npm package for deltachat-rpc-server

This is the successor of deltachat-node, it does not use NAPI bindings but instead uses stdio executables to let you talk to core over jsonrpc over stdio. This simplifies cross-compilation and even reduces binary size (no CFFI layer and no NAPI layer).

Usage

The minimum nodejs version for this package is 16

npm i @deltachat/stdio-rpc-server @deltachat/jsonrpc-client

import { startDeltaChat } from "@deltachat/stdio-rpc-server";
import { C } from "@deltachat/jsonrpc-client";

async function main() {
    const dc = await startDeltaChat("deltachat-data");
    console.log(await dc.rpc.getSystemInfo());
    dc.close()
}
main()

For a more complete example refer to https://github.com/deltachat-bot/echo/pull/69/files (TODO change link when pr is merged).

How to use on an unsupported platform

How does it work when you install it

NPM automatically installs platform dependent optional dependencies when os and cpu fields are set correctly.

references:

• https://napi.rs/docs/deep-dive/release#3-the-native-addon-for-different-platforms-is-distributed-through-different-npm-packages, webarchive version
• https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v6/configuring-npm/package-json#cpu
• https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v6/configuring-npm/package-json#os

When you import this package it searches for the rpc server in the following locations and order:

1. DELTA_CHAT_RPC_SERVER environment variable
2. use the PATH when {takeVersionFromPATH: true} is supplied in the options.
3. prebuilds in npm packages

so by default it uses the prebuilds.

How do you built this package in CI

• To build platform packages, run the build_platform_package.py script:

  python3 build_platform_package.py <cargo-target>
  # example
  python3 build_platform_package.py x86_64-apple-darwin

• Then pass it as an artifact to the last CI action that publishes the main package.
• upload all packages from deltachat-rpc-server/npm-package/platform_package.
• then publish deltachat-rpc-server/npm-package,
  • this will run update_optional_dependencies_and_version.js (in the prepack script), which puts all platform packages into optionalDependencies and updates the version in package.json

How to build a version you can use locally on your host machine for development

You can not install the npm packet from the previous section locally, unless you have a local npm registry set up where you upload it too. This is why we have separate scripts for making it work for local installation.

• If you just need your host platform run python scripts/make_local_dev_version.py
• note: this clears the platform_package folder
• (advanced) If you need more than one platform for local install you can just run node scripts/update_optional_dependencies_and_version.js after building multiple platforms with build_platform_package.py

Thanks to nlnet

The initial work on this package was funded by nlnet as part of the Delta Tauri Project.