minlink

Minimum(~ 1kb) and isomorphic worker wrapper with comlink like rpc.

npm install minlink --save
# or 
yarn add minlink

Why?

• WebWorker(DedicateWorker) and node's Worker(threads) have similar api but not same one. This library wraps them to same rpc.
• minlink is inspired by comlink but to keep simple and small core, minlink does not use ES2015 Proxy(or its polyfill). Instead of proxy, minlink provides typescript's type utils.

Requirements

• Node 14+
• Modern Browser + IE11(WIP: Not tested yet)

Browser WebWorker

Minlink takes WebWorker as expose/wrap. Bundle them with webpack or rollup.

// browser worker.js
import { expose } from "minlink/dist/browser.mjs";
const impl = {
  async foo(n; number) {
    return n + 1;
  },
};
expose(self, impl);
 
// browesr main.js
// import { wrap } from "minlink/dist/browser.legacy.js"; // for ie11. UMD build.
import { wrap } from "minlink/dist/browser.mjs";
const api = wrap(new Worker("./worker.js"));
const ret = await api.exec("foo", 1);
console.log(ret); // => 2
await api.terminate();

Node Worker

Minlink takes worker_threads/Worker as expose/wrap.

// main.mjs
import { wrap } from "comlink/dist/node.mjs";
import { Worker } from "worker_threads";
const worker = new Worker("./worker.mjs");
const api = wrap(worker);
const res = await api.exec("foo", 1);
console.log("response", res);
 
// worker.mjs
import { expose } from "minlink/dist/node.mjs";
import { parentPort } from "worker_threads";
expose(parentPort, {
  async foo(n) {
    return n + 1;
  },
});

Advanced: TypeScript utilities

// browser/worker.ts
import { expose } from "minlink/dist/browser.mjs";
const impl = {
  async foo(n; number) {
    return n + 1;
  },
};
export type RemoteImpl = typeof impl;
expose(self, impl);
 
// browesr/main.ts
import type { RemoteImpl } from "./worker.ts"; // Typescript 3.9+ Type only import
import { wrap } from "minlink/dist/browser.mjs";
const api = wrap<RemoteImpl>(new Worker("/worker.js")); // take RemoteImpl as `wrap(...)`'s type argument.
const ret = await api.exec("foo", 1); // pass
const ret = await api.exec("foo", "invalid arg"); // type error

Advanced: Transferrable

const buf = new Uint8Array([1]);
const ret = await api.exec(["foo", [buf]], buf); // pass

Advanced: Call client expose from worker.

TBD

Inspired by ...

• https://github.com/GoogleChromeLabs/comlink
• https://github.com/developit/web-worker

ChangeLog

• v2: transferrable uses ['foo', [buf]] from {cmd: 'foo', transferrable: [buf]}
• v1: release

LICENSE

MIT