effect-rpc-client

name

effect-rpc-client

description

Consume typed RPC services with Effect's RpcClient — protocol layers (HTTP, WebSocket, TCP, worker, in-memory), RpcSerialization codecs, per-call and ambient headers, streaming calls, interruption, reconnection, and RpcClientError handling. Use when calling an RpcGroup from a client, wiring a client transport + serialization stack, debugging RPC transport failures or reconnects, or testing RPC consumers with RpcTest.

You are an Effect TypeScript expert specializing in consuming RPC services with RpcClient from effect/unstable/rpc.

This skill covers the client side only: building clients, transports, serialization, headers, streaming consumption, interruption, errors, and testing. Defining Rpc/RpcGroup contracts is the effect-rpc-api skill; serving them is the effect-rpc-server skill; cluster entity clients are the effect-rpc-cluster skill.

Effect Source Reference

The Effect v4 source is at ~/.cache/effect-v4/. Read it directly when in doubt — these modules are under unstable and change between betas.

Key files:

• packages/effect/src/unstable/rpc/RpcClient.ts — make, makeNoSerialization, the Protocol service, layerProtocolHttp/layerProtocolSocket/layerProtocolWorker (+ makeProtocol*), CurrentHeaders, withHeaders, ConnectionHooks
• packages/effect/src/unstable/rpc/RpcClientError.ts — RpcClientError and RpcClientDefect
• packages/effect/src/unstable/rpc/RpcSerialization.ts — json, ndjson, jsonRpc, ndJsonRpc, msgPack codecs, their layers, the Parser interface and includesFraming
• packages/effect/src/unstable/rpc/RpcTest.ts — makeClient in-process test client
• packages/effect/src/unstable/rpc/RpcWorker.ts — InitialMessage, layerInitialMessage, initialMessage
• packages/effect/src/unstable/rpc/RpcMessage.ts — wire vocabulary: Request, Ack, Interrupt, Chunk, Exit, Defect, Ping/Pong, ClientProtocolError, RequestId
• packages/effect/src/unstable/socket/Socket.ts — Socket service, layerWebSocket, WebSocketConstructor
• packages/platform-node/test/RpcServer.test.ts + test/fixtures/rpc-e2e.ts + test/fixtures/rpc-schemas.ts — the best end-to-end reference: every transport × serialization combination, headers, streams, interrupts, defects
• packages/platform-browser/test/RpcWorker.test.ts + test/fixtures/rpc-worker.ts — worker transport end to end

Core Model

A client is assembled from three replaceable layers plus your shared RpcGroup definition:

RpcClient.make(group)                      typed methods, spans, request ids
	requires: Protocol                        ← RpcClient.layerProtocolHttp / Socket / Worker
		requires: RpcSerialization              ← RpcSerialization.layerJson / Ndjson / MsgPack / JsonRpc
		requires: transport service             ← HttpClient | Socket.Socket | WorkerPlatform + Spawner

RpcClient.make(group) returns an Effect producing an object with one method per rpc tag. Each method encodes the payload with the rpc's schema, sends a Request envelope through the Protocol, and decodes the server's Exit (or stream Chunks) back into a typed Effect or Stream:

// The generated client type — one method per tag
type RpcClient<Rpcs extends Rpc.Any, E = never> = {
	readonly [Tag in Rpcs['_tag']]: (payload, options?) => Effect<Success, RpcError | E | MiddlewareErrors, R>;
	// stream rpcs return Stream<A, E', R> instead (or Effect<Queue.Dequeue<...>> with asQueue)
};

E is the transport error — RpcClientError for every real transport (RpcClient.make), never for RpcTest.makeClient.

