Worker Threads Integration

Use Node.js Worker Threads with oRPC for type-safe inter-thread communication via the Message Port Adapter. Before proceeding, we recommend reviewing the Node.js Worker Thread API.

Worker Thread

Listen for a MessagePort sent from the main thread and upgrade it:

import { parentPort } from 'node:worker_threads'
import { experimental_RPCHandler as RPCHandler } from '@orpc/server/message-port'

const handler = new RPCHandler(router)

parentPort.on('message', (message) => {
  if (message instanceof MessagePort) {
    handler.upgrade(message)

    message.start()
  }
})

Main Thread

Create a MessageChannel, send one port to the thread worker, and use the other to initialize the client link:

import { MessageChannel, Worker } from 'node:worker_threads'
import { experimental_RPCLink as RPCLink } from '@orpc/client/message-port'

const { port1: clientPort, port2: serverPort } = new MessageChannel()

const worker = new Worker('some-worker.js')

worker.postMessage(serverPort, [serverPort])

const link = new RPCLink({
  port: clientPort
})

clientPort.start()

INFO

This only shows how to configure the link. For full client examples, see Client-Side Clients.