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gRPC 迁移到 FastAPI + Pydantic 技术方案

概述

本文档详细描述了将基于 gRPC 的服务迁移到 FastAPI + Pydantic 架构的技术设计和迁移策略。该迁移方案旨在解决关键的部署挑战,包括 protobuf 导入问题和请求/响应结构的可见性限制。

当前架构

服务概览

API Gateway (FastAPI) → [gRPC clients] → Workflow Services (gRPC)
└── Port 8000 (HTTP/REST) ├── Workflow Engine (Port 50050)
└── Workflow Agent (Port 50051)

当前的 gRPC 服务

1. Workflow Engine (端口 50050)

  • 服务: WorkflowService, TriggerService, HealthService
  • 主要功能:
    • 工作流 CRUD 操作(创建、读取、更新、删除、列表)
    • 工作流执行和状态管理
    • 触发器管理(创建、触发、事件列表)
    • 健康检查
  • 依赖项: PostgreSQL, Redis, Supabase, AI APIs

2. Workflow Agent (端口 50051)

  • 服务: WorkflowAgent
  • 主要功能:
    • GenerateWorkflow - AI 驱动的工作流生成
    • RefineWorkflow - 迭代式工作流改进
    • ValidateWorkflow - 工作流验证
  • 依赖项: LangGraph, Supabase (RAG), OpenAI, Anthropic APIs

当前部署问题

  1. Protobuf 导入复杂性

    • 多个 proto 文件依赖和循环引用
    • Docker 部署路径问题: from . import workflow_pb2 as workflow__pb2
    • 平台特定的导入解析(本地 vs AWS ECS)
  2. 开发体验问题

    • 生成的请求/响应结构缺乏 IDE 支持
    • proto 消息内容的调试能力有限
    • API 文档和测试困难
  3. 运维复杂性

    • gRPC 健康检查需要自定义配置
    • 服务发现与 DNS 和负载均衡器的复杂性
    • 相比 HTTP 服务的可观测性有限

Migration Strategy

Phase 1: Workflow Agent Migration (Priority 1)

Rationale: Workflow Agent has the most complex gRPC interface and benefits most from Pydantic's validation and serialization capabilities.

Target Architecture

# From gRPC proto:
service WorkflowAgent {
rpc GenerateWorkflow(WorkflowGenerationRequest) returns (WorkflowGenerationResponse);
rpc RefineWorkflow(WorkflowRefinementRequest) returns (WorkflowRefinementResponse);
rpc ValidateWorkflow(WorkflowValidationRequest) returns (WorkflowValidationResponse);
}

# To FastAPI + Pydantic:
@app.post("/v1/workflows/generate", response_model=WorkflowGenerationResponse)
async def generate_workflow(request: WorkflowGenerationRequest) -> WorkflowGenerationResponse

@app.post("/v1/workflows/{workflow_id}/refine", response_model=WorkflowRefinementResponse)
async def refine_workflow(workflow_id: str, request: WorkflowRefinementRequest) -> WorkflowRefinementResponse

@app.post("/v1/workflows/validate", response_model=WorkflowValidationResponse)
async def validate_workflow(request: WorkflowValidationRequest) -> WorkflowValidationResponse

Migration Steps

  1. Create Pydantic Models (replacing proto definitions)
# workflow_agent/models/requests.py
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
from typing import Dict, List, Optional

class WorkflowGenerationRequest(BaseModel):
description: str = Field(..., description="Natural language workflow description")
context: Dict[str, str] = Field(default_factory=dict, description="Additional context")
user_preferences: Dict[str, str] = Field(default_factory=dict, description="User preferences")

class WorkflowGenerationResponse(BaseModel):
success: bool
workflow: Optional['WorkflowData'] = None
suggestions: List[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
missing_info: List[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
errors: List[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
  1. Implement FastAPI Router
# workflow_agent/api/v1/workflows.py
from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException
from workflow_agent.agents.workflow_agent import WorkflowAgentGraph
from workflow_agent.models.requests import WorkflowGenerationRequest, WorkflowGenerationResponse

router = APIRouter(prefix="/v1/workflows", tags=["workflows"])

