Autocode Setup | Node | Python | Ruby | Web
Autocode is the fastest, easiest way to build infinitely scalable APIs. The Autocode platform consists of three components:
- A central registry and standard library for APIs
- A scalable, serverless hosting platform
- Simple command line tooling for building and managing API development
Autocode is based on Function as a Service ("serverless") architecture, initially popularized by AWS Lambda. You can use Autocode to build modular, scalable APIs for yourself and other developers in minutes without having to manage servers, gateways, domains, write documentation, or build SDKs. Your development workflow has never been easier - focus on writing code you love, let Autocode handle everything else.
Autocode uses an open specification called FunctionScript for function definitions and execution. If you run into concerns or questions as you're building from this guide, please reference the FunctionScript repository. :)
You can view services published by our large and growing developer community on the Autocode Standard Library page.
- Getting Started
- Creating Your First Service
- Connecting Service Endpoints
- Accessing Your APIs From Other Applications
- Accessing Your APIs Over HTTP
- Running Your APIs as Background Workers
- Version Control and Package Management
- Logging
- Additional Functionality
- Acknowledgements
- Contact
To get started with Autocode, first make sure you have Node 8.x or later installed, available from the official Node.js website. Next install the Autocode CLI tools with:
$ npm install lib.cli -g
And you're now ready to start building!
The first thing you'll want to do is create a workspace. Create a new directory you intend to build your services in and initialize the workspace.
$ mkdir stdlib-workspace
$ cd stdlib-workspace
$ lib init
You'll be asked for an e-mail address to log in to the Autocode registry.
If you don't yet have an account, you can create one by going to https://autocode.com/.
Note that you can skip account creation with lib init --no-login.
You'll be unable to use the registry, but it's useful for creating workspaces
when you don't have internet access.
Next, create your service:
$ lib create <service>
You'll be asked for a default function name, which is the entry point
into your service (useful if you only want a single entry point). This will automatically
generate a service project scaffold in autocode-workspace/<username>/<service>.
Once created, enter the service directory:
$ cd your_username/your_service
In this directory, you'll see something like:
- functions/
- __main__.js
- package.json
- env.json
- WELCOME.md
- README.md
At this point, there's a "hello world" function that's been automatically
created (__main__.js). Autocode comes paired with a simple lib command for
testing your functions locally and running them in the cloud.
To test your function:
$ lib .
"hello world"If we examine the functions/__main__.js file, we see the following:
/**
* A basic Hello World function
* @param {string} name Who you're saying hello to
* @returns {string}
*/
module.exports = async (name = 'world', context) => {
return `hello ${name}`;
};We can pass parameters to it using the CLI by specifying named parameters:
$ lib . --name "dolores abernathy"
"hello dolores abernathy"Note that context is a magic parameter (automatically populated with
execution details, when provided) as is callback (terminates execution),
so these don't need to be documented and can not be specified as
parameters when executing the function.
To push your function to a development environment in the cloud...
$ lib up dev
$ lib your_username.your_service[@dev]
"hello world"And to release it (when you're ready!)
$ lib release
$ lib your_username.your_service
"hello world"You can check out your service on the web, and use it in applications using our
functions gateway, api.stdlib.com.
https://your_username.api.stdlib.com/your_service/
That's it! You haven't written a line of code yet, and you have mastery over building a service, testing it in a development (staging) environment online, and releasing it for private (or public) consumption.
Note: By default, APIs that you publish with lib release will have a
documentation page in the Autocode public registry. You can keep your page private,
as well as restrict execution access or add collaborators to your API,
by modifying your API's permissions. For more information, see this docs page.
Another Note: Staging environments (like the one created with lib up dev)
are mutable and can be replaced indefinitely. Releases (lib release) are
immutable and can never be overwritten. However, any service can be torn down
with lib down <environment> or lib down -r <version> (but releases
can't be replaced once removed, to prevent mistakes and / or bad actors).
You'll notice that you can create more than one function per service. While
you can structure your project however you'd like internally, it should also
be noted that these functions have zero-latency access to each other. You
can access them internally with the lib package on NPM,
which behaves similarly to the lib command for testing. Use:
$ npm install lib --save
In your main service directory to add it, and use it like so:
module.exports = async (a = 0, b = 0) => {
return a + b;
};const lib = require('lib');
module.exports = async (a = 0, b = 0, context) => {
let result = await lib[`${context.service.identifier}.add`]({a: a, b: b});
return result * 2;
};In this case, calling lib .add --a 1 --b 2 will return 3 and lib .add_double --a 1 --b 2
will return 6. The context magic parameter is used for its
context.service.identifier property, which will return the string "your_username.your_service[@local]"
in the case of local execution, "your_username.your_service[@ENV]" when deployed to an
environment or release (where ENV is your environment name or semver).