Imports used throughout this skill (all rpc modules ship from the effect package — there is no @effect/rpc in v4):

import { Cause, Context, Effect, Fiber, Layer, Queue, Schedule, Schema, Stream } from 'effect';
import {
	Rpc,
	RpcClient,
	RpcGroup,
	RpcMiddleware,
	RpcSerialization,
	RpcTest,
	RpcWorker
} from 'effect/unstable/rpc';
import { RpcClientError } from 'effect/unstable/rpc/RpcClientError';
import { FetchHttpClient, Headers, HttpClient, HttpClientRequest } from 'effect/unstable/http';
import { Socket } from 'effect/unstable/socket';
// Platform transports:
import { NodeSocket, NodeWorker } from '@effect/platform-node';
import { BrowserWorker } from '@effect/platform-browser';

Note the RpcClientError import: the effect/unstable/rpc barrel exports RpcClientError as a namespace; import the class from the module path effect/unstable/rpc/RpcClientError (this is what the upstream tests do).

---

1. Creating a Client — RpcClient.make

const make: <Rpcs extends Rpc.Any, const Flatten extends boolean = false>(
	group: RpcGroup.RpcGroup<Rpcs>,
	options?: {
		readonly spanPrefix?: string; // default 'RpcClient'; spans named `${spanPrefix}.${tag}`
		readonly spanAttributes?: Record<string, unknown>;
		readonly generateRequestId?: () => RequestId; // default: shared module-level bigint counter
		readonly disableTracing?: boolean; // default false
		readonly flatten?: Flatten; // default false
	}
) => Effect.Effect<
	Flatten extends true ? RpcClient.RpcClient.Flat<Rpcs, RpcClientError> : RpcClient.RpcClient<Rpcs, RpcClientError>,
	never,
	RpcClient.Protocol | Rpc.MiddlewareClient<Rpcs> | Scope
>;

Three things to internalize about the requirements:

• Protocol — provide exactly one layerProtocol* (section 4).
• Rpc.MiddlewareClient<Rpcs> — if any rpc in the group has a middleware declared with requiredForClient: true, you must provide its RpcMiddleware.layerClient(...) or the Effect.provide will not compile.
• Scope — the client registers a finalizer that interrupts all in-flight requests on close and makes later calls interrupt immediately. Build it inside Layer.effect (which supplies the layer's scope) or Effect.scoped.

The canonical wrapping is a Context.Service so consumers resolve the client by name:

export class UsersClient extends Context.Service<
	UsersClient,
	RpcClient.RpcClient<RpcGroup.Rpcs<typeof UserRpcs>, RpcClientError>
>()('UsersClient') {
	static readonly layer = Layer.effect(UsersClient)(RpcClient.make(UserRpcs)).pipe(
		Layer.provide(AuthClient) // RpcMiddleware.layerClient for requiredForClient middleware
	);
}

RpcClient.FromGroup<typeof UserRpcs, RpcClientError> is shorthand for the same client type.

flatten: true — single-function client

The client becomes one function (tag, payload, options?) instead of a property-per-tag object. Useful for generic proxying (this is what AtomRpc uses internally):

const client = yield* RpcClient.make(UserRpcs, { flatten: true });
const user = yield* client('GetUser', { id: 'u1' });

generateRequestId

Request ids correlate requests with responses on a shared connection. The default is a process-wide incrementing bigint. Override only when ids must be globally meaningful (cluster uses snowflakes). The function must return RequestId (a branded bigint — construct via RequestId(1n) from effect/unstable/rpc/RpcMessage).

Tracing

Unless disableTracing: true, every call runs in a span named ${spanPrefix}.${tag} with spanAttributes, and the request envelope carries traceId/spanId/sampled so the server can continue the trace (whether it does depends on the server protocol — see the effect-rpc-server skill).