@router.post("/generate", response_model=WorkflowGenerationResponse)
async def generate_workflow(request: WorkflowGenerationRequest) -> WorkflowGenerationResponse:
try:
# Use existing LangGraph agent logic
agent = WorkflowAgentGraph()
result = await agent.generate_workflow(request)
return result
except Exception as e:
raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=str(e))
  1. Update API Gateway Client
# api-gateway/services/workflow_service_client.py
import httpx
from api_gateway.models.workflow import WorkflowGenerationRequest, WorkflowGenerationResponse

class WorkflowServiceClient:
def __init__(self, base_url: str = "http://workflow-agent:8001"):
self.client = httpx.AsyncClient(base_url=base_url)

async def generate_workflow(self, request: WorkflowGenerationRequest) -> WorkflowGenerationResponse:
response = await self.client.post("/v1/workflows/generate", json=request.dict())
response.raise_for_status()
return WorkflowGenerationResponse(**response.json())

Phase 2: Workflow Engine Migration (Priority 2)

Target Architecture

# From gRPC WorkflowService to FastAPI endpoints:
@app.post("/v1/workflows", response_model=CreateWorkflowResponse)
async def create_workflow(request: CreateWorkflowRequest) -> CreateWorkflowResponse

@app.get("/v1/workflows/{workflow_id}", response_model=GetWorkflowResponse)
async def get_workflow(workflow_id: str, user_id: str) -> GetWorkflowResponse

@app.post("/v1/workflows/{workflow_id}/execute", response_model=ExecuteWorkflowResponse)
async def execute_workflow(workflow_id: str, request: ExecuteWorkflowRequest) -> ExecuteWorkflowResponse

# Trigger management endpoints:
@app.post("/v1/triggers", response_model=CreateTriggerResponse)
async def create_trigger(request: CreateTriggerRequest) -> CreateTriggerResponse

@app.post("/v1/triggers/{trigger_id}/fire", response_model=FireTriggerResponse)
async def fire_trigger(trigger_id: str, request: FireTriggerRequest) -> FireTriggerResponse

Pydantic Models Design

# workflow_engine/models/workflow.py
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
from typing import List, Dict, Optional
from enum import Enum

class NodeData(BaseModel):
id: str
name: str
type: str
subtype: Optional[str] = None
position: 'PositionData'
parameters: Dict[str, str] = Field(default_factory=dict)
disabled: bool = False
on_error: str = "continue"

class WorkflowData(BaseModel):
id: Optional[str] = None
name: str
description: Optional[str] = None
nodes: List[NodeData]
connections: 'ConnectionsMapData'
settings: 'WorkflowSettingsData'
static_data: Dict[str, str] = Field(default_factory=dict)
tags: List[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
active: bool = True
created_at: Optional[int] = None
updated_at: Optional[int] = None

class CreateWorkflowRequest(BaseModel):
name: str = Field(..., min_length=1, max_length=255)
description: Optional[str] = Field(None, max_length=1000)
nodes: List[NodeData] = Field(..., min_items=1)
connections: 'ConnectionsMapData'
settings: Optional['WorkflowSettingsData'] = None
static_data: Dict[str, str] = Field(default_factory=dict)
tags: List[str] = Field(default_factory=list)
user_id: str = Field(..., min_length=1)
session_id: Optional[str] = None

class CreateWorkflowResponse(BaseModel):
workflow: WorkflowData
success: bool = True
message: str = "Workflow created successfully"

Implementation Details

1. Port Configuration Changes

# docker-compose.yml updates
services:
workflow-agent:
ports:
- "8001:8000" # Changed from gRPC 50051 to HTTP 8000
environment:
- PORT=8000
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8000/health"] # HTTP health check

workflow-engine:
ports:
- "8002:8000" # Changed from gRPC 50050 to HTTP 8000
environment:
- PORT=8000
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8000/health"] # HTTP health check

2. Service Communication Updates

API Gateway Client Changes

# api-gateway/services/enhanced_http_client.py
class WorkflowServiceHTTPClient:
def __init__(self):
self.workflow_agent_url = os.getenv("WORKFLOW_AGENT_URL", "http://workflow-agent:8000")
self.workflow_engine_url = os.getenv("WORKFLOW_ENGINE_URL", "http://workflow-engine:8000")
self.timeout = httpx.Timeout(30.0, connect=5.0)

async def generate_workflow(self, request: WorkflowGenerationRequest) -> WorkflowGenerationResponse:
async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=self.timeout) as client:
response = await client.post(
f"{self.workflow_agent_url}/v1/workflows/generate",
json=request.dict(),
headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"}
)
response.raise_for_status()
return WorkflowGenerationResponse(**response.json())

async def create_workflow(self, request: CreateWorkflowRequest) -> CreateWorkflowResponse:
async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=self.timeout) as client:
response = await client.post(
f"{self.workflow_engine_url}/v1/workflows",
json=request.dict(),
headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"}
)
response.raise_for_status()
return CreateWorkflowResponse(**response.json())

