Communicating with Server Workers
Server Workers in Jazz can receive data from clients through two different APIs, each with their own characteristics and use cases. This guide covers the key properties of each approach to help you choose the right one for your application.
Overview
Jazz provides two ways to communicate with Server Workers:
- HTTP Requests - The easiest to work with and deploy, uses standard Request/Response objects
- Inbox - Fully built using the Jazz data model with offline support
HTTP Requests (Recommended)
HTTP requests are the most straightforward way to communicate with Server Workers. They work well with any framework or runtime that supports standard Request and Response objects, can be scaled horizontally, and put clients and workers in direct communication.
When to use HTTP Requests
Use HTTP requests when you need immediate responses, are deploying to serverless environments, need horizontal scaling, or are working with standard web frameworks.
It's also a good solution when using full-stack frameworks like Next.js, where you can use the API routes to handle the server-side logic.
Learn more about HTTP Requests →
Inbox
The Inbox API is fully built using the Jazz data model and provides offline support. Requests and responses are synced as soon as the device becomes online, but require the Worker to always be online to work properly.
When to use Inbox
Use Inbox when you need offline support, want to leverage the Jazz data model, can ensure the worker stays online, need persistent message storage, or want to review message history.
It works great when you don't want to expose your server with a public address, because it uses Jazz's sync to make the communication happen.
Since Jazz handles all the network communication, the entire class of network errors that usually come with traditional HTTP requests are not a problem when using the Inbox API.