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Payload Formats

Program Streams support JSON and protobuf payloads.

JSON

Set:

protobuf
format = JSON;

The response payload field contains JSON text.

python
event = json.loads(message.payload)

Use JSON for:

  • Initial integration
  • Logs and inspection
  • Dynamic consumers
  • Low event volume

Protobuf

Set:

protobuf
format = PROTO;

The response payload field contains base64 text for the encoded protobuf message.

python
import base64

raw = base64.b64decode(message.payload)
event = PayloadMessage()
event.ParseFromString(raw)

Fetch PayloadMessage and its proto through GetTopicSchema.

Use protobuf for:

  • Lower parsing overhead
  • Strong field types
  • High event volume
  • Stable generated clients

Important difference

Enhanced Streams expose payload as protobuf bytes.

Program Streams expose payload as protobuf string.

Only Program Streams PROTO output needs base64 decoding.