3. FastAPI Application Structure

Workflow Agent Structure

workflow_agent/
├── api/
│ ├── __init__.py
│ ├── deps.py # Dependency injection
│ └── v1/
│ ├── __init__.py
│ └── workflows.py # Workflow endpoints
├── models/
│ ├── __init__.py
│ ├── requests.py # Request models
│ ├── responses.py # Response models
│ └── workflow.py # Workflow data models
├── main.py # FastAPI app initialization
└── core/
├── config.py # Settings (unchanged)
└── exceptions.py # HTTP exception handlers

Main Application Setup

# workflow_agent/main.py
from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
from workflow_agent.api.v1.workflows import router as workflows_router
from workflow_agent.core.config import settings

app = FastAPI(
title="Workflow Agent API",
description="AI-powered workflow generation and consultation service",
version="1.0.0",
docs_url="/docs",
redoc_url="/redoc"
)

app.add_middleware(
CORSMiddleware,
allow_origins=["*"], # Configure appropriately for production
allow_credentials=True,
allow_methods=["*"],
allow_headers=["*"],
)

app.include_router(workflows_router)

@app.get("/health")
async def health_check():
return {"status": "healthy"}

@app.get("/")
async def root():
return {"message": "Workflow Agent API"}

if __name__ == "__main__":
import uvicorn
uvicorn.run(
"main:app",
host="0.0.0.0",
port=settings.PORT,
reload=settings.DEBUG
)

4. Data Validation Benefits

Pydantic Validation Examples

# Automatic validation and documentation
class CreateWorkflowRequest(BaseModel):
name: str = Field(..., min_length=1, max_length=255, description="Workflow name")
nodes: List[NodeData] = Field(..., min_items=1, description="At least one node required")

@validator('name')
def name_must_not_be_empty(cls, v):
if not v.strip():
raise ValueError('Name cannot be empty or whitespace only')
return v.strip()

@validator('nodes')
def validate_node_connections(cls, v, values):
node_ids = {node.id for node in v}
# Custom validation logic for node relationships
return v

# Automatic OpenAPI documentation generation with examples
class WorkflowGenerationRequest(BaseModel):
description: str = Field(
...,
description="Natural language description of the desired workflow",
example="Create a workflow that processes incoming emails, extracts important information using AI, and sends notifications to Slack"
)

class Config:
schema_extra = {
"example": {
"description": "Process customer feedback emails and categorize them",
"context": {
"domain": "customer_service",
"priority": "high"
}
}
}

Local Docker Deployment Strategy

1. Updated Docker Compose Configuration

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
# Infrastructure (unchanged)
redis:
image: redis:7-alpine
container_name: agent-team-redis
ports:
- "6379:6379"
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
interval: 10s
timeout: 5s
retries: 3

# Workflow Agent - Migrated to FastAPI
workflow-agent:
build:
context: .
dockerfile: ./workflow_agent/Dockerfile.fastapi # New Dockerfile
target: production
container_name: agent-team-workflow-agent
ports:
- "8001:8000" # Changed from gRPC 50051
environment:
# FastAPI configuration
PORT: "8000"
DEBUG: "${DEBUG:-false}"

# Database and cache (unchanged)
SUPABASE_URL: "${SUPABASE_URL}"
SUPABASE_SECRET_KEY: "${SUPABASE_SECRET_KEY}"
REDIS_URL: "redis://redis:6379/0"

# AI APIs (unchanged)
OPENAI_API_KEY: "${OPENAI_API_KEY}"
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}"
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8000/health"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
retries: 3
start_period: 60s # Reduced from gRPC's 240s
depends_on:
- redis
networks:
- agent-team-network

# Workflow Engine - Migrated to FastAPI
workflow-engine:
build:
context: .
dockerfile: ./workflow_engine/Dockerfile.fastapi # New Dockerfile
target: production
container_name: agent-team-workflow-engine
ports:
- "8002:8000" # Changed from gRPC 50050
environment:
PORT: "8000"
DEBUG: "${DEBUG:-false}"
DATABASE_URL: "${DATABASE_URL}"
REDIS_URL: "redis://redis:6379/0"
OPENAI_API_KEY: "${OPENAI_API_KEY}"
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: "${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}"
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8000/health"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
retries: 3
start_period: 45s # Reduced from gRPC's 180s
depends_on:
- redis
networks:
- agent-team-network

