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Restate sends data over the network for storing state, journaling actions, awakeables, etc. Therefore, Restate needs to serialize and deserialize the journal entries.

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Default Serialization

By default, the SDK serializes the journal entry with the json library. If this does not work for your data type, then you need to specify a custom serializer, as shown below.

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Pydantic

Pydantic is a data validation and parsing library for Python. You can use Pydantic models to define the structure of your data: handler input/output, state, etc.

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Using Pydantic

Make sure to install the optional serde dependency of the Restate SDK: restate-sdk[serde]. Then do the following: 
class Delivery(BaseModel):
    timestamp: datetime
    dimensions: tuple[int, int]


class CompletedDelivery(BaseModel):
    status: str
    timestamp: datetime


# For the input/output serialization of your handlers
@my_object.handler()
async def deliver(ctx: ObjectContext, delivery: Delivery) -> CompletedDelivery:

    # To get state
    await ctx.get("delivery", type_hint=Delivery)

    # To serialize awakeable payloads
    ctx.awakeable(type_hint=Delivery)

    # To serialize the results of actions
    await ctx.run_typed("some-task", do_something, restate.RunOptions(type_hint=Delivery))

    return CompletedDelivery(status="delivered", timestamp=datetime.now())

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Pydantic & OpenAPI

Pydantic integrates well with OpenAPI. Restate generates the OpenAPI specifications for you. If you use Pydantic, you can use the OpenAPI-generated clients to interact with your services. You can find example clients in the UI playground (click on your service in the overview and then on playground).

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msgspec

msgspec is a fast serialization and validation library, with builtin support for JSON, MessagePack, YAML, and TOML. You can use msgspec Structs to define the structure of your data: handler input/output, state, etc.

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Using msgspec

Make sure to install the optional serde dependency of the Restate SDK: restate-sdk[serde]. Then do the following: 
class Package(msgspec.Struct):
    timestamp: datetime
    dimensions: tuple[int, int]


class CompletedPackage(msgspec.Struct):
    status: str
    timestamp: datetime


# For the input/output serialization of your handlers
@my_object.handler()
async def ship(ctx: ObjectContext, package: Package) -> CompletedPackage:

    # To get state
    await ctx.get("package", type_hint=Package)

    # To serialize awakeable payloads
    ctx.awakeable(type_hint=Package)

    # To serialize the results of actions
    await ctx.run_typed("some-task", do_package_task, restate.RunOptions(type_hint=Package))

    return CompletedPackage(status="shipped", timestamp=datetime.now())

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msgspec & OpenAPI

msgspec integrates well with OpenAPI. Restate generates the OpenAPI specifications for you. If you use msgspec, you can use the OpenAPI-generated clients to interact with your services. You can find example clients in the UI playground (click on your service in the overview and then on playground).

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Dataclasses

You can also use Python’s built-in dataclasses to define the structure of your data. Make sure to install the optional serde dependency of the Restate SDK restate-sdk[serde]. Then add a type hint in a similar way as you would with Pydantic.

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Custom Serialization

To write a custom serializer, you implement the Serde interface. For example a custom JSON serializer could look like this: 
class MyData(typing.TypedDict):
    """Represents a response from the GPT model."""

    some_value: str
    my_number: int


class MySerde(Serde[MyData]):
    def deserialize(self, buf: bytes) -> typing.Optional[MyData]:
        if not buf:
            return None
        data = json.loads(buf)
        return MyData(some_value=data["some_value"], my_number=data["some_number"])

    def serialize(self, obj: typing.Optional[MyData]) -> bytes:
        if obj is None:
            return bytes()
        data = {"some_value": obj["some_value"], "some_number": obj["my_number"]}
        return bytes(json.dumps(data), "utf-8")
You then use this serializer in your handlers, as follows: 
# For the input/output serialization of your handlers
@my_object.handler(input_serde=MySerde(), output_serde=MySerde())
async def my_handler(ctx: ObjectContext, greeting: str) -> str:

    # To serialize state
    await ctx.get("my_state", serde=MySerde())
    ctx.set("my_state", MyData(some_value="Hi", my_number=15), serde=MySerde())

    # To serialize awakeable payloads
    ctx.awakeable(serde=MySerde())

    # etc.

    return "some-output"