---

2. Calling RPCs — Per-Call Options and Error Channels

Each generated method takes the rpc's payload, then an options bag whose shape differs for stream vs non-stream rpcs:

// Non-stream rpc
client.GetUser(
	{ id: 'u1' },
	{
		headers: { 'x-tenant': 't1' }, // Headers.Input — per-call headers
		context: Context.empty(), // Context<never> — rarely needed (cluster plumbing)
		discard: true // fire-and-forget: see below
	}
);

// Stream rpc
client.StreamUsers(
	{ id: 'u1' },
	{
		headers: { 'x-tenant': 't1' },
		context: Context.empty(),
		asQueue: true, // return Effect<Queue.Dequeue<...>> instead of Stream
		streamBufferSize: 16 // default 16 — client-side bounded buffer
	}
);

A void-payload rpc is callable with no arguments: client.Ping(), client.GetInterrupts(). The payload parameter is Rpc.PayloadConstructor<R> — the payload schema's constructor input, so Schema.Class payloads accept plain field objects. Tags containing dots — from group.prefix('nested.') or cluster EntityProxy groups — need bracket access: client['nested.test']() (or use flatten: true).

The full error channel

Rpc.Error<R>            your declared rpc error (decoded)
| MiddlewareError          wire errors added by server middleware (e.g. Unauthorized)
| MiddlewareClientError    errors a client-side middleware can produce
| RpcClientError           transport failure (section 8)

Server-side defects are not in the error channel — they arrive as Cause.Die in the failure cause. Inspect with Effect.sandbox / Effect.catchCause, e.g. Cause.squash(cause) after Effect.sandbox + Effect.flip.

The requirements channel of each call is the payload schema's EncodingServices plus the success/error schemas' DecodingServices (plus any middleware error schemas' DecodingServices) — never for plain schemas.

discard: true

Sends the request and skips response handling entirely: the method returns Effect<void, RpcClientError | MiddlewareErrors>. The rpc's declared error disappears from the channel, but transport and middleware errors remain. No client entry is registered, so the server's exit is dropped on the floor. Use for fire-and-forget commands; over HTTP the POST is still awaited (the response body is just ignored).

---

3. Headers

Three layers of headers, merged in this order (later wins on conflict):

1. Ambient — the RpcClient.CurrentHeaders reference (default Headers.empty)
2. Per-call — the headers option on the method call
3. Client middleware — RpcMiddleware.layerClient can rewrite request.headers last, as the request passes through it

// Region-scoped ambient headers — merged into CurrentHeaders for the wrapped effect
yield* program.pipe(
	RpcClient.withHeaders({ authorization: `Bearer ${token}`, 'x-tenant': 't1' })
);

// withHeaders is dual: data-first works too
RpcClient.withHeaders(program, { 'x-tenant': 't1' });

// CurrentHeaders is a Context.Reference<Headers.Headers> — set directly if needed
Effect.updateService(program, RpcClient.CurrentHeaders, Headers.merge(Headers.fromInput({ a: 'b' })));

Header names are normalized to lowercase by Headers.fromInput. If you send { userId: '123' }, server middleware must read headers.userid. The upstream e2e fixture depends on exactly this.

Client-side middleware (auth headers and friends)

For middleware declared with requiredForClient: true, the client will not compile without a layerClient:

export const AuthClient = RpcMiddleware.layerClient(AuthMiddleware, ({ next, request }) =>
	next({
		...request,
		headers: Headers.set(request.headers, 'authorization', `Bearer ${getToken()}`)
	}));

You must call next(request); the middleware wraps the send, it does not replace it. Defining middleware services is covered by the effect-rpc-api skill.

---

4. Protocol Layers — Picking a Transport

Provide exactly one of these to satisfy RpcClient.Protocol:

Layer	Requires	supportsAck	Notes
RpcClient.layerProtocolHttp({ url, transformClient? })	RpcSerialization, HttpClient	no	One POST per request. Framed serializations stream the response body, so streaming rpcs work over plain HTTP
RpcClient.layerProtocolSocket({ retryTransientErrors? })	RpcSerialization, Socket.Socket	yes	Full duplex; pings every 5s; auto-reconnects (section 9). Works for WebSocket and raw TCP — the Socket.Socket layer decides which
RpcClient.layerProtocolWorker(poolOptions)	Worker.WorkerPlatform, Worker.Spawner	yes	Pool of workers; supports transferables and RpcWorker.InitialMessage; the only protocol layer with an error channel — WorkerError (section 10)

Each has a makeProtocol* Effect counterpart (makeProtocolHttp(client), makeProtocolSocket(options?), makeProtocolWorker(options)) for inline composition — makeProtocolSocket additionally accepts a retryPolicy: Schedule<any, SocketError> that the layer constructor does not expose.

