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Getting started with the Go client

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the the community-supported Go client in a Go application to interact with Camunda 8.

You can find a complete example on GitHub.

note

The Go client doesn't support multi-tenancy and can only be used when multi-tenancy is disabled.

Prerequisites​

Set up a project​

First, we need a new Go project. To do this, complete the following steps:

  1. Create a new project using your IDE, or create a new Go module with the following command:
mkdir github.com/zb-user/zb-example
cd github.com/zb-user/zb-example
go mod init zb-user/zb-example
  1. To use the Zeebe Go client library, run the following:
go get github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go/v8@v8.6.0

This adds the following dependency to your go.mod, it should look similar to this:

module github.com/zb-user/zb-example

go 1.21

require github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go/v8 v8.6.0
  1. Set the connection settings and client credentials as environment variables in your terminal:
export ZEEBE_ADDRESS='[Zeebe API]'
export ZEEBE_CLIENT_ID='[Client ID]'
export ZEEBE_CLIENT_SECRET='[Client Secret]'
export ZEEBE_AUTHORIZATION_SERVER_URL='[OAuth API]'
note

When you create client credentials in Camunda 8, you have the option to download a file with the lines above filled out for you.

  1. Create a main.go file inside the module and add the following lines to bootstrap the Zeebe client:
package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go/v8/pkg/zbc"
    "github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go/v8/pkg/pb"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    client, err := zbc.NewClient(&zbc.ClientConfig{
        GatewayAddress: os.Getenv("ZEEBE_ADDRESS"),
    })

    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    ctx := context.Background()
    topology, err := client.NewTopologyCommand().Send(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    for _, broker := range topology.Brokers {
        fmt.Println("Broker", broker.Host, ":", broker.Port)
        for _, partition := range broker.Partitions {
            fmt.Println("  Partition", partition.PartitionId, ":", roleToString(partition.Role))
        }
    }
}

func roleToString(role pb.Partition_PartitionBrokerRole) string {
    switch role {
    case pb.Partition_LEADER:
        return "Leader"
    case pb.Partition_FOLLOWER:
        return "Follower"
    default:
        return "Unknown"
    }
}
  1. Run the program.
go run main.go

You will note a similar output:

Broker 0.0.0.0 : 26501
  Partition 1 : Leader

Model a process​

Now, we need a simple process we can deploy. Later, we will extend the process with more functionality. For now, follow the steps below:

  1. Open Web Modeler and create a new BPMN diagram named order-process.bpmn.

  2. Add a start event named Order Placed and an end event named Order Delivered to the diagram. Then, connect the events.

model-process-step-1

  1. Set the ID (the BPMN process ID) to order-process instead of the autogenerated value so it's easier to work with in this example.

  2. [Optional] Download the BPMN file to the root of the project.

Deploy a process​

Next, we want to deploy the modeled process to the broker.

The broker stores the process under its BPMN process ID and assigns a version.

Using Web Modeler, you can deploy the BPMN diagram in the UI using the Deploy button.

Alternatively, if you took the optional step and downloaded your BPMN diagram, you can follow the instructions for Desktop Modeler for this section.

Create a process instance​

We are ready to create our first instance of the deployed process.

A process instance is created by a specific version of the process, which can be set on creation.

    // After the process is deployed.
    variables := make(map[string]interface{})
    variables["orderId"] = "31243"

    request, err := client.NewCreateInstanceCommand().BPMNProcessId("order-process").LatestVersion().VariablesFromMap(variables)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    ctx := context.Background()

    msg, err := request.Send(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(msg.String())

Run the program and verify the process instance is created. You will note an output similar to below:

processKey:2251799813686742 bpmnProcessId:"order-process" version:3 processInstanceKey:2251799813686744

Note the process in action​

Want to note how the process instance is executed? Follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the cluster in Camunda 8 and select it.
  2. Click on the link to Operate.
  3. Select the process order process.

A process instance has now been started and finished.

Work on a task​

Now, we want to do some work within our process. Follow the steps below:

  1. Add a few service tasks to the BPMN diagram and set the required attributes.

  2. Extend your main.go file and activate a job. These are created when the process instance reaches a service task.

  3. Open the BPMN diagram in Modeler. Keeping in mind how you want to deploy your model, you can choose either Web Modeler or Desktop Modeler.

