PublishResult indicates that the publisher client
				// encountered a fatal error and has permanently terminated. After the
				// fatal error has been resolved, a new publisher client instance must
				// be created to republish failed messages.
				fmt.Printf("Publish error: %v\n", err)
				toRepublishMu.Lock()
				toRepublish = append(toRepublish, msg)
				toRepublishMu.Unlock()
				return err
			}

			// Metadata decoded from the id contains the partition and offset.
			metadata, err := pscompat.ParseMessageMetadata(id)
			if err != nil {
				fmt.Printf("Failed to parse message metadata %q: %v\n", id, err)
				return err
			}
			fmt.Printf("Published: partition=%d, offset=%d\n", metadata.Partition, metadata.Offset)
			return nil
		})
	}
	if err := g.Wait(); err != nil {
		fmt.Printf("Publishing finished with error: %v\n", err)
	}
	fmt.Printf("Published %d messages\n", *messageCount-len(toRepublish))

	// Print the error that caused the publisher client to terminate (if any),
	// which may contain more context than PublishResults.
	if err := publisher.Error(); err != nil {
		fmt.Printf("Publisher client terminated due to error: %v\n", publisher.Error())
	}
}

Java

Before running this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

import com.google.api.core.ApiFuture;
import com.google.api.core.ApiFutures;
import com.google.api.gax.rpc.ApiException;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudRegion;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudRegionOrZone;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudZone;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.MessageMetadata;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.ProjectNumber;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.TopicName;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.TopicPath;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.Publisher;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.PublisherSettings;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;

public class PublisherExample {

  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String cloudRegion = "your-cloud-region";
    char zoneId = 'b';
    // Choose an existing topic for the publish example to work.
    String topicId = "your-topic-id";
    long projectNumber = Long.parseLong("123456789");
    int messageCount = 100;
    // True if using a regional location. False if using a zonal location.
    // https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/lite/docs/topics
    boolean regional = false;

    publisherExample(cloudRegion, zoneId, projectNumber, topicId, messageCount, regional);
  }

  // Publish messages to a topic.
  public static void publisherExample(
      String cloudRegion,
      char zoneId,
      long projectNumber,
      String topicId,
      int messageCount,
      boolean regional)
      throws ApiException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException {

    CloudRegionOrZone location;
    if (regional) {
      location = CloudRegionOrZone.of(CloudRegion.of(cloudRegion));
    } else {
      location = CloudRegionOrZone.of(CloudZone.of(CloudRegion.of(cloudRegion), zoneId));
    }

    TopicPath topicPath =
        TopicPath.newBuilder()
            .setProject(ProjectNumber.of(projectNumber))
            .setLocation(location)
            .setName(TopicName.of(topicId))
            .build();

    Publisher publisher = null;
    List<ApiFuture<String>> futures = new ArrayList<>();

    try {
      PublisherSettings publisherSettings =
          PublisherSettings.newBuilder().setTopicPath(topicPath).build();

      publisher = Publisher.create(publisherSettings);

      // Start the publisher. Upon successful starting, its state will become RUNNING.
      publisher.startAsync().awaitRunning();

      for (int i = 0; i < messageCount; i  ) {
        String message = "message-"   i;

        // Convert the message to a byte string.
        ByteString data = ByteString.copyFromUtf8(message);
        PubsubMessage pubsubMessage = PubsubMessage.newBuilder().setData(data).build();

        // Publish a message. Messages are automatically batched.
        ApiFuture<String> future = publisher.publish(pubsubMessage);
        futures.add(future);
      }
    } finally {
      ArrayList<MessageMetadata> metadata = new ArrayList<>();
      List<String> ackIds = ApiFutures.allAsList(futures).get();
      for (String id : ackIds) {
        // Decoded metadata contains partition and offset.
        metadata.add(MessageMetadata.decode(id));
      }
      System.out.println(metadata   "\nPublished "   ackIds.size()   " messages.");

      if (publisher != null) {
        // Shut down the publisher.
        publisher.stopAsync().awaitTerminated();
        System.out.println("Publisher is shut down.");
      }
    }
  }
}

