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Microservice Communication with Laravel Workflow

· 4 min read
Richard

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In the evolving landscape of microservices, communication has always been a focal point. Microservices can interact in various ways, be it through HTTP/REST calls, using messaging protocols like RabbitMQ or Kafka, or even employing more recent technologies like gRPC. Yet, regardless of the communication method, the goal remains the same: seamless, efficient, and robust interactions. Today, we’ll explore how Laravel Workflow can fit into this picture and optimize the communication between microservices in a unique way.

The Challenge​

In a microservices architecture, decoupling is the name of the game. You want each service to have a single responsibility, to be maintainable, and to be independently deployable. Yet, in the world of workflows, this becomes challenging. How do you split a workflow from its activity and yet ensure they communicate seamlessly?

Laravel Workflow to the Rescue!​

Laravel Workflow handles the discovery and orchestration for you! With a shared database and queue connection, you can have your workflow in one Laravel app and its activity logic in another.

Defining Workflows and Activities​

1. Create a workflow.​

use Workflow\ActivityStub;
use Workflow\Workflow;

class MyWorkflow extends Workflow
{
    public function execute($name)
    {
        $result = yield ActivityStub::make(MyActivity::class, $name);
        return $result;
    }
}

2. Create an activity.​

use Workflow\Activity;

class MyActivity extends Activity
{
    public function execute($name)
    {
        return "Hello, {$name}!";
    }
}

3. Run the workflow.​

use Workflow\WorkflowStub;

$workflow = WorkflowStub::make(MyWorkflow::class);
$workflow->start('world');
while ($workflow->running());
$workflow->output();
// Output: 'Hello, world!'

The workflow will manage the activity and handle any failures, retries, etc. Think of workflows like job chaining on steroids because you can have conditional logic, loops, return a result that can be used in the next activity, and write everything in typical PHP code that is failure tolerant.

Balancing Shared and Dedicated Resources​

When working with microservices, it’s common for each service to have its dedicated resources, such as databases, caches, and queues. However, to facilitate communication between workflows and activities across services, a shared connection (like a database or queue) becomes essential. This shared connection acts as a bridge for data and task exchanges while ensuring:

  1. Isolation: Dedicated resources prevent cascading failures.
  2. Performance: Each service can be optimized independently.
  3. Security: Isolation limits potential attack vectors.

Step-By-Step Integration​

1. Install laravel-workflow in all microservices.​

Follow the installation guide.

2. Create a shared database/redis connection in all microservices.​

// config/database.php
'connections' => [
    'shared' => [
        'driver' => 'mysql',
        'host' => env('SHARED_DB_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
        'database' => env('SHARED_DB_DATABASE', 'forge'),
        'username' => env('SHARED_DB_USERNAME', 'forge'),
        'password' => env('SHARED_DB_PASSWORD', ''),
    ],
],

3. Configure a shared queue connection.​

// config/queue.php
'connections' => [
    'shared' => [
        'driver' => 'redis',
        'connection' => 'shared',
        'queue' => env('SHARED_REDIS_QUEUE', 'default'),
    ],
],

4. Ensure only one microservice publishes Laravel Workflow migrations.​

Update the migration to use the shared database connection.

// database/migrations/..._create_workflows_table.php
class CreateWorkflowsTable extends Migration
{
    protected $connection = 'shared';
}

5. Extend workflow models in each microservice to use the shared connection.​

// app/Models/StoredWorkflow.php
namespace App\Models;

use Workflow\Models\StoredWorkflow as BaseStoredWorkflow;

class StoredWorkflow extends BaseStoredWorkflow
{
    protected $connection = 'shared';
}

6. Publish Laravel Workflow config and update it with shared models.​

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Workflow\Providers\WorkflowServiceProvider" --tag="config"

7. Set workflows and activities to use the shared queue.​

// app/Workflows/MyWorkflow.php
class MyWorkflow extends Workflow
{
    public $connection = 'shared';
    public $queue = 'workflow';
}
// app/Workflows/MyActivity.php
class MyActivity extends Activity
{
    public $connection = 'shared';
    public $queue = 'activity';
}

8. Ensure microservices define empty counterparts for workflow and activity classes.​

In the workflow microservice:​

class MyWorkflow extends Workflow
{
    public $connection = 'shared';
    public $queue = 'workflow';

    public function execute($name)
    {
        yield ActivityStub::make(MyActivity::class, $name);
    }
}
class MyActivity extends Activity
{
    public $connection = 'shared';
    public $queue = 'activity';
}

In the activity microservice:​

class MyWorkflow extends Workflow
{
    public $connection = 'shared';
    public $queue = 'workflow';
}
class MyActivity extends Activity
{
    public $connection = 'shared';
    public $queue = 'activity';

    public function execute($name)
    {
        return "Hello, {$name}!";
    }
}

9. Ensure all microservices have the same APP_KEY in their .env file.​

This is crucial for proper job serialization across services.

10. Run queue workers in each microservice.​

php artisan queue:work shared --queue=workflow
php artisan queue:work shared --queue=activity

Conclusion​

By following the steps above, you can ensure seamless interactions between microservices while maintaining modularity and scalability. Laravel Workflow takes care of the discovery and orchestration for you. 🚀

Thanks for reading!