HTTP

const ProtocolLive = RpcClient.layerProtocolHttp({
	url: 'http://localhost:3000/rpc', // the full endpoint URL
	// optional: rewrite the underlying HttpClient (retries, extra headers, url tweaks)
	transformClient: HttpClient.mapRequest(HttpClientRequest.setHeader('x-api-key', key))
}).pipe(
	Layer.provide(RpcSerialization.layerNdjson),
	Layer.provide(FetchHttpClient.layer) // or NodeHttpClient.layerUndici etc.
);

url is prepended to an empty path, so it must be the complete endpoint. transformClient receives the client after the url is attached; its request transformations run before the prepend (the upstream test uses url: '' + transformClient: HttpClient.mapRequest(HttpClientRequest.appendUrl('/rpc'))).

An empty HTTP response body fails the call with RpcClientDefect ('Received empty HTTP response from RPC server') rather than hanging.

WebSocket

// Node
const ProtocolLive = RpcClient.layerProtocolSocket().pipe(
	Layer.provide(NodeSocket.layerWebSocket('ws://localhost:3000/rpc')),
	Layer.provide(RpcSerialization.layerNdjson)
);

// Browser / anywhere with a global WebSocket
const BrowserProtocolLive = RpcClient.layerProtocolSocket().pipe(
	Layer.provide(Socket.layerWebSocket('wss://api.example.com/rpc')),
	Layer.provide(Socket.layerWebSocketConstructorGlobal),
	Layer.provide(RpcSerialization.layerNdjson)
);

Socket.layerWebSocket(url, { closeCodeIsError?, openTimeout?, protocols? }) requires a WebSocketConstructor; layerWebSocketConstructorGlobal uses globalThis.WebSocket. NodeSocket.layerWebSocket bundles the constructor.

Raw TCP

const TcpProtocolLive = RpcClient.layerProtocolSocket().pipe(
	Layer.provide(NodeSocket.layerNet({ port: 9000 })),
	Layer.provide(RpcSerialization.layerMsgPack)
);

Socket.Socket layer construction, the SocketError taxonomy, and reconnect internals are covered by the effect-socket skill.

The Protocol service (custom transports)

RpcClient.Protocol is a Context.Service with this surface:

{
	readonly run: (clientId: number, f: (data: FromServerEncoded) => Effect<void>) => Effect<never>;
	readonly send: (clientId: number, request: FromClientEncoded, transferables?) => Effect<void, RpcClientError>;
	readonly supportsAck: boolean; // chunk acks → server-side stream backpressure
	readonly supportsTransferables: boolean; // worker-only
}

Build your own with RpcClient.Protocol.make((writeResponse, clientIds) => Effect<Omit<Service, 'run'>>) — it buffers server responses per client until that client's run loop is installed. You rarely need this; prefer RpcTest for in-memory wiring (section 11).

---

5. Serialization — Pairing Codecs with Transports

RpcSerialization is the shared codec service. The load-bearing property is includesFraming: framed codecs can split a byte stream into messages; unframed codecs assume the transport delivers whole messages.

Layer	Content-Type	Framed	Pair with
RpcSerialization.layerJson	application/json	no	HTTP (response decoded once, as an array); WebSocket (each ws message is one frame already)
RpcSerialization.layerNdjson	application/ndjson	yes (newline)	anything — the safe default; enables streaming over HTTP
RpcSerialization.layerMsgPack	application/msgpack	yes (msgpack frames)	binary transports; smallest payloads; uses msgpackr useRecords: true
RpcSerialization.layerJsonRpc({ contentType? })	application/json	no	JSON-RPC 2.0 interop over HTTP/WebSocket; maps rpc tag ↔ method, supports batch arrays
RpcSerialization.layerNdJsonRpc({ contentType? })	application/json-rpc	yes (newline)	JSON-RPC 2.0 over sockets

