Publish messages to topics
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This document provides information about publishing messages.

A publisher application creates and sends messages to a topic. Pub/Sub offers at-least-once message delivery and best-effort ordering to existing subscribers.

The general flow for a publisher application is:

Create a message containing your data.
Send a request to the Pub/Sub server to publish the message to the specified topic.

Before you begin

Before configuring the publish workflow, ensure you have completed the following tasks:

Required roles

To get the permissions that you need to publish messages to a topic, ask your administrator to grant you the Pub/Sub Publisher (roles/pubsub.publisher) IAM role on the topic. For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations.

You might also be able to get the required permissions through custom roles or other predefined roles.

You need additional permissions to create or update topics and subscriptions.

Message format

A message consists of fields with the message data and metadata. Specify at least one of the following in the message:

The message data
An ordering key
Attributes with additional metadata

The Pub/Sub service adds the following fields to the message:

A message ID unique to the topic
A timestamp for when the Pub/Sub service receives the message

To learn more about messages, see Message format.

Publish messages

You can publish messages with the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, Pub/Sub API, and the client libraries. The client libraries can asynchronously publish messages.

The following samples demonstrate how to publish a message to a topic.

Console

To publish a message, follow these steps:

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Pub/Sub topics page.

Go to the Pub/Sub topics page
Click the topic ID.
In the Topic details page under Messages, click Publish message.
In the Message body field, enter the message data.
Click Publish.

gcloud

To publish a message, use the gcloud pubsub topics publish command:

gcloud pubsub topics publish TOPIC_ID \
  --message=MESSAGE_DATA \
  [--attribute=KEY="VALUE",...]

Replace the following:

TOPIC_ID: the ID of the topic
MESSAGE_DATA: a string with the message data
KEY: the key of a message attribute
VALUE: the value for the key of the message attribute

REST

To publish a message, send a POST request like the following:

POST  https://pubsub.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/topics/TOPIC_ID:publish
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)

Replace the following:

PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project with the topic
TOPIC_ID: the ID of the topic

Specify the following fields in the request body:

{
  "messages": [
    {
      "attributes": {
        "KEY": "VALUE",
        ...
      },
      "data": "MESSAGE_DATA",
    }
  ]
}

Replace the following:

KEY: the key of a message attribute
VALUE: the value for the key of the message attribute
MESSAGE_DATA: a base64-encoded string with the message data

The message must contain either a non-empty data field or at least one attribute.

If the request is successful, the response is a JSON object with the message ID. The following example is a response with a message ID:

{
  "messageIds": [
    "19916711285",
  ]
}

C++

Before trying this sample, follow the C++ setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub C++ API reference documentation.

namespace pubsub = ::google::cloud::pubsub;
using ::google::cloud::future;
using ::google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](pubsub::Publisher publisher) {
  auto message_id = publisher.Publish(
      pubsub::MessageBuilder{}.SetData("Hello World!").Build());
  auto done = message_id.then([](future<StatusOr<std::string>> f) {
    auto id = f.get();
    if (!id) throw std::move(id).status();
    std::cout << "Hello World! published with id=" << *id << "\n";
  });
  // Block until the message is published
  done.get();
}

C#

Before trying this sample, follow the C# setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub C# API reference documentation.


using Google.Cloud.PubSub.V1;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class PublishMessagesAsyncSample
{
    public async Task<int> PublishMessagesAsync(string projectId, string topicId, IEnumerable<string> messageTexts)
    {
        TopicName topicName = TopicName.FromProjectTopic(projectId, topicId);
        PublisherClient publisher = await PublisherClient.CreateAsync(topicName);

        int publishedMessageCount = 0;
        var publishTasks = messageTexts.Select(async text =>
        {
            try
            {
                string message = await publisher.PublishAsync(text);
                Console.WriteLine($"Published message {message}");
                Interlocked.Increment(ref publishedMessageCount);
            }
            catch (Exception exception)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred when publishing message {text}: {exception.Message}");
            }
        });
        await Task.WhenAll(publishTasks);
        return publishedMessageCount;
    }
}

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Go API reference documentation.

