Express FastAPI Protobuf

Vue + Express BFF + FastAPI, with protobuf between the BFF and Python service

This repo is a reference “quote recommender”: Vue 3 talks JSON to an Express backend-for-frontend, which validates input and calls FastAPI with binary Protocol Buffers for the heavy read path. The dataset is a bundled quotes JSON (thousands of rows) with tag filters and pagination; Buf and Make automate proto generation and dev startup as described in the README.

When it is useful

You are learning or demoing how a BFF hides binary APIs from the browser, you want a working Buf + Node + Python codegen loop, or you need a concrete microservice shape to adapt. You bring Node, Python, uv, Buf, and local tooling from the project docs.

What you can do

• Run make setup and make start to bring up frontend, BFF, and API with hot reload where configured.
• Inspect shared .proto definitions and generated stubs for JavaScript and Python.
• Compare payload size using the documented JSON vs protobuf example in the repository (figures are illustrative for that sample, not a universal guarantee).

Limits

• Security, auth, and tenancy are not production-complete; treat as a reference, not a hardened edge deployment.
• Operational ports and URLs belong in config files listed in the README; adjust before any shared environment.
• Throughput and savings depend on schema, compression, and HTTP stacks; measure your own services for real decisions.