Rules of thumb, verified by the upstream e2e matrix (http: ndjson/msgpack/ndJsonRpc; ws: ndjson/json/msgpack/jsonRpc; tcp: ndjson/msgpack/ndJsonRpc):

• Raw TCP needs a framed codec (ndjson / msgPack / ndJsonRpc) — plain json cannot find message boundaries in a byte stream.
• WebSocket works with any codec including plain json, because the ws transport frames messages itself.
• HTTP + unframed (json/jsonRpc): the client buffers the whole response and expects a JSON array of response messages — streaming rpcs only flush when the response ends.
• HTTP + framed (ndjson/msgPack/ndJsonRpc): the client incrementally parses the response body — streaming rpc chunks arrive as the server emits them, over a single POST.
• Client and server must use the same codec. A msgpack client against a json server garbles both directions.

RpcSerialization.makeMsgPack(options) customizes msgpackr (useRecords, useFloat32, ...); wrap with Layer.succeed(RpcSerialization.RpcSerialization)(RpcSerialization.makeMsgPack({ useRecords: false })) if the peer cannot handle msgpackr record extensions.

---

6. Consuming Streaming RPCs

A stream: true rpc produces a Stream on the client (no Effect wrapper — run it directly):

const users = yield* client.StreamUsers({ id: '1' }).pipe(
	Stream.take(5),
	Stream.runCollect
);

Mechanics worth knowing:

• Chunks are buffered client-side in a bounded queue (streamBufferSize, default 16).
• On transports with supportsAck (socket, worker), the client sends an Ack after delivering each chunk to the buffer — the server will not emit past the in-flight window, so slow consumers backpressure the producer end to end. Over HTTP there are no acks; the server streams freely.
• Ending consumption early (e.g. Stream.take, interruption) closes the stream's scope, which sends an Interrupt for the request — the server-side handler is interrupted and its finalizers run.
• The stream fails with the same error channel as effect rpcs (declared error | middleware errors | RpcClientError).

asQueue: true

Returns Effect<Queue.Dequeue<A, E | Cause.Done>, never, Scope | ...> instead of a Stream — use when you need manual chunk-level control:

const program = Effect.scoped(
	Effect.gen(function* () {
		const queue = yield* client.StreamUsers({ id: '1' }, { asQueue: true });
		const users: Array<User> = [];
		// drain: Queue.take fails with Cause.Done when the stream ends
		yield* Queue.take(queue).pipe(
			Effect.flatMap((user) => Effect.sync(() => users.push(user))),
			Effect.forever,
			Effect.catchIf(Cause.isDone, () => Effect.void)
		);
		// closing the scope early interrupts the request server-side
		return users;
	})
);

End-of-stream is signaled as Cause.Done in the queue's error channel, not as a value — guard with Cause.isDone, or Effect.catchTag('Done', ...) (Done is tagged; this is how the cluster Runners module drains upstream). The Scope requirement is how the request's lifetime is tied to your code — keep the scope open while consuming.

---

7. Interruption and Abort Propagation

Interruption is a first-class protocol message, not just a local cancel:

• Effect rpcs — interrupting the calling fiber interrupts the in-flight send and dispatches an Interrupt envelope to the server (best-effort, with a 1-second internal timeout so shutdown never hangs on a dead connection).
• Stream rpcs — the Interrupt is sent from a scope finalizer when the stream/queue scope closes for any reason (early Stream.take, fiber interrupt, error).
• HTTP transport — the protocol drops Interrupt messages (send ignores everything but Request). Interruption still propagates: interrupting the fiber aborts the underlying HTTP request, and the server interrupts the handler when the connection drops. The observable difference: there is no graceful interrupt message, just an aborted request.
• Client scope close — all in-flight requests resume as interrupted, Interrupts are sent where the transport supports it, and any later call on the client returns Effect.interrupt.

const fiber = yield* client.Never().pipe(Effect.forkChild);
yield* Effect.sleep('500 millis');
yield* Fiber.interrupt(fiber); // server-side handler's onInterrupt/finalizers run

On the server, a client-initiated interrupt carries the RpcSchema.ClientAbort annotation in the cause so handlers can distinguish client cancel from server shutdown — see the effect-rpc-server skill.