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"strconv"
	"sync"
	"sync/atomic"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
)

func publishThatScales(w io.Writer, projectID, topicID string, n int) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// topicID := "my-topic"
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := pubsub.NewClient(ctx, projectID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pubsub.NewClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	var wg sync.WaitGroup
	var totalErrors uint64
	t := client.Topic(topicID)

	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
		result := t.Publish(ctx, &pubsub.Message{
			Data: []byte("Message " + strconv.Itoa(i)),
		})

		wg.Add(1)
		go func(i int, res *pubsub.PublishResult) {
			defer wg.Done()
			// The Get method blocks until a server-generated ID or
			// an error is returned for the published message.
			id, err := res.Get(ctx)
			if err != nil {
				// Error handling code can be added here.
				fmt.Fprintf(w, "Failed to publish: %v", err)
				atomic.AddUint64(&totalErrors, 1)
				return
			}
			fmt.Fprintf(w, "Published message %d; msg ID: %v\n", i, id)
		}(i, result)
	}

	wg.Wait()

	if totalErrors > 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("%d of %d messages did not publish successfully", totalErrors, n)
	}
	return nil
}

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Java API reference documentation.


import com.google.api.core.ApiFuture;
import com.google.api.core.ApiFutureCallback;
import com.google.api.core.ApiFutures;
import com.google.api.gax.rpc.ApiException;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.Publisher;
import com.google.common.util.concurrent.MoreExecutors;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.TopicName;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class PublishWithErrorHandlerExample {

  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    String topicId = "your-topic-id";

    publishWithErrorHandlerExample(projectId, topicId);
  }

  public static void publishWithErrorHandlerExample(String projectId, String topicId)
      throws IOException, InterruptedException {
    TopicName topicName = TopicName.of(projectId, topicId);
    Publisher publisher = null;

    try {
      // Create a publisher instance with default settings bound to the topic
      publisher = Publisher.newBuilder(topicName).build();

      List<String> messages = Arrays.asList("first message", "second message");

      for (final String message : messages) {
        ByteString data = ByteString.copyFromUtf8(message);
        PubsubMessage pubsubMessage = PubsubMessage.newBuilder().setData(data).build();

        // Once published, returns a server-assigned message id (unique within the topic)
        ApiFuture<String> future = publisher.publish(pubsubMessage);

        // Add an asynchronous callback to handle success / failure
        ApiFutures.addCallback(
            future,
            new ApiFutureCallback<String>() {

              @Override
              public void onFailure(Throwable throwable) {
                if (throwable instanceof ApiException) {
                  ApiException apiException = ((ApiException) throwable);
                  // details on the API exception
                  System.out.println(apiException.getStatusCode().getCode());
                  System.out.println(apiException.isRetryable());
                }
                System.out.println("Error publishing message : " + message);
              }

              @Override
              public void onSuccess(String messageId) {
                // Once published, returns server-assigned message ids (unique within the topic)
                System.out.println("Published message ID: " + messageId);
              }
            },
            MoreExecutors.directExecutor());
      }
    } finally {
      if (publisher != null) {
        // When finished with the publisher, shutdown to free up resources.
        publisher.shutdown();
        publisher.awaitTermination(1, TimeUnit.MINUTES);
      }
    }
  }
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Node.js API reference documentation.

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const topicNameOrId = 'YOUR_TOPIC_NAME_OR_ID';
// const data = JSON.stringify({foo: 'bar'});

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
const {PubSub} = require('@google-cloud/pubsub');

// Creates a client; cache this for further use
const pubSubClient = new PubSub();

async function publishMessage(topicNameOrId, data) {
  // Publishes the message as a string, e.g. "Hello, world!" or JSON.stringify(someObject)
  const dataBuffer = Buffer.from(data);

  // Cache topic objects (publishers) and reuse them.
  const topic = pubSubClient.topic(topicNameOrId);

  try {
    const messageId = topic.publishMessage({data: dataBuffer});
    console.log(`Message ${messageId} published.`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`Received error while publishing: ${error.message}`);
    process.exitCode = 1;
  }
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Node.js API reference documentation.