Python

Before running this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

from google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub import PublisherClient
from google.cloud.pubsublite.types import (
    CloudRegion,
    CloudZone,
    MessageMetadata,
    TopicPath,
)

# TODO(developer):
# project_number = 1122334455
# cloud_region = "us-central1"
# zone_id = "a"
# topic_id = "your-topic-id"
# regional = True

if regional:
    location = CloudRegion(cloud_region)
else:
    location = CloudZone(CloudRegion(cloud_region), zone_id)

topic_path = TopicPath(project_number, location, topic_id)

# PublisherClient() must be used in a `with` block or have __enter__() called before use.
with PublisherClient() as publisher_client:
    data = "Hello world!"
    api_future = publisher_client.publish(topic_path, data.encode("utf-8"))
    # result() blocks. To resolve API futures asynchronously, use add_done_callback().
    message_id = api_future.result()
    message_metadata = MessageMetadata.decode(message_id)
    print(
        f"Published a message to {topic_path} with partition {message_metadata.partition.value} and offset {message_metadata.cursor.offset}."
    )

The client library asynchronously sends messages and handles errors. If an error occurs, the client library sends the message again.

  1. The Pub/Sub Lite service closes the stream.
  2. The client library buffers the messages and reestablishes a connection to the Lite topic.
  3. The client library sends the messages in order.

After you publish a message, the Pub/Sub Lite service stores the message in a partition and returns the message ID to the publisher.

Using ordering keys

If messages have the same ordering key, the client library assigns the messages to the same partition. The ordering key must be a string of at most 1,024 bytes.

The ordering key is in the key field of a message. You can set ordering keys with the client library.

gcloud

This command requires Python 3.6 or greater, and requires the grpcio Python package to be installed. For MacOS, Linux, and Cloud Shell users, run:

sudo pip3 install grpcio
export CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_SITEPACKAGES=1

To publish a message, use the gcloud pubsub lite-topics publish command:

gcloud pubsub lite-topics publish TOPIC_ID \
    --location=LITE_LOCATION \
    --ordering-key=ORDERING_KEY \
    --message=MESSAGE_DATA

Replace the following:

  • TOPIC_ID: the ID of the Lite topic
  • LITE_LOCATION: the location of the Lite topic
  • ORDERING_KEY: a string used to assign messages to partitions
  • MESSAGE_DATA: a string with the message data

Go

Before running this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsublite/pscompat"
)

func publishWithOrderingKey(w io.Writer, projectID, zone, topicID string, messageCount int) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// zone := "us-central1-a"
	// topicID := "my-topic"
	// messageCount := 10
	ctx := context.Background()
	topicPath := fmt.Sprintf("projects/%s/locations/%s/topics/%s", projectID, zone, topicID)

	// Create the publisher client.
	publisher, err := pscompat.NewPublisherClient(ctx, topicPath)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pscompat.NewPublisherClient error: %w", err)
	}

	// Ensure the publisher will be shut down.
	defer publisher.Stop()

	// Messages of the same ordering key will always get published to the same
	// partition. When OrderingKey is unset, messages can get published to
	// different partitions if more than one partition exists for the topic.
	var results []*pubsub.PublishResult
	for i := 0; i < messageCount; i   {
		r := publisher.Publish(ctx, &pubsub.Message{
			OrderingKey: "test_ordering_key",
			Data:        []byte(fmt.Sprintf("message-%d", i)),
		})
		results = append(results, r)
	}

	// Print publish results.
	var publishedCount int
	for _, r := range results {
		// Get blocks until the result is ready.
		id, err := r.Get(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			// NOTE: A failed PublishResult indicates that the publisher client
			// encountered a fatal error and has permanently terminated. After the
			// fatal error has been resolved, a new publisher client instance must be
			// created to republish failed messages.
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Publish error: %v\n", err)
			continue
		}

		// Metadata decoded from the id contains the partition and offset.
		metadata, err := pscompat.ParseMessageMetadata(id)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse message metadata %q: %w", id, err)
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "Published: partition=%d, offset=%d\n", metadata.Partition, metadata.Offset)
		publishedCount  
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Published %d messages with ordering key\n", publishedCount)
	return publisher.Error()
}