---

8. Error Handling — the RpcClientError Taxonomy

RpcClientError is a Schema.ErrorClass with _tag: 'RpcClientError' and a reason union. Its message is `${reason._tag}: ${reason.message}`.

reason._tag	Transport	Meaning
'HttpError'	HTTP	HttpClientErrorSchema: has kind: 'EncodeError' | 'DecodeError' | 'TransportError' | 'InvalidUrlError' | 'StatusCodeError' | 'EmptyBodyError' and optional cause
'SocketOpenError'	socket	failed to (re)connect, includes ping timeouts
'SocketReadError' / 'SocketWriteError'	socket	I/O failure on a live connection
'SocketCloseError'	socket	connection closed (has code)
'WorkerSpawnError' / 'WorkerSendError' / 'WorkerReceiveError' / 'WorkerUnknownError'	worker	worker lifecycle failures
'RpcClientDefect'	any	protocol bug: undecodable message, empty HTTP response, non-array unframed response; has message + cause

Handling strategy — recover from your domain errors by tag, treat RpcClientError as retryable-or-fatal at the edge:

const getUser = (id: string) =>
	client.GetUser({ id }).pipe(
		Effect.catchTag('UserNotFound', () => Effect.succeed(guestUser)), // domain error
		Effect.retry({
			// transport-only retry with backoff
			while: (e) => e._tag === 'RpcClientError' && e.reason._tag !== 'RpcClientDefect',
			schedule: Schedule.exponential('200 millis').pipe(Schedule.take(3))
		})
	);

Semantics to remember:

• ClientProtocolError fails everything in flight. When a socket dies or a worker crashes, every pending request on that connection fails with the same RpcClientError. Requests are not replayed after reconnect — retry at the call site.
• Server defects are Cause.Die, not typed failures. Effect.catchTag will not see them; use Effect.sandbox/Effect.catchAllCause. What survives the wire depends on the rpc's defect schema (see the effect-rpc-api skill).
• Whole-connection defects (server-side fatal defects when the server runs without disableFatalDefects) arrive as a Defect message and kill every in-flight request on the connection as Cause.Die.
• RpcTest.makeClient clients have E = never — no transport error channel, only your rpc errors and middleware errors.

---

9. Connection Lifecycle, Reconnection, and ConnectionHooks

The socket protocol owns a long-lived connection loop:

• Keepalive — the client sends Ping every 5 seconds; a missing Pong by the next tick fails the connection with a SocketOpenError (kind 'Timeout') and triggers reconnect.
• Reconnect policy — the loop retries with Schedule.exponential(500, 1.5) capped at 5s between attempts, forever, by default. Customize via makeProtocolSocket({ retryPolicy }) + Layer.effect(RpcClient.Protocol)(...) — the layerProtocolSocket constructor only exposes retryTransientErrors.
• Failure broadcast — on a connection error, all in-flight requests fail with RpcClientError, and subsequent sends fail fast with the same error until the socket reopens.
• retryTransientErrors: true — SocketOpenError failures (failure to connect, and ping timeouts, which are classified as open errors) are not broadcast: pending requests stay pending across reconnect attempts instead of failing. Read/write/close errors on an established connection still fail in-flight requests.

const ProtocolLive = RpcClient.layerProtocolSocket({ retryTransientErrors: true }).pipe(
	Layer.provide(NodeSocket.layerWebSocket('ws://localhost:3000/rpc')),
	Layer.provide(RpcSerialization.layerNdjson)
);

ConnectionHooks

An optional Context.Service the socket and worker protocols pick up if present:

const HooksLive = Layer.succeed(RpcClient.ConnectionHooks)({
	onConnect: Effect.logInfo('rpc connected'), // socket: every (re)connect; worker: once after pool warm-up
	onDisconnect: Effect.logWarning('rpc disconnected') // socket only; runs when a connection ends
});

// Provide it alongside the protocol layer:
const ProtocolWithHooks = ProtocolLive.pipe(Layer.provideMerge(HooksLive));

Use onConnect to refresh auth state or re-subscribe after a reconnect. The HTTP protocol never invokes hooks (there is no connection).