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const topicNameOrId = 'YOUR_TOPIC_NAME_OR_ID';
// const data = JSON.stringify({foo: 'bar'});

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
import {PubSub} from '@google-cloud/pubsub';

// Creates a client; cache this for further use
const pubSubClient = new PubSub();

async function publishMessage(topicNameOrId: string, data: string) {
  // Publishes the message as a string, e.g. "Hello, world!" or JSON.stringify(someObject)
  const dataBuffer = Buffer.from(data);

  // Cache topic objects (publishers) and reuse them.
  const topic = pubSubClient.topic(topicNameOrId);

  try {
    const messageId = topic.publishMessage({data: dataBuffer});
    console.log(`Message ${messageId} published.`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(
      `Received error while publishing: ${(error as Error).message}`
    );
    process.exitCode = 1;
  }
}

PHP

Before trying this sample, follow the PHP setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub PHP API reference documentation.

use Google\Cloud\PubSub\MessageBuilder;
use Google\Cloud\PubSub\PubSubClient;

/**
 * Publishes a message for a Pub/Sub topic.
 *
 * @param string $projectId  The Google project ID.
 * @param string $topicName  The Pub/Sub topic name.
 * @param string $message  The message to publish.
 */
function publish_message($projectId, $topicName, $message)
{
    $pubsub = new PubSubClient([
        'projectId' => $projectId,
    ]);

    $topic = $pubsub->topic($topicName);
    $topic->publish((new MessageBuilder)->setData($message)->build());

    print('Message published' . PHP_EOL);
}

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Python API reference documentation.

"""Publishes multiple messages to a Pub/Sub topic with an error handler."""
from concurrent import futures
from google.cloud import pubsub_v1
from typing import Callable

# TODO(developer)
# project_id = "your-project-id"
# topic_id = "your-topic-id"

publisher = pubsub_v1.PublisherClient()
topic_path = publisher.topic_path(project_id, topic_id)
publish_futures = []

def get_callback(
    publish_future: pubsub_v1.publisher.futures.Future, data: str
) -> Callable[[pubsub_v1.publisher.futures.Future], None]:
    def callback(publish_future: pubsub_v1.publisher.futures.Future) -> None:
        try:
            # Wait 60 seconds for the publish call to succeed.
            print(publish_future.result(timeout=60))
        except futures.TimeoutError:
            print(f"Publishing {data} timed out.")

    return callback

for i in range(10):
    data = str(i)
    # When you publish a message, the client returns a future.
    publish_future = publisher.publish(topic_path, data.encode("utf-8"))
    # Non-blocking. Publish failures are handled in the callback function.
    publish_future.add_done_callback(get_callback(publish_future, data))
    publish_futures.append(publish_future)

# Wait for all the publish futures to resolve before exiting.
futures.wait(publish_futures, return_when=futures.ALL_COMPLETED)

print(f"Published messages with error handler to {topic_path}.")

Ruby

Before trying this sample, follow the Ruby setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Ruby API reference documentation.

# topic_id = "your-topic-id"

pubsub = Google::Cloud::Pubsub.new

topic = pubsub.topic topic_id

begin
  topic.publish_async "This is a test message." do |result|
    raise "Failed to publish the message." unless result.succeeded?
    puts "Message published asynchronously."
  end

  # Stop the async_publisher to send all queued messages immediately.
  topic.async_publisher.stop.wait!
rescue StandardError => e
  puts "Received error while publishing: #{e.message}"
end

After you publish a message, the Pub/Sub service returns the message ID to the publisher.

Use attributes to publish a message

You can embed custom attributes as metadata in Pub/Sub messages. Attributes are used to provide additional information about the message, such as its priority, origin, or destination. Attributes can also be used to filter messages on the subscription.

Follow these guidelines for using attributes in your messages:

Attributes can be text strings or byte strings.
You can have at most 100 attributes per message.
Attribute keys must not start with goog and must not exceed 256 bytes.
Attribute values must not exceed 1024 bytes.

The message schema can be represented as follows:

{
  "data": string,
  "attributes": {
    string: string,
    ...
  },
  "messageId": string,
  "publishTime": string,
  "orderingKey": string
}

For publish-side duplicates, it's possible to see different publishTime values for the same client-side original message, even with the same messageId.

The PubsubMessage JSON schema is published as part of the REST and RPC documentation. You can use custom attributes for event timestamps.

The following samples demonstrate how to publish a message with attributes to a topic.

Console

To publish a message with attributes, follow these steps:

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Topics page.

