To support quick iteration and debugging, Cloud Functions provides a
call
command in the command-line interface and testing functionality in the
Cloud Console UI. This allows you to directly invoke a function to
ensure it is behaving as expected. This causes the function to execute
immediately, even though it may have been deployed to respond to a
specific event.
Using the gcloud
command-line interface
To directly invoke a function using the gcloud
tool, use the
gcloud functions call
command and supply any data your function expects
as JSON in the --data
argument. For example:
gcloud functions call YOUR_FUNCTION_NAME --data '{"name":"Keyboard Cat"}'
where YOUR_FUNCTION_NAME
is the name of the function
you want to execute. The --data
argument is sent to your function as follows:
- For HTTP functions, the data you supply is sent as the body of a POST request.
- For background functions, the data is passed directly as the event data to your function. For more information on accessing event data in background functions, see Background function parameters.
- For CloudEvent functions, the data is passed directly as the event data to your function. For more information on accessing event data in CloudEvent functions, see CloudEvent function parameters.
Using the GCP Console
To directly invoke a function from the Cloud Console, follow these steps:
Go to the Cloud Functions Overview page.
From the list, click the name of the function you want to invoke.
This takes you to the Function details page.
Click the Testing tab.
In the Triggering event field, enter any data your function expects as JSON.
Click Test the function.
Your function's response appears in the Output field, and logs for the individual execution appear in the Logs field.
Cloud Pub/Sub event-driven function example
This example shows how to directly invoke an event-driven function triggered by Cloud Pub/Sub events:
Node.js
Python
Go
Java
C#
Ruby
PHP
To directly invoke the function, you need to send a
PubsubMessage
,
which expects base64-encoded data, as the event data:
Node.js
DATA=$(printf 'Hello!'|base64) && gcloud functions call helloPubSub --data '{"data":"'$DATA'"}'
Python
DATA=$(printf 'Hello!'|base64) && gcloud functions call hello_pubsub --data '{"data":"'$DATA'"}'
Go
DATA=$(printf 'Hello!'|base64) && gcloud functions call HelloPubSub --data '{"data":"'$DATA'"}'
Java
DATA=$(printf 'Hello!'|base64) && gcloud functions call java-hello-pubsub --data '{"data":"'$DATA'"}'
C#
DATA=$(printf 'Hello!'|base64) && gcloud functions call csharp-hello-pubsub --data '{"data":"'$DATA'"}'
Ruby
DATA=$(printf 'Hello!'|base64) && gcloud functions call hello_pubsub --data '{"data":"'$DATA'"}'
PHP
DATA=$(printf 'Hello!'|base64) && gcloud functions call helloworldPubsub --data '{"data":"'$DATA'"}'
You can also invoke the function from the Cloud Console UI: simply use the same event data in the Triggering event field.