Java

Before running this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

import com.google.api.core.ApiFuture;
import com.google.api.gax.rpc.ApiException;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudRegion;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudRegionOrZone;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudZone;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.MessageMetadata;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.ProjectNumber;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.TopicName;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.TopicPath;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.Publisher;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.PublisherSettings;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;

public class PublishWithOrderingKeyExample {
  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String cloudRegion = "your-cloud-region";
    char zoneId = 'b';
    // Choose an existing topic for the publish example to work.
    String topicId = "your-topic-id";
    long projectNumber = Long.parseLong("123456789");
    // True if using a regional location. False if using a zonal location.
    // https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/lite/docs/topics
    boolean regional = false;

    publishWithOrderingKeyExample(cloudRegion, zoneId, projectNumber, topicId, regional);
  }

  // Publish a message to a topic with an ordering key.
  public static void publishWithOrderingKeyExample(
      String cloudRegion, char zoneId, long projectNumber, String topicId, boolean regional)
      throws ApiException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException {

    CloudRegionOrZone location;
    if (regional) {
      location = CloudRegionOrZone.of(CloudRegion.of(cloudRegion));
    } else {
      location = CloudRegionOrZone.of(CloudZone.of(CloudRegion.of(cloudRegion), zoneId));
    }

    TopicPath topicPath =
        TopicPath.newBuilder()
            .setProject(ProjectNumber.of(projectNumber))
            .setLocation(location)
            .setName(TopicName.of(topicId))
            .build();

    PublisherSettings publisherSettings =
        PublisherSettings.newBuilder().setTopicPath(topicPath).build();

    Publisher publisher = Publisher.create(publisherSettings);

    // Start the publisher. Upon successful starting, its state will become RUNNING.
    publisher.startAsync().awaitRunning();

    String message = "message-with-ordering-key";

    // Convert the message to a byte string.
    ByteString data = ByteString.copyFromUtf8(message);
    PubsubMessage pubsubMessage =
        PubsubMessage.newBuilder()
            .setData(data)
            // Messages of the same ordering key will always get published to the
            // same partition. When OrderingKey is unset, messages can get published
            // to different partitions if more than one partition exists for the topic.
            .setOrderingKey("testing")
            .build();

    // Publish a message.
    ApiFuture<String> future = publisher.publish(pubsubMessage);

    // Shut down the publisher.
    publisher.stopAsync().awaitTerminated();

    String ackId = future.get();
    MessageMetadata metadata = MessageMetadata.decode(ackId);
    System.out.println("Published a message with ordering key:\n"   metadata);
  }
}

Python

Before running this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

from google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub import PublisherClient
from google.cloud.pubsublite.types import (
    CloudRegion,
    CloudZone,
    MessageMetadata,
    TopicPath,
)

# TODO(developer):
# project_number = 1122334455
# cloud_region = "us-central1"
# zone_id = "a"
# topic_id = "your-topic-id"
# num_messages = 100
# regional = True

if regional:
    location = CloudRegion(cloud_region)
else:
    location = CloudZone(CloudRegion(cloud_region), zone_id)

topic_path = TopicPath(project_number, location, topic_id)

# PublisherClient() must be used in a `with` block or have __enter__() called before use.
with PublisherClient() as publisher_client:
    for message in range(num_messages):
        data = f"{message}"
        # Messages of the same ordering key will always get published to the same partition.
        # When ordering_key is unset, messsages can get published ot different partitions if
        # more than one partition exists for the topic.
        api_future = publisher_client.publish(
            topic_path, data.encode("utf-8"), ordering_key="testing"
        )
        # result() blocks. To resolve api futures asynchronously, use add_done_callback().
        message_id = api_future.result()
        message_metadata = MessageMetadata.decode(message_id)
        print(
            f"Published {data} to partition {message_metadata.partition.value} and offset {message_metadata.cursor.offset}."
        )

print(
    f"Finished publishing {num_messages} messages with an ordering key to {str(topic_path)}."
)

You can send multiple messages to the same partition using ordering keys, so subscribers receive the messages in order. The client library might assign multiple ordering keys to the same partition.

Set the event time

You can use event time to publish your Lite messages. Event time is a custom attribute that you can add to your message.