Go to the Pub/Sub topics page
Click the topic for which you want to publish messages.
In the topic details page, click Messages.
Click Publish message.
In the Message body field, enter the message data.
Under Message attributes, click Add an attribute.
Enter a key-value pair.
Add more attributes, if required.
Click Publish.

gcloud

gcloud pubsub topics publish my-topic --message="hello" \
  --attribute="origin=gcloud-sample,username=gcp,eventTime='2021-01-01T12:00:00Z'"

C++

Before trying this sample, follow the C++ setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub C++ API reference documentation.

namespace pubsub = ::google::cloud::pubsub;
using ::google::cloud::future;
using ::google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](pubsub::Publisher publisher) {
  std::vector<future<void>> done;
  for (int i = 0; i != 10; ++i) {
    auto message_id = publisher.Publish(
        pubsub::MessageBuilder{}
            .SetData("Hello World! [" + std::to_string(i) + "]")
            .SetAttribute("origin", "cpp-sample")
            .SetAttribute("username", "gcp")
            .Build());
    done.push_back(message_id.then([i](future<StatusOr<std::string>> f) {
      auto id = f.get();
      if (!id) throw std::move(id).status();
      std::cout << "Message " << i << " published with id=" << *id << "\n";
    }));
  }
  publisher.Flush();
  // Block until all the messages are published (optional)
  for (auto& f : done) f.get();
}

C#

Before trying this sample, follow the C# setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub C# API reference documentation.


using Google.Cloud.PubSub.V1;
using Google.Protobuf;
using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class PublishMessageWithCustomAttributesAsyncSample
{
    public async Task PublishMessageWithCustomAttributesAsync(string projectId, string topicId, string messageText)
    {
        TopicName topicName = TopicName.FromProjectTopic(projectId, topicId);
        PublisherClient publisher = await PublisherClient.CreateAsync(topicName);

        var pubsubMessage = new PubsubMessage
        {
            // The data is any arbitrary ByteString. Here, we're using text.
            Data = ByteString.CopyFromUtf8(messageText),
            // The attributes provide metadata in a string-to-string dictionary.
            Attributes =
            {
                { "year", "2020" },
                { "author", "unknown" }
            }
        };
        string message = await publisher.PublishAsync(pubsubMessage);
        Console.WriteLine($"Published message {message}");
    }
}

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Go API reference documentation.

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
)

func publishCustomAttributes(w io.Writer, projectID, topicID string) error {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// topicID := "my-topic"
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := pubsub.NewClient(ctx, projectID)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pubsub.NewClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	t := client.Topic(topicID)
	result := t.Publish(ctx, &pubsub.Message{
		Data: []byte("Hello world!"),
		Attributes: map[string]string{
			"origin":   "golang",
			"username": "gcp",
		},
	})
	// Block until the result is returned and a server-generated
	// ID is returned for the published message.
	id, err := result.Get(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("Get: %w", err)
	}
	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Published message with custom attributes; msg ID: %v\n", id)
	return nil
}

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Java API reference documentation.


import com.google.api.core.ApiFuture;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.Publisher;
import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.TopicName;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class PublishWithCustomAttributesExample {
  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    String topicId = "your-topic-id";

    publishWithCustomAttributesExample(projectId, topicId);
  }

  public static void publishWithCustomAttributesExample(String projectId, String topicId)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
    TopicName topicName = TopicName.of(projectId, topicId);
    Publisher publisher = null;

    try {
      // Create a publisher instance with default settings bound to the topic
      publisher = Publisher.newBuilder(topicName).build();

      String message = "first message";
      ByteString data = ByteString.copyFromUtf8(message);
      PubsubMessage pubsubMessage =
          PubsubMessage.newBuilder()
              .setData(data)
              .putAllAttributes(ImmutableMap.of("year", "2020", "author", "unknown"))
              .build();

      // Once published, returns a server-assigned message id (unique within the topic)
      ApiFuture<String> messageIdFuture = publisher.publish(pubsubMessage);
      String messageId = messageIdFuture.get();
      System.out.println("Published a message with custom attributes: " + messageId);

    } finally {
      if (publisher != null) {
        // When finished with the publisher, shutdown to free up resources.
        publisher.shutdown();
        publisher.awaitTermination(1, TimeUnit.MINUTES);
      }
    }
  }
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Node.js API reference documentation.

