Inquiry: Java Client for Managing Azure Durable Function Instances

[akshaykumars10]

Hi Team,
We are currently using HTTP APIs to manage our Durable Function instances, as referenced here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-functions/durable/durable-functions-http-api.

Is there a Java client available that can be used as an alternative to these HTTP APIs? I came across this repository: https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-java, but it appears to be intended for use only within the Durable Task framework itself.

[cgillum]

Yes, you can use the DurableClientInput binding in Java to get a client object for doing instance management. Some examples are documented here: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-functions/durable/durable-functions-instance-management?tabs=java

[akshaykumars10]

Hi @cgillum,
All the examples in the documentation above show how to create a DurableTaskClient within the Durable framework itself. In my case, I have a separate Java service that manages our orchestrator instances, and I need to add the Durable client there. Do we have any examples for such a setup?

[cgillum]

@akshaykumars10 is the other service a function app or is it using some other Java framework?

[akshaykumars10]

@cgillum It is using some other framework and is not a function app.

[cgillum]

@akshaykumars10 we don't have any examples of this, unfortunately. We don't have a good way of supporting this topology except when using one of the other backend options, like MSSQL (where you can use stored procedures) or the Durable Task Scheduler (where you can invoke client APIs directly on the managed resource without needing a function app).

Our recommendation for your scenario, assuming you're using the default Azure Storage backend, is to have your separate app call an API exposed on your function app to start and manage orchestration instances.

[akshaykumars10]

Got it. We will continue to use the HTTP APIs for now.
Also, do we have a plan to start supporting this topology in the near future?