mercure

Mercure Hub & Publisher implemented in Node.js.

Note : this npm package has been transfered for a new project by the initial owner, which serves a totally different purpose. This new version is an implementation of the Mercure protocol. The previous mercure package had 1 release (0.0.1) and served as a file downloader. You can still access it : https://www.npmjs.com/package/mercure/v/0.0.1. Please make sure to lock this version in your package.json file, as the new versions will begin at 0.0.2 and will keep following the semver versioning.

TODOs

• CORS
• Hearthbeat mechanism (https://github.com/dunglas/mercure/pull/53)
• Docker image (iso with official image)
• Prometheus metrics exporter
• Events database
• Export authorization.js mechanism
• Discovery helpers
• Increase code quality score
• JSDoc
• Logging
• Unit tests
• Find a way to clear Redis if the process gets interrupted
• Benchmarks

State

This is a beta version. This has not fully been tested in production yet.

Requirements

• node.js >= 11.7.0
• Redis (optional)

Features

• 100% implementation of the protocol
• Events asymmetric encryption
• Easy integration to any existing app using http.Server or express
• Redis-based clustering support
• Inventory of all open connections stored in Redis, per node process
• Kill switch

Future improvements

• Implement as a lambda function ?

Installation

npm install mercure --save

Usage

This library provides 3 components : a Hub, a Server and a Publisher :

Simple hub

-> Documentation

The Hub class is the core component that uses a simple http.Server instance. An existing instance can be provided to the Hub, thus the Hub will use it instead of creating a new one.

Use case : implanting the hub on an existing http.Server app, without the need to handle external publishers (only the app does the publishing).

It handles :

• the SSE connections
• the events database
• the authorization mechanism
• events related to the Hub activity

const http = require('http');
const { Hub } = require('mercure');
 
const server = http.createHttpServer((req, res) => {
  res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
  res.end('200');
});
 
const hub = new Hub(server, {
  jwtKey: '!UnsecureChangeMe!',
  path: '/hub',
});
 
hub.listen();

Hub server

-> Documentation

The Server is built upon the Hub component. It creates a new Express instance and allows external publishers to POST an event to the hub.

Use case : implanting he hub on an new application that is meant to accept external publishers, with no other HTTP server ... or one listening on a different port.

It handles everything the Hub does, plus :

• a freshly created Express instance, built upon the Hub's http.Server (middlewares can be applied to enhance security)
• external publishers (POST requests)

const { Server } = require('mercure');
 
const server = new Server({
  jwtKey: '!UnsecureChangeMe!',
  path: '/hub',
});
 
server.listen(3000);

Because the Server is leverages Express, it is possible to add middlewares in front of the internal Hub middleware :

const compression = require('compression');
 
class SecuredHubServer extends Server {
  configure() {
    this.app.use(compression());
  }
}
 
const server = new SecuredHubServer(...);

Publisher

-> Documentation

It can be created in different ways :

• using an existing Hub instance (when the app is meant to be THE ONLY publisher)
• using an existing Server instance (when the app is meant to be a publisher)
• using configuration : host, port... (when the publisher and the hub are distant)

It handles :

• Message publication to the Hub
• Message encryption (optional)

const { Publisher } = require('mercure');
 
const publisher = new Publisher({
  protocol: 'https', // or 'http', but please don't.
  host: 'example.com',
  port: 3000,
  path: '/hub',
  jwt: 'PUBLISHER_JWT',
});
 
// Payload to send to the subscribers.
const data = {
  '@id': 'http://localhost:3000/books/666.jsonld',
  hello: 'world',
};
 
await publisher.publish(
  ['https://example.com:3000/books/666.jsonld'], // Topics.
  JSON.stringify(data),
);

API

API docs can be found in the docs/API.md file.

Encrypting the datas

In certain cases, the Mercure hub can be hosted by a third-party host. You don't really want them to "sniff" all your cleartext messages. To make the Publisher => Hub => Subscriber flow fully encrypted, it is required that the Publisher sends encrypted data.

To achieve this, the Publisher#useEncryption() method will activate messages encryption. Thus, the Hub will not be able to access your private datas :

const crypto = require('crypto');
const util = require('util');
 
const publisher = new Publisher({
  // ...
});
 
const data = { message: 'TOP SECRET DATAS' };
const { privateKey } = await util.promisify(crypto.generateKeyPair)('rsa', {
  modulusLength: 4096,
  privateKeyEncoding: {
    type: 'pkcs8',
    format: 'pem',
  },
});
 
// Start encrypting the events.
await publisher.useEncryption({
  rsaPrivateKey: privateKey,
});
 
// Will send encrypted datas.
await publisher.publish(
  [...], // Topics.
  JSON.stringify(data),
);

Decrypting :

const jose = require('node-jose');
 
const encryptedData = 'ENCRYPTED DATA';
const decrypted = await jose.JWE.createDecrypt(publisher.keystore).decrypt(encryptedData);
 
console.log(decrypted.plaintext.toString());

Kill switch

In case the hub must urgently close all connections (e.g.: in case of compromission of the JWT key), a kill switch is available :

await hub.killSwitch();

The new JWT Key will be output to stdout.

License

GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE v3.