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const topicNameOrId = 'YOUR_TOPIC_NAME_OR_ID';
// const data = JSON.stringify({foo: 'bar'});

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
const {PubSub} = require('@google-cloud/pubsub');

// Creates a client; cache this for further use
const pubSubClient = new PubSub();

async function publishMessageWithCustomAttributes(topicNameOrId, data) {
  // Publishes the message as a string, e.g. "Hello, world!" or JSON.stringify(someObject)
  const dataBuffer = Buffer.from(data);

  // Add two custom attributes, origin and username, to the message
  const customAttributes = {
    origin: 'nodejs-sample',
    username: 'gcp',
  };

  // Cache topic objects (publishers) and reuse them.
  const topic = pubSubClient.topic(topicNameOrId);

  const messageId = topic.publishMessage({
    data: dataBuffer,
    attributes: customAttributes,
  });
  console.log(`Message ${messageId} published.`);
}

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Python API reference documentation.

from google.cloud import pubsub_v1

# TODO(developer)
# project_id = "your-project-id"
# topic_id = "your-topic-id"

publisher = pubsub_v1.PublisherClient()
topic_path = publisher.topic_path(project_id, topic_id)

for n in range(1, 10):
    data_str = f"Message number {n}"
    # Data must be a bytestring
    data = data_str.encode("utf-8")
    # Add two attributes, origin and username, to the message
    future = publisher.publish(
        topic_path, data, origin="python-sample", username="gcp"
    )
    print(future.result())

print(f"Published messages with custom attributes to {topic_path}.")

Ruby

Before trying this sample, follow the Ruby setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Ruby API reference documentation.

# topic_id = "your-topic-id"

pubsub = Google::Cloud::Pubsub.new

topic = pubsub.topic topic_id
# Add two attributes, origin and username, to the message
topic.publish_async "This is a test message.",
                    origin:   "ruby-sample",
                    username: "gcp" do |result|
  raise "Failed to publish the message." unless result.succeeded?
  puts "Message with custom attributes published asynchronously."
end

# Stop the async_publisher to send all queued messages immediately.
topic.async_publisher.stop.wait!

Use ordering keys to publish a message

To receive messages in order in your subscriber clients, you must configure your publisher clients to publish messages with ordering keys.

To understand the concept of ordering keys, see Order messages.

Here is a list of key considerations for ordered messaging for publisher clients:

Ordering in a single publisher client: When a single publisher client publishes messages with the same ordering key in the same region, the subscriber client receives those messages in the exact order they were published. For example, if a publisher client publishes messages 1, 2, and 3 with the ordering key A, the subscriber client receives them in the order 1, 2, 3.
Ordering across multiple publisher clients: The order of messages received by subscriber clients is consistent with the order in which they were published in the same region, even when multiple publisher clients use the same ordering key. However, the publisher clients themselves don't have knowledge of this order.

For example, if publisher clients X and Y each publish messages with ordering key A, and X's message is received by Pub/Sub before Y's, then all subscriber clients receive X's message before Y's. If strict message order across different publisher clients is required, those clients must implement an additional coordination mechanism to ensure they don't publish messages with the same ordering key simultaneously. For example, a locking service can be used to maintain ownership of an ordering key while publishing.
Ordering across regions: The ordered delivery guarantee only applies when publishes for an ordering key are in the same region. If your publisher application publishes messages with the same ordering key to different regions, order cannot be enforced across those publishes. Subscribers can connect to any region and the ordering guarantee is still maintained.

When you run your application within Google Cloud, by default it connects to the Pub/Sub endpoint in the same region. Therefore, running your application in a single region within Google Cloud generally ensures you are interacting with a single region.

When you run your publisher application outside of Google Cloud or in multiple regions, you can guarantee you are connecting to a single region by using a locational endpoint when configuring your Pub/Sub client. All location endpoints for Pub/Sub point to single regions. To learn more about locational endpoints, see Pub/Sub endpoints. For a list of all locational endpoints for Pub/Sub, see List of locational endpoints.
Publishing failures: When publishing with an ordering key fails, queued-up messages of the same ordering key in the publisher fail, including future publish requests of this ordering key. You must resume publishing with ordering keys when such failures occur. For an example of resuming the publish operation, see Retry requests with ordering keys.

You can publish messages with ordering keys using the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI, Pub/Sub API, or the client libraries.

Console

To publish a message with attributes, follow these steps:

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Topics page.