You can set the event timestamp with the client library or the gCloud CLI.

This command requires Python 3.6 or greater, and requires the grpcio Python package to be installed. For MacOS, Linux, and Cloud Shell users, run:

sudo pip3 install grpcio
export CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_SITEPACKAGES=1

To publish a message, use the gcloud pubsub lite-topics publish command:

gcloud pubsub lite-topics publish TOPIC_ID \
    --location=LITE_LOCATION \
    --event-time=EVENT_TIME \
    --message=MESSAGE_DATA

Replace the following:

  • TOPIC_ID: the ID of the Lite topic

  • LITE_LOCATION: the location of the Lite topic

  • EVENT_TIME: a user-specified event time. For more information about time formats, run gcloud topic datetimes.

  • MESSAGE_DATA: a string with the message data

Using attributes

Message attributes are key-value pairs with metadata about the message. The attributes can be text or byte strings.

The attributes are in the attributes field of a message. You can set attributes with the client library.

gcloud

This command requires Python 3.6 or greater, and requires the grpcio Python package to be installed. For MacOS, Linux, and Cloud Shell users, run:

sudo pip3 install grpcio
export CLOUDSDK_PYTHON_SITEPACKAGES=1

To publish a message, use the gcloud pubsub lite-topics publish command:

gcloud pubsub lite-topics publish TOPIC_ID \
    --location=LITE_LOCATION \
    --message=MESSAGE_DATA \
    --attribute=KEY=VALUE,...

Replace the following:

  • TOPIC_ID: the ID of the Lite topic
  • LITE_LOCATION: the location of the Lite topic
  • MESSAGE_DATA: a string with the message data
  • KEY: the key of a message attribute
  • VALUE: the value for the key of the message attribute

Go

Before running this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsublite/pscompat"
)

func publishWithCustomAttributes(w io.Writer, projectID, zone, topicID string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// zone := "us-central1-a"
	// topicID := "my-topic"
	ctx := context.Background()
	topicPath := fmt.Sprintf("projects/%s/locations/%s/topics/%s", projectID, zone, topicID)

	// Create the publisher client.
	publisher, err := pscompat.NewPublisherClient(ctx, topicPath)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pscompat.NewPublisherClient error: %w", err)
	}

	// Ensure the publisher will be shut down.
	defer publisher.Stop()

	// Publish a message with custom attributes.
	result := publisher.Publish(ctx, &pubsub.Message{
		Data: []byte("message-with-custom-attributes"),
		Attributes: map[string]string{
			"year":   "2020",
			"author": "unknown",
		},
	})

	// Get blocks until the result is ready.
	id, err := result.Get(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("publish error: %w", err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Published a message with custom attributes: %v\n", id)
	return publisher.Error()
}

Java

Before running this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

import com.google.api.core.ApiFuture;
import com.google.api.gax.rpc.ApiException;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudRegion;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudRegionOrZone;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudZone;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.MessageMetadata;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.ProjectNumber;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.TopicName;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.TopicPath;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.MessageTransforms;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.Publisher;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.PublisherSettings;
import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.protobuf.util.Timestamps;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import java.time.Instant;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;

public class PublishWithCustomAttributesExample {
  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String cloudRegion = "your-cloud-region";
    char zoneId = 'b';
    // Choose an existing topic for the publish example to work.
    String topicId = "your-topic-id";
    long projectNumber = Long.parseLong("123456789");
    // True if using a regional location. False if using a zonal location.
    // https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/lite/docs/topics
    boolean regional = false;

    publishWithCustomAttributesExample(cloudRegion, zoneId, projectNumber, topicId, regional);
  }

  // Publish messages to a topic with custom attributes.
  public static void publishWithCustomAttributesExample(
      String cloudRegion, char zoneId, long projectNumber, String topicId, boolean regional)
      throws ApiException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException {

    CloudRegionOrZone location;
    if (regional) {
      location = CloudRegionOrZone.of(CloudRegion.of(cloudRegion));
    } else {
      location = CloudRegionOrZone.of(CloudZone.of(CloudRegion.of(cloudRegion), zoneId));
    }

