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Wire protocol families (interop vs Deuk native)

The same string names for --protocol, npm serialize / deserialize, and generated C# / C++ code sit on top of two families. Use this page to see which stack implements which wire.

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1. Family (wireFamily)

Value Meaning
interop Thrift-compatible bytes and semantics
deuk Deuk-native wire (what the npm JS serializer implements)

The protocol string must match the family. Use WireProtocolOption, deukWire(), or interopWire() in the core types when you want the family fixed in the type system. Details: Interop vs native wire.

2. Protocol matrix (by language runtime)

Interop family (interop) — Thrift

Only these protocol strings are valid: tbinary, tcompact, tjson. Older spellings such as binary / compact / thrift_json are not accepted by the CLI or types.

protocol Role JS WireSerializer Native (C# / C++ / Java) Elixir
tbinary Thrift Binary Implemented when you pass interopRootStruct DpBinaryProtocol Native BEAM Pattern Matching
tcompact Thrift Compact Same DpCompactProtocol N/A
tjson Thrift JSON wrapper Same C# and other runtimes N/A
{: .dp-matrix-table }

Without a root struct schema, JS throws a clear error (the engine cannot infer field ids). Use serializeInteropStruct / deserializeInteropStruct or WireSerializer with SerializationOptions filled from parse/schema. Generated C# / C++ remains the main path for app-sized stacks.

Protobuf byte wire (planned)

Google Protobuf-style byte encoding (protv2 / protv3 profiles) is on the roadmap, not shipped yet. Until then, use Thrift interop (tbinary / tcompact / tjson) or Deuk native wires. protv2 / protv3 may still appear in docs as field-rule labels only.

Deuk native family (deuk)

protocol Role JS WireSerializer Native (C# / C++ / Java) Elixir
pack Tagged binary (Deuk native) Implemented Reader/Writer for that family Implemented
json UTF-8 JSON (values only) Implemented Same family Passthrough
yaml UTF-8 YAML (values only) Implemented Same family N/A
{: .dp-matrix-table }

CLI --protocol default (codegen hint): pack. Interop CLI values are tbinary / tcompact / tjson; legacy binary is normalized to tbinary.

3. npm serialize / deserialize (simple API)

  • Default format argument: pack (Deuk native binary) when omitted.
  • You can pass wireFamily so it stays consistent with protocol; mismatches are rejected.
import { serialize, deserialize } from 'deukpack';
// default = pack (deuk family)
const bytes = serialize(obj);

For Thrift Binary/Compact/JSON from JS, supply interopRootStruct (and interopStructDefs if needed). For pack / json / yaml, no struct metadata is required.

4. CLI --protocol and codegen

--protocol Family Wire role
pack, json, yaml deuk Deuk native
tbinary, tcompact, tjson interop Thrift compatible

One value per codegen pass; split output dirs or use --pipeline for multiple wires.

🛡️ Core Security Constraints (Applies to all Wire Protocols)

By default, all interop and native DeukPack decoders (across Java, C#, JS, and Elixir) proactively enforce limits against memory bombs and malicious payload traversals without runtime reflection overhead: - MAX_SAFE_LENGTH (10MB): Array/list item counts and string byte-length allocation attempts exceeding 10MB are strictly aborted via [DeukPack] pack read overflow or Native Exceptions prior to VM allocation. - MAX_RECURSION_DEPTH (64): A deeply nested class parameter passing sequence natively terminates after crossing a depth of 64 object layers to defeat stack overflow algorithmic attacks.

5. Two different json stories

  • Deuk native json / yaml: value-only JSON/YAML on the wire — see DEUKPACK_DEUK_JSON_YAML (vs .deuk.json config files).
  • tjson: Thrift JSON compatibility family — not the same as native json.

6. See also

Hands-on (DeukPack Kits)