Go to the Pub/Sub topics page
Click the topic for which you want to publish messages.
In the topic details page, click Messages.
Click Publish message.
In the Message body field, enter the message data.
In the Message ordering field, enter an ordering key.
Click Publish.

gcloud

To publish a message with an ordering key, use the gcloud pubsub topics publish command and the --ordering-key flag:

gcloud pubsub topics publish TOPIC_ID \
  --message=MESSAGE_DATA \
  --ordering-key=ORDERING_KEY

Replace the following:

TOPIC_ID: the ID of the topic
MESSAGE_DATA: a string with the message data
ORDERING_KEY: a string with an ordering key

REST

To publish a message with an ordering key, send a POST request like the following:

POST  https://pubsub.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/topics/TOPIC_ID:publish
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)

Replace the following:

PROJECT_ID: the project ID of the project with the topic
TOPIC_ID: the ID of the topic

Specify the following fields in the request body:

{
  "messages": [
    {
      "attributes": {
        "KEY": "VALUE",
        ...
      },
      "data": "MESSAGE_DATA",
      "ordering_key": "ORDERING_KEY",
    }
  ]
}

Replace the following:

KEY: the key of a message attribute
VALUE: the value for the key of the message attribute
MESSAGE_DATA: a base64-encoded string with the message data
ORDERING_KEY: a string with an ordering key

The message must contain either a non-empty data field or at least one attribute.

If the request is successful, the response is a JSON object with the message ID. The following example is a response with a message ID:

{
  "messageIds": [
    "19916711285",
  ]
}

C++

Before trying this sample, follow the C++ setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub C++ API reference documentation.

namespace pubsub = ::google::cloud::pubsub;
using ::google::cloud::future;
using ::google::cloud::StatusOr;
[](pubsub::Publisher publisher) {
  struct SampleData {
    std::string ordering_key;
    std::string data;
  } data[] = {
      {"key1", "message1"}, {"key2", "message2"}, {"key1", "message3"},
      {"key1", "message4"}, {"key1", "message5"},
  };
  std::vector<future<void>> done;
  for (auto& datum : data) {
    auto message_id =
        publisher.Publish(pubsub::MessageBuilder{}
                              .SetData("Hello World! [" + datum.data + "]")
                              .SetOrderingKey(datum.ordering_key)
                              .Build());
    std::string ack_id = datum.ordering_key + "#" + datum.data;
    done.push_back(message_id.then([ack_id](future<StatusOr<std::string>> f) {
      auto id = f.get();
      if (!id) throw std::move(id).status();
      std::cout << "Message " << ack_id << " published with id=" << *id
                << "\n";
    }));
  }
  publisher.Flush();
  // Block until all the messages are published (optional)
  for (auto& f : done) f.get();
}

C#

Before trying this sample, follow the C# setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub C# API reference documentation.


using Google.Cloud.PubSub.V1;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class PublishOrderedMessagesAsyncSample
{
    public async Task<int> PublishOrderedMessagesAsync(string projectId, string topicId, IEnumerable<(string, string)> keysAndMessages)
    {
        TopicName topicName = TopicName.FromProjectTopic(projectId, topicId);

        var customSettings = new PublisherClient.Settings
        {
            EnableMessageOrdering = true
        };

        PublisherClient publisher = await new PublisherClientBuilder
        {
            TopicName = topicName,
            // Sending messages to the same region ensures they are received in order even when multiple publishers are used.
            Endpoint = "us-east1-pubsub.googleapis.com:443",
            Settings = customSettings
        }.BuildAsync();

        int publishedMessageCount = 0;
        var publishTasks = keysAndMessages.Select(async keyAndMessage =>
        {
            try
            {
                string message = await publisher.PublishAsync(keyAndMessage.Item1, keyAndMessage.Item2);
                Console.WriteLine($"Published message {message}");
                Interlocked.Increment(ref publishedMessageCount);
            }
            catch (Exception exception)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred when publishing message {keyAndMessage.Item2}: {exception.Message}");
            }
        });
        await Task.WhenAll(publishTasks);
        return publishedMessageCount;
    }
}

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Go API reference documentation.