As mentioned in the previous section, you can use the NPM lib package that's
available on GitHub and NPM to access your
APIs from legacy Node.js applications and even the web browser. We'll
have more SDKs coming out in the following months.
An existing app would call a function (username.bestTrekChar with version 0.2.1):
const lib = require('lib');
lib.username.bestTrekChar['@0.2.1']({name: 'spock'}, function (err, result) {
if (err) {
// handle it
}
// do something with result
});Which would speak to your API...
module.exports = async (name = 'kirk') => {
if (name === 'kirk') {
return 'why, thank, you, too, kind';
} else if (name === 'spock') {
return 'i think this feeling is called "pleased"';
} else {
throw new Error('Only kirk and spock supported.');
}
};We definitely recommend using the lib library on NPM to make API calls as specified above, but you can also make HTTPS requests directly to the Autocode gateway. HTTP query parameters are mapped automatically to parameters by name.
https://username.api.stdlib.com/[email protected]/?name=BATMAN
Maps directly to:
/**
* Hello World
* @param {string} name
* @returns {string}
*/
module.exports = async (name = 'world') => {
// returns "HELLO BATMAN" from above HTTP query
return `Hello ${name}`;
};To run any Autocode service as a background worker (immediately returns a response, runs function after), simply append ":bg" to the URL before the HTTP query parameters (search portion of the URL), for example (from above):
https://username.api.stdlib.com/[email protected]/:bg?name=BATMAN
To do so from the lib-node library, use:
lib({bg: true}).username.liveService['@1.12.2'](...);The default background response will be a content type of text/plain with a
string indicating the function name you're executing. There are currently
three different options for background responses that you define before you
deploy your function.
Set @bg info in your comment definition like so:
/**
* Hello World
* @bg info
* @param {string} name
* @returns {string}
*/
module.exports = async (name = 'world') => {
return `Hello ${name}`;
};This is the default as well (if nothing is specified).
Set @bg empty in your comment definition like so:
/**
* Hello World
* @bg empty
* @param {string} name
* @returns {string}
*/
module.exports = async (name = 'world') => {
return `Hello ${name}`;
};Will return an empty (0 length) response.
Set @bg params in your comment definition like so:
/**
* Hello World
* @bg params
* @param {string} name
* @returns {string}
*/
module.exports = async (name = 'world') => {
return `Hello ${name}`;
};This will return {"name":"world"} in this example (if no other parameters are
specified) as this parameter has a default value. This will spit back any
and all parameters sent to the function, even if they're not part of the
function signature.
A quick note on version control - Autocode is not a replacement for normal git-based workflows, it is a supplement focused around service creation and execution.
You have unlimited access to any release (that hasn't been torn down)
with lib pkg <serviceIdentifier> to download the tarball (.tgz) and
lib get <serviceIdentifier> to automatically download and unpack the
tarball to a working directory.
Tarballs (and package contents) are closed-source. Nobody but you (and potentially your teammates) has access to these. It's up to you whether or not you share the guts of your service with others on GitHub or NPM.
As mentioned above: releases are immutable and can not be overwritten (but can be removed, just not replaced afterwards) and development / staging environments are mutable, you can overwrite them as much as you'd like.
Logging for services is enabled by default. When running a service locally with
lib . or lib .functionname, all logs will be output in your console. The very
last output (normally a JSON-compatible string) is the return value of the function.
To view remote logs (in dev or release environments), use the following syntax:
:: Lists all logs for the service
$ lib logs username.servicename
:: Lists main service endpoint logs for "dev" environment
$ lib logs username.servicename[@dev]
:: Lists service endpoint named "test" logs for "dev" environment
$ lib logs username.servicename[@dev].test
:: Lists all logs for "dev" environment
$ lib logs username.servicename[@dev]*
$ lib logs username.servicename[@dev].*The default log type is stdout, though you can specify stderr with
lib logs username.servicename -t stderr.
Limit the number of lines to show with the -l argument (or --lines).
Autocode comes packed with a bunch of other goodies - if your service goes down
for any reason (the service platform is acting up), use lib restart.
Similarly, as we roll out updates to the platform the builds we're using on
AWS Lambda may change. You can update your service to our latest build using
lib rebuild. We may recommend this from time-to-time, so pay attention
to e-mails and the community.