    TopicPath topicPath =
        TopicPath.newBuilder()
            .setProject(ProjectNumber.of(projectNumber))
            .setLocation(location)
            .setName(TopicName.of(topicId))
            .build();

    PublisherSettings publisherSettings =
        PublisherSettings.newBuilder().setTopicPath(topicPath).build();

    Publisher publisher = Publisher.create(publisherSettings);

    // Start the publisher. Upon successful starting, its state will become RUNNING.
    publisher.startAsync().awaitRunning();

    // Prepare the message data as a byte string.
    String messageData = "message-with-custom-attributes";
    ByteString data = ByteString.copyFromUtf8(messageData);

    // Prepare a protobuf-encoded event timestamp for the message.
    Instant now = Instant.now();
    String eventTime =
        MessageTransforms.encodeAttributeEventTime(Timestamps.fromMillis(now.toEpochMilli()));

    PubsubMessage pubsubMessage =
        PubsubMessage.newBuilder()
            .setData(data)
            // Add two sets of custom attributes to the message.
            .putAllAttributes(ImmutableMap.of("year", "2020", "author", "unknown"))
            // Add an event timestamp as an attribute.
            .putAttributes(MessageTransforms.PUBSUB_LITE_EVENT_TIME_TIMESTAMP_PROTO, eventTime)
            .build();

    // Publish a message.
    ApiFuture<String> future = publisher.publish(pubsubMessage);

    // Shut down the publisher.
    publisher.stopAsync().awaitTerminated();

    String ackId = future.get();
    MessageMetadata metadata = MessageMetadata.decode(ackId);
    System.out.println("Published a message with custom attributes:\n"   metadata);
  }
}

Python

Before running this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

from google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub import PublisherClient
from google.cloud.pubsublite.types import (
    CloudRegion,
    CloudZone,
    MessageMetadata,
    TopicPath,
)

# TODO(developer):
# project_number = 1122334455
# cloud_region = "us-central1"
# zone_id = "a"
# topic_id = "your-topic-id"
# regional = True

if regional:
    location = CloudRegion(cloud_region)
else:
    location = CloudZone(CloudRegion(cloud_region), zone_id)

topic_path = TopicPath(project_number, location, topic_id)

# PublisherClient() must be used in a `with` block or have __enter__() called before use.
with PublisherClient() as publisher_client:
    data = "Hello world!"
    api_future = publisher_client.publish(
        topic_path,
        data.encode("utf-8"),
        year="2020",
        author="unknown",
    )
    # result() blocks. To resolve api futures asynchronously, use add_done_callback().
    message_id = api_future.result()
    message_metadata = MessageMetadata.decode(message_id)
    print(
        f"Published {data} to partition {message_metadata.partition.value} and offset {message_metadata.cursor.offset}."
    )

print(f"Finished publishing a message with custom attributes to {str(topic_path)}.")

Attributes can indicate how to process a message. Subscribers can parse the attributes field of a message and process the message according to its attributes.

Batching messages

The client library publishes messages in batches. Larger batches use fewer compute resources but increase latency. You can change the batch size with batching settings.

The following table lists the batching settings that you can configure:

Setting Description Default
Request size The maximum size, in bytes, of the batch. 3.5 MiB
Number of messages The maximum number of messages in a batch. 1,000 messages
Publish delay The amount of time, in milliseconds, between adding the message to a batch and sending the batch to the Lite topic. 50 milliseconds

You can configure batching settings with the client library.

Go

Before running this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsublite/pscompat"
)

func publishWithBatchSettings(w io.Writer, projectID, zone, topicID string, messageCount int) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// zone := "us-central1-a"
	// topicID := "my-topic"
	// messageCount := 10
	ctx := context.Background()
	topicPath := fmt.Sprintf("projects/%s/locations/%s/topics/%s", projectID, zone, topicID)

	// Batch settings control how the publisher batches messages. These settings
	// apply per partition.
	// See https://pkg.go.dev/cloud.google.com/go/pubsublite/pscompat#pkg-variables
	// for DefaultPublishSettings.
	settings := pscompat.PublishSettings{
		ByteThreshold:  5 * 1024, // 5 KiB
		CountThreshold: 1000,     // 1,000 messages
		DelayThreshold: 100 * time.Millisecond,
	}