# API Gateway - Updated client configuration
api-gateway:
build:
context: .
dockerfile: ./api-gateway/Dockerfile
container_name: api_gateway_service
ports:
- "8000:8000"
environment:
# Updated service URLs
WORKFLOW_AGENT_URL: "http://workflow-agent:8000"
WORKFLOW_ENGINE_URL: "http://workflow-engine:8000"
REDIS_URL: "redis://redis:6379/0"
depends_on:
- redis
- workflow-agent
- workflow-engine
networks:
- agent-team-network

networks:
agent-team-network:
driver: bridge

2. New Dockerfiles for FastAPI Services

Workflow Agent Dockerfile

# workflow_agent/Dockerfile.fastapi
FROM python:3.11-slim as base

WORKDIR /app

# Install system dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
gcc \
&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Copy requirements first for better caching
COPY workflow_agent/requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt

# Copy application code
COPY workflow_agent/ ./workflow_agent/
COPY shared/ ./shared/

# Production stage
FROM base as production

# Create non-root user
RUN useradd --create-home --shell /bin/bash app
USER app

# Expose port
EXPOSE 8000

# Health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=10s --start-period=60s --retries=3 \
CMD curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1

# Run FastAPI with uvicorn
CMD ["python", "-m", "uvicorn", "workflow_agent.main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "8000"]

3. Development Commands

# Start all services
docker-compose up -d

# Start individual services for development
docker-compose up -d redis
docker-compose up workflow-agent # With live reload

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f workflow-agent
docker-compose logs -f workflow-engine

# API Documentation access
# Workflow Agent: http://localhost:8001/docs
# Workflow Engine: http://localhost:8002/docs
# API Gateway: http://localhost:8000/docs (existing)

# Health checks
curl http://localhost:8001/health # Workflow Agent
curl http://localhost:8002/health # Workflow Engine
curl http://localhost:8000/health # API Gateway

# Test API endpoints
curl -X POST http://localhost:8001/v1/workflows/generate \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"description": "Create a simple email notification workflow"}'

AWS Deployment Strategy

1. ECS Task Definition Updates

Workflow Agent Task Definition Changes

# infra/ecs.tf
resource "aws_ecs_task_definition" "workflow_agent" {
family = "${local.name_prefix}-workflow-agent"
network_mode = "awsvpc"
requires_compatibilities = ["FARGATE"]
cpu = var.workflow_agent_cpu
memory = var.workflow_agent_memory
execution_role_arn = aws_iam_role.ecs_task_execution_role.arn
task_role_arn = aws_iam_role.ecs_task_role.arn

container_definitions = jsonencode([
{
name = "workflow-agent"
image = "${aws_ecr_repository.workflow_agent.repository_url}:${var.image_tag}"

# Updated port mapping for HTTP
portMappings = [
{
containerPort = 8000 # Changed from 50051
protocol = "tcp"
}
]

environment = [
{
name = "PORT"
value = "8000"
},
{
name = "DEBUG"
value = "false"
},
# ... other environment variables remain the same
]

# Updated health check for HTTP
healthCheck = {
command = ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -f http://localhost:8000/health || exit 1"]
interval = 30
timeout = 5
retries = 3
startPeriod = 60 # Reduced from 240s due to faster HTTP startup
}

logConfiguration = {
logDriver = "awslogs"
options = {
awslogs-group = aws_cloudwatch_log_group.ecs.name
awslogs-region = var.aws_region
awslogs-stream-prefix = "workflow-agent"
}
}
}
])

tags = local.common_tags
}

2. Load Balancer Configuration Updates

Remove gRPC Network Load Balancer (No Longer Needed)

# infra/load_balancer.tf - Remove this block
# resource "aws_lb" "grpc_internal" {
# name = "${local.name_prefix}-grpc-nlb"
# internal = true
# load_balancer_type = "network"
# subnets = aws_subnet.private[*].id
# }

Update Application Load Balancer for All HTTP Services

# infra/load_balancer.tf
# Target Group for Workflow Agent (now HTTP)
resource "aws_lb_target_group" "workflow_agent_http" {
name = "${local.name_prefix}-agent-tg"
port = 8000
protocol = "HTTP"
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id
target_type = "ip"

health_check {
enabled = true
healthy_threshold = 2
interval = 30
matcher = "200"
path = "/health"
port = "traffic-port"
protocol = "HTTP"
timeout = 5
unhealthy_threshold = 2
}

tags = merge(local.common_tags, {
Name = "${local.name_prefix}-workflow-agent-tg"
})
}

