SDK
SDK Javascript v6.x
1
JavascriptJavascript v6.x

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Getting Started with Kuzzle and Node.js #

This tutorial explains you how to use Kuzzle with Node.js and the Javascript SDK. It will walk you through creating scripts that can store documents in Kuzzle and subscribe to notifications about document creations.

You are going to write an application that stores documents in Kuzzle Server and subscribe to real time notifications for each created document.

To follow this tutorial, you must have a Kuzzle Server up and running. Follow these instructions if this is not already the case: Running Kuzzle.

Having trouble? Get in touch with us on Discord!

Explore the SDK #

It's time to get started with the Kuzzle Javascript SDK. This section, explains you how to store a document and subscribe to notifications in Kuzzle using the Javascript SDK.

Before proceeding, please make sure your system has Node.js version 8 or higher (download page) installed.

Prepare your environment #

Create your playground directory and install the Javascript SDK from the command line using npm:

mkdir "kuzzle-playground"
cd "kuzzle-playground"
npm install kuzzle-sdk

If you are performing a clean install you might get some UNMET PEER DEPENDENCY warnings, these are safe to ignore as they refer to optional dependencies.

Then, create an init.js file and start by adding the code below. This loads the SDK and connects it to a Kuzzle instance using the WebSocket protocol.

const {
  Kuzzle,
  WebSocket
} = require('kuzzle-sdk');
// Replace 'kuzzle' with your Kuzzle server hostname (e.g. 'localhost')
const kuzzle = new Kuzzle(
  new WebSocket('kuzzle')
);

Replace 'kuzzle' which is the Kuzzle server hostname with 'localhost' or with the host name where your Kuzzle server is running.

Next, add a listener to be notified in case of a connection error:

kuzzle.on('networkError', error => {
  console.error('Network Error: ', error);
});

Then, connect the client to your Kuzzle server with the connect() method, afterwards you have to add the code that will access Kuzzle to create a new index 'nyc-open-data' and a new collection 'yellow-taxi' that you will use to store data later on.

const run = async () => {
  try {
    // Connects to the Kuzzle server
    await kuzzle.connect();
    // Creates an index
    await kuzzle.index.create('nyc-open-data');
    // Creates a collection
    await kuzzle.collection.create('nyc-open-data', 'yellow-taxi');
    console.log('nyc-open-data/yellow-taxi ready!');
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error.message);
  } finally {
    kuzzle.disconnect();
  }
};
run();

Your init.js file should now look like this:

// Loads the Kuzzle SDK modules
const {
  Kuzzle,
  WebSocket
} = require('kuzzle-sdk');
// Instantiates a Kuzzle client with the WebSocket protocol
// Replace 'kuzzle' with your Kuzzle server hostname (e.g. 'localhost')
const kuzzle = new Kuzzle(
  new WebSocket('kuzzle')
);
// Adds a listener to detect connection problems
kuzzle.on('networkError', error => {
  console.error('Network Error:', error);
});
const run = async () => {
  try {
    // Connects to the Kuzzle server
    await kuzzle.connect();
    // Creates an index
    await kuzzle.index.create('nyc-open-data');
    // Creates a collection
    await kuzzle.collection.create('nyc-open-data', 'yellow-taxi');
    console.log('nyc-open-data/yellow-taxi ready!');
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error.message);
  } finally {
    kuzzle.disconnect();
  }
};
run();

This code does the following:

  • loads the Kuzzle SDK from its NPM package
  • creates an instance of the SDK
  • connects it to Kuzzle running on kuzzle (change the hostname if needed) using WebSocket
  • creates the nyc-open-data index
  • creates the yellow-taxi collection (within the nyc-open-data index),
  • disconnects from Kuzzle after the collection is created or if an error occurs

Run the code with Node.js:

node init.js

The console should output the following message:

nyc-open-data/yellow-taxi ready!

Congratulations! You are now ready to say Hello to the World!

Create your first "Hello World" document #

Create a create.js file with the following code:

// Loads the Kuzzle SDK modules
const {
  Kuzzle,
  WebSocket
} = require('kuzzle-sdk');
// Instantiates a Kuzzle client with the WebSocket protocol
// Replace 'kuzzle' with your Kuzzle server hostname (e.g. 'localhost')
const kuzzle = new Kuzzle(
  new WebSocket('kuzzle')
);
// Adds a listener to detect connection problems
kuzzle.on('networkError', error => {
  console.error('Network Error:', error);
});
const run = async () => {
  try {
    // Connects to the Kuzzle server
    await kuzzle.connect();
    // Creates a document
    const driver = {
      name: 'Sirkis',
      birthday: '1959-06-22',
      license: 'B'
    };
    await kuzzle.document.create('nyc-open-data', 'yellow-taxi', driver);
    console.log('New document successfully created!');
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error.message);
  } finally {
    kuzzle.disconnect();
  }
};
run();

This code does the following:

  • creates a new document in the yellow-taxi collection, within the nyc-open-data index
  • logs a success message to the console if everything went fine
  • logs an error message if any of the previous actions fails
  • disconnects from Kuzzle after the document is created or if an error occurs

Run the code with Node.js:

node create.js

You have now successfully stored your first document into Kuzzle. You can now open an Admin Console to browse your collection and confirm that your document was saved.

Subscribe to realtime document notifications (pub/sub) #

Kuzzle provides pub/sub features that can be used to trigger real-time notifications based on the state of your data (for a deep-dive on notifications check out the realtime notifications documentation).

Let's get started. Create a subscribe.js file with the following code:

// Loads the Kuzzle SDK modules
const {
  Kuzzle,
  WebSocket
} = require('kuzzle-sdk');
// Instantiates a Kuzzle client with the WebSocket protocol
// Replace 'kuzzle' with your Kuzzle server hostname (e.g. 'localhost')
const kuzzle = new Kuzzle(
  new WebSocket('kuzzle')
);
// Adds a listener to detect any connection problems
kuzzle.on('networkError', error => {
  console.error('Network Error:', error);
});
const run = async () => {
  try {
    // Connects to the Kuzzle server
    await kuzzle.connect();
    // Defines a filter
    const filter = {
      equals: { license: 'B' }
    };
    // Defines a callback invoked each time a notification is received
    const callback = (notification) => {
      if (notification.type === 'document' && notification.action === 'create') {
        const {
          _source: driver,
          _id: driverId
        } = notification.result;
        console.log(`New driver ${driver.name} with id ${driverId} has B license.`);
        kuzzle.disconnect();
      }
    };
    // Subscribes to document notifications using the above filter
    await kuzzle.realtime.subscribe('nyc-open-data', 'yellow-taxi', filter, callback);
    console.log('Successfully subscribed to document notifications!');
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error.message);
  }
};
run();

Run the code with Node.js:

node subscribe.js

The subscribe.js program is now running endlessly, waiting for notifications about documents matching its filters, specifically documents that have a license field equal to 'B'.

Now in another terminal, launch the create.js file from the previous section.

node create.js

This creates a new document in Kuzzle which, in turn, triggers a document notification sent to the subscribe.js program. Check the subscribe.js terminal: a new message is printed everytime a document is created using the create.js code.

New driver Sirkis with id AWccRe3-DfukVhSzMdUo has B license.

Congratulations! You have just set up your first pub/sub communication!

Where do we go from here? #

Now that you're more familiar with Kuzzle, dive even deeper to learn how to leverage its full capabilities:

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