	// Create the publisher client.
	publisher, err := pscompat.NewPublisherClientWithSettings(ctx, topicPath, settings)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pscompat.NewPublisherClientWithSettings error: %w", err)
	}

	// Ensure the publisher will be shut down.
	defer publisher.Stop()

	// Publish requests are sent to the server based on request size, message
	// count and time since last publish, whichever condition is met first.
	var results []*pubsub.PublishResult
	for i := 0; i < messageCount; i   {
		r := publisher.Publish(ctx, &pubsub.Message{
			Data: []byte(fmt.Sprintf("message-%d", i)),
		})
		results = append(results, r)
	}

	// Print publish results.
	var publishedCount int
	for _, r := range results {
		// Get blocks until the result is ready.
		id, err := r.Get(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			// NOTE: A failed PublishResult indicates that the publisher client
			// encountered a fatal error and has permanently terminated. After the
			// fatal error has been resolved, a new publisher client instance must be
			// created to republish failed messages.
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Publish error: %v\n", err)
			continue
		}
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "Published: %v\n", id)
		publishedCount  
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Published %d messages with batch settings\n", publishedCount)
	return publisher.Error()
}

Java

Before running this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

import com.google.api.core.ApiFuture;
import com.google.api.core.ApiFutures;
import com.google.api.gax.batching.BatchingSettings;
import com.google.api.gax.rpc.ApiException;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudRegion;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudRegionOrZone;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.CloudZone;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.MessageMetadata;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.ProjectNumber;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.TopicName;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.TopicPath;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.Publisher;
import com.google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub.PublisherSettings;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import org.threeten.bp.Duration;

public class PublishWithBatchSettingsExample {
  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String cloudRegion = "your-cloud-region";
    char zoneId = 'b';
    // Choose an existing topic for the publish example to work.
    String topicId = "your-topic-id";
    long projectNumber = Long.parseLong("123456789");
    int messageCount = 100;
    // True if using a regional location. False if using a zonal location.
    // https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/lite/docs/topics
    boolean regional = false;

    publishWithBatchSettingsExample(
        cloudRegion, zoneId, projectNumber, topicId, messageCount, regional);
  }

  // Publish messages to a topic with batch settings.
  public static void publishWithBatchSettingsExample(
      String cloudRegion,
      char zoneId,
      long projectNumber,
      String topicId,
      int messageCount,
      boolean regional)
      throws ApiException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException {

    CloudRegionOrZone location;
    if (regional) {
      location = CloudRegionOrZone.of(CloudRegion.of(cloudRegion));
    } else {
      location = CloudRegionOrZone.of(CloudZone.of(CloudRegion.of(cloudRegion), zoneId));
    }

    TopicPath topicPath =
        TopicPath.newBuilder()
            .setProject(ProjectNumber.of(projectNumber))
            .setLocation(location)
            .setName(TopicName.of(topicId))
            .build();

    Publisher publisher = null;
    List<ApiFuture<String>> futures = new ArrayList<>();

    try {
      // Batch settings control how the publisher batches messages
      long requestBytesThreshold = 5000L; // default : 3_500_000 bytes
      long messageCountBatchSize = 100L; // default : 1000L message
      Duration publishDelayThreshold = Duration.ofMillis(100); // default : 50 ms

      // Publish request get triggered based on request size, messages count & time since last
      // publish, whichever condition is met first.
      BatchingSettings batchingSettings =
          BatchingSettings.newBuilder()
              .setRequestByteThreshold(requestBytesThreshold)
              .setElementCountThreshold(messageCountBatchSize)
              .setDelayThreshold(publishDelayThreshold)
              .build();

      PublisherSettings publisherSettings =
          PublisherSettings.newBuilder()
              .setTopicPath(topicPath)
              .setBatchingSettings(batchingSettings)
              .build();

      publisher = Publisher.create(publisherSettings);

      // Start the publisher. Upon successful starting, its state will become RUNNING.
      publisher.startAsync().awaitRunning();

      for (int i = 0; i < messageCount; i  ) {
        String message = "message-"   i;