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"sync"
	"sync/atomic"

	"cloud.google.com/go/pubsub"
	"google.golang.org/api/option"
)

func publishWithOrderingKey(w io.Writer, projectID, topicID string) {
	// projectID := "my-project-id"
	// topicID := "my-topic"
	ctx := context.Background()

	// Pub/Sub's ordered delivery guarantee only applies when publishes for an ordering key are in the same region.
	// For list of locational endpoints for Pub/Sub, see https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/docs/reference/service_apis_overview#list_of_locational_endpoints
	client, err := pubsub.NewClient(ctx, projectID,
		option.WithEndpoint("us-east1-pubsub.googleapis.com:443"))
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "pubsub.NewClient: %v", err)
		return
	}
	defer client.Close()

	var wg sync.WaitGroup
	var totalErrors uint64
	t := client.Topic(topicID)
	t.EnableMessageOrdering = true

	messages := []struct {
		message     string
		orderingKey string
	}{
		{
			message:     "message1",
			orderingKey: "key1",
		},
		{
			message:     "message2",
			orderingKey: "key2",
		},
		{
			message:     "message3",
			orderingKey: "key1",
		},
		{
			message:     "message4",
			orderingKey: "key2",
		},
	}

	for _, m := range messages {
		res := t.Publish(ctx, &pubsub.Message{
			Data:        []byte(m.message),
			OrderingKey: m.orderingKey,
		})

		wg.Add(1)
		go func(res *pubsub.PublishResult) {
			defer wg.Done()
			// The Get method blocks until a server-generated ID or
			// an error is returned for the published message.
			_, err := res.Get(ctx)
			if err != nil {
				// Error handling code can be added here.
				fmt.Printf("Failed to publish: %s\n", err)
				atomic.AddUint64(&totalErrors, 1)
				return
			}
		}(res)
	}

	wg.Wait()

	if totalErrors > 0 {
		fmt.Fprintf(w, "%d of 4 messages did not publish successfully", totalErrors)
		return
	}

	fmt.Fprint(w, "Published 4 messages with ordering keys successfully\n")
}

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Java API reference documentation.

import com.google.api.core.ApiFuture;
import com.google.api.core.ApiFutureCallback;
import com.google.api.core.ApiFutures;
import com.google.api.gax.rpc.ApiException;
import com.google.cloud.pubsub.v1.Publisher;
import com.google.common.util.concurrent.MoreExecutors;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.PubsubMessage;
import com.google.pubsub.v1.TopicName;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class PublishWithOrderingKeys {
  public static void main(String... args) throws Exception {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    // Choose an existing topic.
    String topicId = "your-topic-id";

    publishWithOrderingKeysExample(projectId, topicId);
  }

  public static void publishWithOrderingKeysExample(String projectId, String topicId)
      throws IOException, InterruptedException {
    TopicName topicName = TopicName.of(projectId, topicId);
    // Create a publisher and set message ordering to true.
    Publisher publisher =
        Publisher.newBuilder(topicName)
            // Sending messages to the same region ensures they are received in order
            // even when multiple publishers are used.
            .setEndpoint("us-east1-pubsub.googleapis.com:443")
            .setEnableMessageOrdering(true)
            .build();

    try {
      Map<String, String> messages = new LinkedHashMap<String, String>();
      messages.put("message1", "key1");
      messages.put("message2", "key2");
      messages.put("message3", "key1");
      messages.put("message4", "key2");

      for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : messages.entrySet()) {
        ByteString data = ByteString.copyFromUtf8(entry.getKey());
        PubsubMessage pubsubMessage =
            PubsubMessage.newBuilder().setData(data).setOrderingKey(entry.getValue()).build();
        ApiFuture<String> future = publisher.publish(pubsubMessage);

        // Add an asynchronous callback to handle publish success / failure.
        ApiFutures.addCallback(
            future,
            new ApiFutureCallback<String>() {

              @Override
              public void onFailure(Throwable throwable) {
                if (throwable instanceof ApiException) {
                  ApiException apiException = ((ApiException) throwable);
                  // Details on the API exception.
                  System.out.println(apiException.getStatusCode().getCode());
                  System.out.println(apiException.isRetryable());
                }
                System.out.println("Error publishing message : " + pubsubMessage.getData());
              }

              @Override
              public void onSuccess(String messageId) {
                // Once published, returns server-assigned message ids (unique within the topic).
                System.out.println(pubsubMessage.getData() + " : " + messageId);
              }
            },
            MoreExecutors.directExecutor());
      }
    } finally {
      // When finished with the publisher, shutdown to free up resources.
      publisher.shutdown();
      publisher.awaitTermination(1, TimeUnit.MINUTES);
    }
  }
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Node.js API reference documentation.

