# Kitex — High-Performance Go RPC Framework by CloudWeGo

> Kitex is a high-performance, extensible Go RPC framework built by ByteDance. It supports Thrift, Protobuf, and gRPC protocols with built-in service governance features like circuit breaking, retry, and load balancing.

## Install

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# Kitex — High-Performance Go RPC Framework by CloudWeGo

## Quick Use
```bash
go install github.com/cloudwego/kitex/tool/cmd/kitex@latest
kitex -module myproject -service myservice idl/echo.thrift
go run .
```

## Introduction
Kitex is a Go RPC framework created by ByteDance as part of the CloudWeGo open-source initiative. It is designed for microservice architectures that demand low latency, high throughput, and extensible middleware, providing built-in support for Thrift, Protobuf, and gRPC transports.

## What Kitex Does
- Generates Go server and client code from Thrift or Protobuf IDL files
- Provides high-performance network transport with connection pooling and multiplexing
- Includes built-in service governance: circuit breaker, retry, timeout, and load balancing
- Supports middleware chains for logging, tracing, and metrics collection
- Integrates with service registries like etcd, Nacos, ZooKeeper, and Consul

## Architecture Overview
Kitex uses a layered design: the code generator (kitex tool) produces typed stubs from IDL, the transport layer handles connection management and protocol encoding, and the middleware layer chains interceptors for cross-cutting concerns. The default transport uses Netpoll, a high-performance non-blocking I/O library optimized for Go, which avoids the overhead of goroutine-per-connection models under heavy load.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install the code generator with `go install github.com/cloudwego/kitex/tool/cmd/kitex@latest`
- Define services in Thrift or Protobuf IDL files
- Run `kitex -module <mod> -service <svc> <idl>` to generate server scaffolding
- Configure timeouts, retries, and circuit breakers via client options in code
- Register with etcd or Nacos for service discovery in production

## Key Features
- Netpoll-based transport delivering low-latency RPC under high concurrency
- Multi-protocol support: Thrift, Protobuf, and gRPC interoperability
- Pluggable middleware for observability, auth, and rate limiting
- Connection multiplexing reduces resource usage for large service graphs
- Generic call support for dynamic invocation without compiled stubs

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **gRPC-Go** — widely adopted but limited to Protobuf; Kitex also supports Thrift natively
- **Dubbo-Go** — Java-ecosystem heritage; Kitex is Go-native with Netpoll optimization
- **Kratos** — Bilibili's Go framework with HTTP focus; Kitex targets pure RPC workloads
- **go-micro** — higher-level abstraction; Kitex offers more control over transport and encoding
- **Twirp** — simple Protobuf-over-HTTP; Kitex supports persistent connections and multiplexing

## FAQ
**Q: Can Kitex interoperate with gRPC services?**
A: Yes, Kitex supports the gRPC protocol, so Kitex clients can call standard gRPC servers and vice versa.

**Q: What serialization formats does Kitex support?**
A: Thrift (binary, compact), Protobuf, and Flatbuffers via the code generator.

**Q: How does Kitex handle service discovery?**
A: Kitex provides resolver interfaces with official extensions for etcd, Nacos, ZooKeeper, Consul, and Polaris.

**Q: Is Kitex production-ready?**
A: Kitex runs thousands of microservices at ByteDance, handling tens of millions of requests per second.

## Sources
- https://github.com/cloudwego/kitex
- https://www.cloudwego.io/docs/kitex/

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