# Target Group for Workflow Engine (now HTTP)
resource "aws_lb_target_group" "workflow_engine_http" {
name = "${local.name_prefix}-engine-tg"
port = 8000
protocol = "HTTP"
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id
target_type = "ip"

health_check {
enabled = true
healthy_threshold = 2
interval = 30
matcher = "200"
path = "/health"
port = "traffic-port"
protocol = "HTTP"
timeout = 5
unhealthy_threshold = 2
}

tags = merge(local.common_tags, {
Name = "${local.name_prefix}-workflow-engine-tg"
})
}

# ALB Listener Rules for Path-Based Routing
resource "aws_lb_listener_rule" "workflow_agent" {
listener_arn = aws_lb_listener.main.arn
priority = 100

action {
type = "forward"
target_group_arn = aws_lb_target_group.workflow_agent_http.arn
}

condition {
path_pattern {
values = ["/v1/workflows/generate*", "/v1/workflows/*/refine*", "/v1/workflows/validate*"]
}
}

tags = local.common_tags
}

resource "aws_lb_listener_rule" "workflow_engine" {
listener_arn = aws_lb_listener.main.arn
priority = 200

action {
type = "forward"
target_group_arn = aws_lb_target_group.workflow_engine_http.arn
}

condition {
path_pattern {
values = ["/v1/workflows*", "/v1/triggers*", "/v1/executions*"]
}
}

tags = local.common_tags
}

3. Service Discovery Simplification

Updated Service Discovery for HTTP Services

# infra/service_discovery.tf
# Service Discovery Services can be simplified or removed
# Since HTTP services can use ALB-based service discovery through DNS

# Optional: Keep for internal service-to-service communication
resource "aws_service_discovery_service" "workflow_agent" {
name = "workflow-agent"

dns_config {
namespace_id = aws_service_discovery_private_dns_namespace.main.id

dns_records {
ttl = 10
type = "A"
}

routing_policy = "MULTIVALUE"
}

# HTTP services can use simpler health checks
health_check_custom_config {
failure_threshold = 1
}

tags = merge(local.common_tags, {
Name = "${local.name_prefix}-workflow-agent-discovery"
})
}

4. ECS Service Configuration Updates

# infra/ecs.tf
# ECS Service for Workflow Agent (HTTP)
resource "aws_ecs_service" "workflow_agent" {
name = "workflow-agent-service"
cluster = aws_ecs_cluster.main.id
task_definition = aws_ecs_task_definition.workflow_agent.arn
desired_count = var.desired_count
launch_type = "FARGATE"

network_configuration {
security_groups = [aws_security_group.ecs_tasks.id]
subnets = aws_subnet.private[*].id
assign_public_ip = false
}

# Updated load balancer configuration for HTTP
load_balancer {
target_group_arn = aws_lb_target_group.workflow_agent_http.arn
container_name = "workflow-agent"
container_port = 8000 # Changed from 50051
}

service_registries {
registry_arn = aws_service_discovery_service.workflow_agent.arn
}

depends_on = [aws_lb_listener.main]

tags = local.common_tags
}

5. Security Group Updates

# infra/security_groups.tf
# ECS Tasks Security Group - Update for HTTP services
resource "aws_security_group" "ecs_tasks" {
name_prefix = "${local.name_prefix}-ecs-tasks"
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id

# HTTP traffic for all services
ingress {
protocol = "tcp"
from_port = 8000
to_port = 8000
security_groups = [aws_security_group.alb.id]
description = "HTTP traffic from ALB"
}

# Remove gRPC port rules (50050, 50051) - no longer needed

# Redis access
ingress {
protocol = "tcp"
from_port = 6379
to_port = 6379
cidr_blocks = [aws_vpc.main.cidr_block]
description = "Redis access"
}

egress {
protocol = "-1"
from_port = 0
to_port = 0
cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
description = "All outbound traffic"
}

tags = merge(local.common_tags, {
Name = "${local.name_prefix}-ecs-tasks-sg"
})
}

6. GitHub Actions Deployment Updates

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
# Build and push section remains similar, but Dockerfile names change
- name: Build, tag, and push image to Amazon ECR
env:
ECR_REGISTRY: ${{ steps.login-ecr.outputs.registry }}
IMAGE_TAG: ${{ github.sha }}
run: |
# Build and push Docker image - Updated Dockerfile names
docker buildx build \
--platform linux/amd64 \
--target production \
--file ${{ matrix.service.dockerfile }}.fastapi \ # New Dockerfile names
--tag $ECR_REGISTRY/${{ matrix.service.repository }}:$IMAGE_TAG \
--tag $ECR_REGISTRY/${{ matrix.service.repository }}:latest \
--push \
${{ matrix.service.context }}

deploy:
# Deployment section simplified - no gRPC-specific service discovery cleanup needed
steps:
# ... existing steps ...