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const topicNameOrId = 'YOUR_TOPIC_NAME_OR_ID';
// const data = JSON.stringify({foo: 'bar'});
// const orderingKey = 'key1';

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
const {PubSub} = require('@google-cloud/pubsub');

// Creates a client; cache this for further use
const pubSubClient = new PubSub({
  // Sending messages to the same region ensures they are received in order
  // even when multiple publishers are used.
  apiEndpoint: 'us-east1-pubsub.googleapis.com:443',
});

async function publishOrderedMessage(topicNameOrId, data, orderingKey) {
  // Publishes the message as a string, e.g. "Hello, world!" or JSON.stringify(someObject)
  const dataBuffer = Buffer.from(data);

  // Be sure to set an ordering key that matches other messages
  // you want to receive in order, relative to each other.
  const message = {
    data: dataBuffer,
    orderingKey: orderingKey,
  };

  // Cache topic objects (publishers) and reuse them.
  //
  // Pub/Sub's ordered delivery guarantee only applies when publishes for an ordering
  // key are in the same region. For list of locational endpoints for Pub/Sub, see:
  // https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/docs/reference/service_apis_overview#list_of_locational_endpoints
  const publishOptions = {
    messageOrdering: true,
  };
  const topic = pubSubClient.topic(topicNameOrId, publishOptions);

  // Publishes the message
  const messageId = topic.publishMessage(message);

  console.log(`Message ${messageId} published.`);

  return messageId;
}

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Python API reference documentation.

from google.cloud import pubsub_v1

# TODO(developer): Choose an existing topic.
# project_id = "your-project-id"
# topic_id = "your-topic-id"

publisher_options = pubsub_v1.types.PublisherOptions(enable_message_ordering=True)
# Sending messages to the same region ensures they are received in order
# even when multiple publishers are used.
client_options = {"api_endpoint": "us-east1-pubsub.googleapis.com:443"}
publisher = pubsub_v1.PublisherClient(
    publisher_options=publisher_options, client_options=client_options
)
# The `topic_path` method creates a fully qualified identifier
# in the form `projects/{project_id}/topics/{topic_id}`
topic_path = publisher.topic_path(project_id, topic_id)

for message in [
    ("message1", "key1"),
    ("message2", "key2"),
    ("message3", "key1"),
    ("message4", "key2"),
]:
    # Data must be a bytestring
    data = message[0].encode("utf-8")
    ordering_key = message[1]
    # When you publish a message, the client returns a future.
    future = publisher.publish(topic_path, data=data, ordering_key=ordering_key)
    print(future.result())

print(f"Published messages with ordering keys to {topic_path}.")

Ruby

Before trying this sample, follow the Ruby setup instructions in Quickstart: Using Client Libraries. For more information, see the Pub/Sub Ruby API reference documentation.

# topic_id = "your-topic-id"

pubsub = Google::Cloud::Pubsub.new endpoint: "us-east1-pubsub.googleapis.com:443"

# Start sending messages in one request once the size of all queued messages
# reaches 1 MB or the number of queued messages reaches 20
topic = pubsub.topic topic_id, async: {
  max_bytes:    1_000_000,
  max_messages: 20
}
topic.enable_message_ordering!
10.times do |i|
  topic.publish_async "This is message ##{i}.",
                      ordering_key: "ordering-key"
end

# Stop the async_publisher to send all queued messages immediately.
topic.async_publisher.stop!
puts "Messages published with ordering key."

Monitor a publisher

Cloud Monitoring provides a number of metrics to monitor topics.

To monitor a topic and maintain a healthy publisher, see Maintain a healthy publisher.

What's next

To restrict the locations in which Pub/Sub stores message data, see Restricting Pub/Sub resource locations.
To publish messages with schema, see Schema overview.
To learn how to configure advanced delivery options, see the following:

Publish messages to topics Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Before you begin

Required roles

Message format

Publish messages

Console

gcloud

REST

C++

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

Use attributes to publish a message

Console

gcloud

C++

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

Python

Ruby

Use ordering keys to publish a message

Console

gcloud

REST

C++

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

Python

Ruby

Monitor a publisher

What's next

Publish messages to topics
Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.