To see a full list of commands available for the CLI tools, type:
$ lib help
We've conveniently copy-and-pasted the output here for you to peruse;
* [all arguments converted to parameters]
-b Execute as a Background Function
-d Specify debug mode (prints Gateway logs)
-t Specify a Identity Token
-w Specify a Webhook (Deprecated)
--* all verbose flags converted to named keyword parameters
Runs a Autocode function, i.e. "lib user.service[@ver]" (remote) or "lib ." (local)
create [service]
-d (DEPRECATED) Dev Mode - Specify another HTTP address for the Template Service (e.g. localhost:8170)
-f Force command if not in root directory
-n No login - don't require an internet connection
-w Write over - overwrite the current directory contents
--develop (DEPRECATED) Dev Mode - Specify another HTTP address for the Template Service (e.g. localhost:8170)
--force Force command if not in root directory
--no-login No login - don't require an internet connection
--template (DEPRECATED) Template - a stdlib service template to use
--write-over Write over - overwrite the current directory contents
Creates a new (local) service
down [environment]
-r Remove a release version (provide number)
--release Remove a release version (provide number)
Removes Autocode package from registry and cloud environment
function:create [name] [description] [param_1] [param_2] [...] [param_n]
-n New directory: Create as a __main__.js file, with the name representing the directory
--new New directory: Create as a __main__.js file, with the name representing the directory
Creates a new function for a service, locally
get [full service name]
-f Force command if not in root directory
-w Write over - overwrite the target directory contents
--force Force command if not in root directory
--write-over Write over - overwrite the target directory contents
Retrieves and extracts Autocode package
hosts
Displays created hostname routes from source custom hostnames to target services you own
hosts:add [source] [target]
Adds a new hostname route from a source custom hostname to a target service you own
hosts:remove [source]
Removes a hostname route from a source custom hostname to a target service you own
http
-p Port (default 8170)
--port Port (default 8170)
Creates HTTP Server for Current Service
info [username | full service name]
Retrieves information about a user or package
init [environment]
-f Force command to overwrite existing workspace
-n No login - don't require an internet connection
--force Force command to overwrite existing workspace
--no-login No login - don't require an internet connection
Initializes Autocode workspace
login
--email E-Mail
--password Password
Logs in to Autocode in this directory
logout
Logs out of Autocode in this workspace
logs [service]
-l The number of log lines you want to retrieve
-t The log type you want to retrieve. Allowed values are "stdout" and "stderr".
--lines The number of log lines you want to retrieve
--type The log type you want to retrieve. Allowed values are "stdout" and "stderr".
Retrieves logs for a given service
pkg [full service name]
-f Force command if not in root directory
-o Output path for the .tgz package
--force Force command if not in root directory
--output Output path for the .tgz package
Downloads Autocode tarball (.tgz)
rebuild [environment]
-r Rebuild a release package
--release Rebuild a release package
Rebuilds a service (useful for registry performance updates), alias of `lib restart -b`
release
Pushes release of Autocode package to registry and cloud (Alias of `lib up -r`)
restart [environment]
-b Rebuild service fully
-r Restart a release package
--build Rebuild service fully
--release Restart a release package
Restarts a Autocode service (if necessary)
rollback
Rolls back (removes) release of Autocode package (alias of `lib down -r`)
up [environment]
-r Upload a release package
--release Upload a release package
Pushes Autocode package to registry and cloud environment
user
-s <key> <value> Sets a specified key-value pair
--new-password Sets a new password via a prompt
--reset-password <email> Sends a password reset request for the specified e-mail address
--set <key> <value> Sets a specified key-value pair
Retrieves (and sets) current user information
version
Returns currently installed version of Autocode command line tools
If you're running a previous version and are having issues with the CLI, try cleaning up the old CLI binary links first;
$ rm /usr/local/bin/f
$ rm /usr/local/bin/lib
$ rm /usr/local/bin/stdlib
Yep, it's really that easy. To keep up-to-date on developments, please star us here on GitHub, and sign up a user account for the registry. You can read more about service hosting and keep track of official updates on the official Autocode website, autocode.com.
Autocode is a product of and © 2019 Polybit Inc.
We'd love for you to pay attention to @AutocodeHQ and what we're building next! If you'd consider joining the team, shoot us an e-mail.
You can also follow me, the original author, on Twitter: @keithwhor.
Issues encouraged, PRs welcome, and we're happy to have you on board! Enjoy and happy building :)
Special thanks to the people and companies that have believed in and supported our vision and development over the years.
- Slack @SlackHQ
- Stripe @Stripe
- Romain Huet @romainhuet
- Chad Fowler @chadfowler
- Brian LeRoux @brianleroux
- Ahmad Nassri @AhmadNassri
... and many more!