# Remove service discovery cleanup step - no longer needed for HTTP services
# - name: Handle Service Discovery cleanup if needed

- name: Terraform Apply
working-directory: infra
env:
TF_VAR_image_tag: ${{ github.sha }}
# ... other environment variables
run: terraform apply -auto-approve tfplan

# Service updates remain the same
- name: Update ECS Service - Workflow Agent
run: |
aws ecs update-service \
--cluster agent-team-production-cluster \
--service workflow-agent-service \
--force-new-deployment \
--region ${{ env.AWS_REGION }}

Migration Timeline and Rollback Strategy

Phase 1: Workflow Agent Migration (Week 1-2)

  1. Day 1-3: Create Pydantic models and FastAPI endpoints
  2. Day 4-5: Update local Docker environment and testing
  3. Day 6-7: Deploy to staging environment
  4. Week 2: Production deployment with monitoring

Phase 2: Workflow Engine Migration (Week 3-4)

  1. Day 1-4: Implement FastAPI endpoints for workflow CRUD operations
  2. Day 5-6: Implement trigger management endpoints
  3. Day 7: Integration testing and local deployment
  4. Week 4: Staging and production deployment

Rollback Strategy

  1. Code Rollback: Maintain gRPC implementation alongside FastAPI during migration
  2. Infrastructure Rollback: Keep existing ECS task definitions as backups
  3. DNS/Load Balancer Rollback: Quick switch between gRPC and HTTP target groups
  4. Feature Flags: Use environment variables to toggle between gRPC and HTTP clients

Benefits Assessment

Development Experience Improvements

  1. IDE Support: Full IntelliSense and type checking for request/response models
  2. API Documentation: Automatic OpenAPI/Swagger documentation generation
  3. Testing: Standard HTTP testing tools (curl, Postman, pytest-httpx)
  4. Debugging: Clear JSON request/response bodies in logs

Operational Improvements

  1. Simplified Health Checks: HTTP health endpoints vs. gRPC health probes
  2. Load Balancing: Standard ALB path-based routing vs. NLB + service discovery
  3. Monitoring: Standard HTTP metrics and logging
  4. Troubleshooting: HTTP status codes vs. gRPC status codes

Deployment Simplifications

  1. No Protobuf Dependencies: Eliminates import path issues in Docker
  2. Faster Startup: HTTP services start faster than gRPC services
  3. Platform Independence: No platform-specific protobuf compilation
  4. Simplified Networking: Single load balancer instead of ALB + NLB

Risk Mitigation

Performance Considerations

  • HTTP vs gRPC Overhead: Minimal impact for current request volumes
  • JSON vs Protobuf Serialization: Pydantic provides efficient JSON handling
  • Load Testing: Comprehensive testing before production migration

Data Compatibility

  • Schema Evolution: Maintain backward compatibility during transition
  • Validation Parity: Ensure Pydantic models match proto field validations
  • Error Handling: Map gRPC status codes to appropriate HTTP status codes

Service Dependencies

  • Graceful Migration: Support both protocols during transition period
  • Client Updates: Update API Gateway clients with proper error handling
  • Monitoring: Enhanced monitoring during migration phases

Conclusion

The migration from gRPC to FastAPI + Pydantic addresses critical development and deployment challenges while maintaining system functionality. The phased approach minimizes risk while providing immediate benefits in development experience and operational simplicity.

Key advantages:

  • ✅ Eliminates protobuf import issues in Docker deployments
  • ✅ Provides full IDE support and type safety with Pydantic
  • ✅ Simplifies AWS ECS deployment configuration
  • ✅ Enables standard HTTP monitoring and debugging tools
  • ✅ Generates automatic API documentation
  • ✅ Reduces service startup time and health check complexity

The migration plan ensures system reliability while modernizing the service architecture for improved developer productivity and operational efficiency.