gcff
v0.1.2
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GCFF CLI: Deploy your web pages and API services easily with cloud function technology
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GCFF Command Line Tool
Deploy your web pages and API services easily with cloud function technology.
Usage
$ npm install -g gcff
$ gcff COMMAND
running command...
$ gcff (--version)
gcff/0.1.2 darwin-x64 node-v22.2.0
$ gcff --help [COMMAND]
USAGE
$ gcff COMMAND
...
Motivation
Currently, there are many frameworks that provide scalable web service access. These frameworks are mainly optimized for high load use cases and user-facing functionality. However, they come with high maintenance costs, complicated initial deployment procedures, and requirements for system health status monitoring.
On the other hand, there are cases when a web service is used by an internal team, so it is not subject to high load usage. In this scenario, the most important part is to deploy the functionality in the simplest way possible, minimizing idle maintenance costs without additional monitoring requirements.
Abstracting from web service functionality, this dilemma can be framed as choosing between Google Cloud App Engine (or other solutions like Compute Engine or Kubernetes Engine) and Google Cloud Function. Using App Engine offers granular control over your application, while Cloud Function provides a much lower time to launch and addresses scalability and stability issues.
The idea of the Google Cloud Functions Framework (GCFF) project is to provide the ability to deploy a web service using Google Cloud Functions. Cloud Functions can be run from a browser by the user and render a page with content. A single Cloud Function can be used for multiple servers, allowing it to implement both the server and client parts of the service.
This approach is not a silver bullet in general. It provides some tradeoffs which may not be applicable for some use cases:
- Maintenance cost for idle cloud functions is zero, but each call is significantly more expensive than classic app architectures. Do not use this approach for high load applications.
- Reaction time (latency) from the server might be significantly slower than classic app architecture due to the warm-up requirement for cloud function.
- Performance for this solution could be notably worse than a classic app.
Security aspects
The approach to serve the client and server from a single entity (Google Cloud Function in this case) potentially weakens security in general. Also, higher costs for operation and less granularity on scalability may lead to increased risks for extra costs in case of a DDOS attack. It is highly recommended to make GCFF available only to a limited number of people to minimize the explained risks. Also, as the main use case is an internal tool, it may have some sensitive information available, so restricting access should also be necessary.
One of the approaches to restrict access is making the cloud function available only in virtual private networks. It works well if you already have an internal VPN set up for other purposes (as part of internal policy).
Another approach could be restricting the cloud function to authorized users in your organization. In this case, the user has to be authorized in their Google account to have access to this functionality. The downside of this approach is that it's not possible to provide authorization data to the browser, so a browser extension (e.g. ModHeader) should be used, which will add an 'Authorization' header to each request to the cloud function.
Features
Currently, GCFF provides three types of web applications:
- Static: This type serves static files.
- Express: It binds an Express.js application to an endpoint for a cloud function.
- React: It serves a React application at the provided path with support for React-Router.
Prerequisites
- Google Cloud Project with Cloud Functions and Cloud Storage APIs enabled
- Google Cloud Storage bucket to serve content
- gcloud CLI
- git
- nodejs and npm
Setup
Create Cloud Function
The GCFF CLI intentionally does not provide a command to create a cloud function, as this command would simply duplicate the gcloud
command. Cloud functions can be added through the Google Cloud Console. The following options are recommended/required:
- (Recommended) Environment: 2nd gen
- (Recommended) Require authentication: see reasons provided in the "Security Aspects" section
- (Required) Runtime: Node.js 18 or higher
Initially, the cloud function can be pushed with the default script (hello world). The actual server will be uploaded in the next step.