  4. Insert three service tasks between the start and the end event.

  • Name the first task Collect Money.
  • Name the second task Fetch Items.
  • Name the third task Ship Parcel.

model-process-step-2

  1. Using the properties panel Task definition section, set the type of each task, which identifies the nature of the work to be performed.
  • Set the type of the first task to payment-service.
  • Set the type of the second task to fetcher-service.
  • Set the type of the third task to shipping-service.
  1. Additionally, for the service task Collect Money set a task-header with the key method and the value VISA. This header is used as a configuration parameter for the payment-service worker to hand over the payment method.

The consolidated example looks as follows:

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go/v8/pkg/entities"
    "github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go/v8/pkg/worker"
    "github.com/camunda-community-hub/zeebe-client-go/v8/pkg/zbc"
    "log"
    "os"
)

const ZeebeAddr = "0.0.0.0:26500"

var readyClose = make(chan struct{})

func main() {
    gatewayAddr := os.Getenv("ZEEBE_ADDRESS")
    plainText:= false

    if (gatewayAddr == "") {
        gatewayAddr = ZeebeAddr
        plainText = true
    }

    zbClient, err := zbc.NewClient(&zbc.ClientConfig{
        GatewayAddress:         gatewayAddr,
        UsePlaintextConnection: plainText,
    })

    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    ctx := context.Background()

    // deploy process happens in the Web Modeler UI

    // create a new process instance
    variables := make(map[string]interface{})
    variables["orderId"] = "31243"

    request, err := zbClient.NewCreateInstanceCommand().BPMNProcessId("order-process-4").LatestVersion().VariablesFromMap(variables)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    result, err := request.Send(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(result.String())

    jobWorker := zbClient.NewJobWorker().JobType("payment-service").Handler(handleJob).Open()

    <-readyClose
    jobWorker.Close()
    jobWorker.AwaitClose()
}

func handleJob(client worker.JobClient, job entities.Job) {
    jobKey := job.GetKey()

    headers, err := job.GetCustomHeadersAsMap()
    if err != nil {
        // failed to handle job as we require the custom job headers
        failJob(client, job)
        return
    }

    variables, err := job.GetVariablesAsMap()
    if err != nil {
        // failed to handle job as we require the variables
        failJob(client, job)
        return
    }

    variables["totalPrice"] = 46.50
    request, err := client.NewCompleteJobCommand().JobKey(jobKey).VariablesFromMap(variables)
    if err != nil {
        // failed to set the updated variables
        failJob(client, job)
        return
    }

    log.Println("Complete job", jobKey, "of type", job.Type)
    log.Println("Processing order:", variables["orderId"])
    log.Println("Collect money using payment method:", headers["method"])

    ctx := context.Background()
    _, err = request.Send(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    log.Println("Successfully completed job")
    close(readyClose)
}

func failJob(client worker.JobClient, job entities.Job) {
    log.Println("Failed to complete job", job.GetKey())

    ctx := context.Background()
    _, err := client.NewFailJobCommand().JobKey(job.GetKey()).Retries(job.Retries - 1).Send(ctx)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
}

In this example, we open a job worker for jobs of type payment-service.

The job worker will repeatedly poll for new jobs of the type payment-service and activate them subsequently. Each activated job will then be passed to the job handler, which implements the business logic of the job worker.

The handler will then complete the job with its result or fail the job if it encounters a problem while processing the job.

When observing the current state of the process in Operate, you can note the process instance moved from the first service task to the next one.

When you run the example above, note a similar output to the following:

key:2251799813685256  deployments:{process:{bpmnProcessId:"order-process-4"  version:1  processDefinitionKey:2251799813685255  resourceName:"order-process.bpmn"}}
processDefinitionKey:2251799813685255  bpmnProcessId:"order-process-4"  version:1  processInstanceKey:2251799813685257
2022/04/06 16:20:59 Complete job 2251799813685264 of type payment-service
2022/04/06 16:20:59 Processing order: 31243
2022/04/06 16:20:59 Collect money using payment method: VISA
2022/04/06 16:20:59 Successfully completed job

What's next?​