        // Convert the message to a byte string.
        ByteString data = ByteString.copyFromUtf8(message);
        PubsubMessage pubsubMessage = PubsubMessage.newBuilder().setData(data).build();

        // Publish a message.
        ApiFuture<String> future = publisher.publish(pubsubMessage);
        futures.add(future);
      }
    } finally {
      ArrayList<MessageMetadata> metadata = new ArrayList<>();
      List<String> ackIds = ApiFutures.allAsList(futures).get();
      System.out.println("Published "   ackIds.size()   " messages with batch settings.");

      if (publisher != null) {
        // Shut down the publisher.
        publisher.stopAsync().awaitTerminated();
      }
    }
  }
}

Python

Before running this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Pub/Sub Lite Client Libraries. 

from google.cloud.pubsub_v1.types import BatchSettings
from google.cloud.pubsublite.cloudpubsub import PublisherClient
from google.cloud.pubsublite.types import (
    CloudRegion,
    CloudZone,
    MessageMetadata,
    TopicPath,
)

# TODO(developer):
# project_number = 1122334455
# cloud_region = "us-central1"
# zone_id = "a"
# topic_id = "your-topic-id"
# num_messages = 100
# regional = True

if regional:
    location = CloudRegion(cloud_region)
else:
    location = CloudZone(CloudRegion(cloud_region), zone_id)

topic_path = TopicPath(project_number, location, topic_id)
batch_setttings = BatchSettings(
    # 2 MiB. Default to 3 MiB. Must be less than 4 MiB gRPC's per-message limit.
    max_bytes=2 * 1024 * 1024,
    # 100 ms. Default to 50 ms.
    max_latency=0.1,
    # Default to 1000.
    max_messages=100,
)

# PublisherClient() must be used in a `with` block or have __enter__() called before use.
with PublisherClient(
    per_partition_batching_settings=batch_setttings
) as publisher_client:
    for message in range(num_messages):
        data = f"{message}"
        api_future = publisher_client.publish(topic_path, data.encode("utf-8"))
        # result() blocks. To resolve API futures asynchronously, use add_done_callback().
        message_id = api_future.result()
        message_metadata = MessageMetadata.decode(message_id)
        print(
            f"Published {data} to partition {message_metadata.partition.value} and offset {message_metadata.cursor.offset}."
        )

print(
    f"Finished publishing {num_messages} messages with batch settings to {str(topic_path)}."
)

When a publisher application starts, the client library creates a batch for each partition in a Lite topic. For example, if a Lite topic has two partitions, publishers create two batches and send each batch to a partition.

After you publish a message, the client library buffers it until the batch exceeds the maximum request size, the maximum number of messages, or the publish delay.

Ordering messages

Lite topics order messages in each partition by when you publish the messages. To assign messages to the same partition, use an ordering key.

Pub/Sub Lite delivers the messages from a partition in order, and subscribers can process the messages in order. For details, see Receiving messages.

Publish Idempotency

Pub/Sub Lite client libraries support idempotent publishing, from the following versions:

If publishing of a message is retried due to network or server errors, it is stored exactly once. Idempotency is guaranteed only within the same session; it cannot be guaranteed if the same message is republished using a new publisher client. It does not incur any additional service costs or increase publish latency.

Enable or disable idempotent publishing

Idempotent publishing is enabled by default in the Pub/Sub Lite client libraries. It can be disabled using publisher client settings in the respective client library.

If idempotent publishing is enabled, the offset returned in a publish result might be -1. This value is returned when the message is identified as a duplicate of an already successfully published message, but the server did not have sufficient information to return the offset of the message at publish time. Messages received by subscribers always have a valid offset.

Troubleshooting

Duplicates received

As idempotency is limited to a single session, duplicates might be received if you recreate the publisher client to publish the same messages.

A subscriber client might receive the same message multiple times if partitions are automatically assigned to subscribers by the Pub/Sub Lite service (the default setting). A message might be redelivered to another subscriber client when a reassignment occurs.

Publisher error

State for a publisher session is garbage collected in the server after 7 days of inactivity. If a session is resumed after this time period, the publisher client terminates with an error message similar to "Failed Precondition: Expected message to have publish sequence number of..." and does not accept new messages. Recreate the publisher client to resolve this error.