Upload Server
git clone [email protected]:ashyshko/gcff-server.git
cd gcff-server
npm install
npm run build
gcff server deploy <CLOUD_FUNCTION_NAME> out --gcffPath=<GCS_BUCKET_NAME>
Commands
gcff client init express FUNCTIONPATH
gcff client init react FUNCTIONPATH SRCFOLDER
gcff client init vite-react FUNCTIONPATH SRCFOLDER
gcff client list FUNCTIONNAME
gcff client prune FUNCTIONNAME
gcff client push express FUNCTIONPATH SCRIPT
gcff client push react FUNCTIONPATH PATH
gcff client push static FUNCTIONPATH PATH
gcff client remove FUNCTIONPATH
gcff dependencies check FUNCTIONNAME
gcff dependencies list FUNCTIONNAME
gcff dependencies sync FUNCTIONNAME
gcff help [COMMANDS]
gcff server deploy FUNCTIONNAME PATH
gcff client init express FUNCTIONPATH
Creates express client from template
USAGE
$ gcff client init express FUNCTIONPATH [--out <value>] [--name <value>]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONPATH Cloud function name and path (function-name/path/to/upload)
FLAGS
--name=<value> name for project
--out=<value> path to clone expressjs client template
DESCRIPTION
Creates express client from template
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client init express function-name/server/path
gcff client init react FUNCTIONPATH SRCFOLDER
Initializes react client
USAGE
$ gcff client init react FUNCTIONPATH SRCFOLDER
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONPATH Cloud function name and path (function-name/path/to/upload)
SRCFOLDER Directory containing the React package. It is recommended to use 'create-react-app' to initialize the
directory.
DESCRIPTION
Initializes react client
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client init react function-name/server/path react-app-folder
gcff client init vite-react FUNCTIONPATH SRCFOLDER
Initializes vite-react client
USAGE
$ gcff client init vite-react FUNCTIONPATH SRCFOLDER
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONPATH Cloud function name and path (function-name/path/to/upload)
SRCFOLDER Directory containing the ViteJS project. It is recommended to use 'npm create vite@latest my-react-app
-- --template react-ts' to initialize the directory.
DESCRIPTION
Initializes vite-react client
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client init vite-react function-name/server/path vite-react-app-folder
gcff client list FUNCTIONNAME
List all modules pushed to cloud function
USAGE
$ gcff client list FUNCTIONNAME [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>] [--json]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONNAME Cloud function name
FLAGS
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud services.
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
GLOBAL FLAGS
--json Format output as json.
DESCRIPTION
List all modules pushed to cloud function
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client list function-name
gcff client prune FUNCTIONNAME
Remove all unlinked files and verify files checksum
USAGE
$ gcff client prune FUNCTIONNAME [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>]
[--removeDamagedFiles] [-y] [--json]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONNAME Cloud function name
FLAGS
-y, --yes Automatically confirm any action
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud services.
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
--removeDamagedFiles Remove damaged files (files with mismatched checksums or incorrect resolve.json files) from GCS
GLOBAL FLAGS
--json Format output as json.
DESCRIPTION
Remove all unlinked files and verify files checksum
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client prune function-name
gcff client push express FUNCTIONPATH SCRIPT
Push express app to server
USAGE
$ gcff client push express FUNCTIONPATH SCRIPT --manifest <value> [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region
<value>] [--force] [-y]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONPATH Cloud function name and path (function-name/path/to/upload)
SCRIPT Location of AMD script with default export to express
FLAGS
-y, --yes Automatically confirm any action
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud services.
--force Override content even if it was not changed. Unlinked files from previous content are not going
to be removed
--manifest=<value> (required) path to package.json with dependencies for this project
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
DESCRIPTION
Push express app to server
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client push express function-name/server/path /path/to/script
gcff client push react FUNCTIONPATH PATH
Push react app content to server
USAGE
$ gcff client push react FUNCTIONPATH PATH [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>] [--force]
[-y] [--publicUrlPlaceholder <value>]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONPATH Cloud function name and path (function-name/path/to/upload)
PATH Location of files to deploy (local directory)
FLAGS
-y, --yes Automatically confirm any action
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud
services.
--force Override content even if it was not changed. Unlinked files from previous content are
not going to be removed
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--publicUrlPlaceholder=<value> [default: __REACT_APP_PUBLIC_URL_PLACEHOLDER__] Placeholder used as PUBLIC_URL
environment variable for React. Replaced with real path by server. Empty string to
avoid replacement
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
DESCRIPTION
Push react app content to server
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client push react function-name/server/path /path/to/folder
gcff client push static FUNCTIONPATH PATH
Push static content to server
USAGE
$ gcff client push static FUNCTIONPATH PATH [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>] [--force]
[-y] [--default <value>] [--index <value>]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONPATH Cloud function name and path (function-name/path/to/upload)
PATH Location of files to deploy (local directory)
FLAGS
-y, --yes Automatically confirm any action
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud services.
--default=<value> Serve provided file if requested file is not found. If --default specified without --index,
default file is served as index
--force Override content even if it was not changed. Unlinked files from previous content are not going
to be removed
--index=<value> Serve provided file if root requested. If --index is not specified but --default is specified,
default file is served as index
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
DESCRIPTION
Push static content to server
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client push static function-name/path /path/to/local/folder
gcff client remove FUNCTIONPATH
Removes client and its related files from cloud function
USAGE
$ gcff client remove FUNCTIONPATH [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>] [-y]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONPATH Cloud function name and path (function-name/path/to/upload)
FLAGS
-y, --yes Automatically confirm any action
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud services.
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
DESCRIPTION
Removes client and its related files from cloud function
EXAMPLES
$ gcff client remove function-name/path
gcff dependencies check FUNCTIONNAME
Check relevancy for nodejs dependencies for provided gcff cloud function
USAGE
$ gcff dependencies check FUNCTIONNAME [--json] [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>]
[--saveUpdatedDependencies <value>]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONNAME Cloud function name
FLAGS
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google
Cloud services.
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
--saveUpdatedDependencies=<value> JSON File name to save updated dependencies
GLOBAL FLAGS
--json Format output as json.
DESCRIPTION
Check relevancy for nodejs dependencies for provided gcff cloud function
EXAMPLES
$ gcff dependencies check function-name
gcff dependencies list FUNCTIONNAME
List currently installed packages for provided gcff cloud function
USAGE
$ gcff dependencies list FUNCTIONNAME [--json] [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONNAME Cloud function name
FLAGS
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud services.
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
GLOBAL FLAGS
--json Format output as json.
DESCRIPTION
List currently installed packages for provided gcff cloud function
EXAMPLES
$ gcff dependencies list function-name
gcff dependencies sync FUNCTIONNAME
Update dependencies without updating server
USAGE
$ gcff dependencies sync FUNCTIONNAME [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>]
[--ignoreConflicts] [--removeDependency <value>] [--loadDependencies <value> | --addDependency <value> | ] [-y]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONNAME Cloud function name
FLAGS
-y, --yes Automatically confirm any action
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud
services.
--addDependency=<value>... [default: ] Force add new dependency, overrides if dependency existed
--ignoreConflicts Ignore conflicts and upload only dependencies without conflicts
--loadDependencies=<value> Load dependencies from JSON file, use field "dependencies"
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
--removeDependency=<value>... [default: ] Force remove dependency, returns error if dependency existed
DESCRIPTION
Update dependencies without updating server
EXAMPLES
$ gcff dependencies sync function-name
gcff help [COMMANDS]
Display help for gcff.
USAGE
$ gcff help [COMMANDS] [-n]
ARGUMENTS
COMMANDS Command to show help for.
FLAGS
-n, --nested-commands Include all nested commands in the output.
DESCRIPTION
Display help for gcff.
See code: @oclif/plugin-help
gcff server deploy FUNCTIONNAME PATH
Updates Google Cloud Function
USAGE
$ gcff server deploy FUNCTIONNAME PATH [--accessToken <value> --project <value>] [--region <value>] [-f]
[--entry-point <value>] [--gcffPath <value>] [-y]
ARGUMENTS
FUNCTIONNAME Cloud function name
PATH Location of source code to deploy (root directory of function source)
FLAGS
-f, --force Override existing source without verification
-y, --yes Automatically confirm any action
--accessToken=<value> Specifies the access token used to authenticate and authorize access to Google Cloud services.
--entry-point=<value> Name of a Google Cloud Function (as defined in source code) that will be executed
--gcffPath=<value> Google Cloud Storage bucket path for serving content
--project=<value> Specifies the ID of the Google Cloud project to associate with provided gcsUrl.
--region=<value> [default: us-central1] The Cloud region for the function
DESCRIPTION
Updates Google Cloud Function
EXAMPLES
$ gcff server deploy function-name /path/to/server/dist