---

10. Worker Transports and RpcWorker.InitialMessage

layerProtocolWorker runs the server inside workers and the client in the parent. Pool options come in two shapes:

// Fixed-size pool
RpcClient.layerProtocolWorker({ size: 4, concurrency: 1, targetUtilization: 1 });

// Elastic pool
RpcClient.layerProtocolWorker({
	minSize: 1,
	maxSize: 8,
	timeToLive: '60 seconds', // idle workers above minSize are released
	concurrency: 1
});

concurrency is requests-per-worker; a request checks a worker out of the pool until its Exit arrives. The protocol supports transferables (below) and acks. The pool spawns its minimum eagerly at startup via a background fiber — all size workers for the fixed pool, minSize for the elastic pool — and protocol initialization blocks until the first worker is ready (then ConnectionHooks.onConnect runs). That eager first spawn is why layerProtocolWorker is the only protocol layer with a non-never error channel: handle or Layer.orDie the WorkerError when composing the final layer. On worker crash, a ClientProtocolError is broadcast — every in-flight request on the protocol fails, not just the crashed worker's — and the worker is respawned (retried every second).

// Node parent
const WorkerClient = UsersClient.layer.pipe(
	Layer.provide(RpcClient.layerProtocolWorker({ size: 1 })),
	Layer.provide(NodeWorker.layer((id) => new WorkerThreads.Worker('./worker.js')))
);

// Browser parent
const BrowserClient = UsersClient.layer.pipe(
	Layer.provide(RpcClient.layerProtocolWorker({ size: 1 })),
	Layer.provide(BrowserWorker.layer(() => new Worker(new URL('./worker.ts', import.meta.url))))
);

No RpcSerialization is needed — structured clone carries the messages. The worker side runs RpcServer.layerProtocolWorkerRunner (see the effect-rpc-server skill).

Transferables: to move binary data instead of copying it, wrap fields in the shared contract with Transferable from effect/unstable/workers — Transferable.Uint8Array transfers the backing ArrayBuffer, Transferable.ImageData/Transferable.MessagePort are prebuilt, and Transferable.schema(s, (encoded) => [encoded.buffer]) wraps any schema with a custom transfer-list extractor. Transfer only happens on protocols with supportsTransferables: true — the worker protocol only.

Typed startup config — RpcWorker.InitialMessage

Send one schema-encoded value at spawn time, before any rpc traffic:

class WorkerConfig extends Schema.Class<WorkerConfig>('WorkerConfig')({
	apiUrl: Schema.String,
	tenantId: Schema.String
}) {}

// Parent: provide alongside the worker protocol
const InitialMessageLive = RpcWorker.layerInitialMessage(
	WorkerConfig,
	Effect.succeed(new WorkerConfig({ apiUrl: '/api', tenantId: 't1' }))
);

const ClientLive = UsersClient.layer.pipe(
	Layer.provide(RpcClient.layerProtocolWorker({ size: 4 })),
	Layer.provide(InitialMessageLive),
	Layer.provide(NodeWorker.layer(spawnWorker))
);

The build effect runs once per spawned worker and its result is encoded with the schema's JSON codec (transferables are collected automatically). Inside the worker, read it with RpcWorker.initialMessage(WorkerConfig) — server-side detail, see the effect-rpc-server skill.

---

11. Testing — RpcTest.makeClient

In-process client + server pair over the no-serialization path. Requests, stream chunks, acks, interrupts, headers, and middleware all flow through the real machinery — no network, no codecs:

import { it } from '@effect/vitest';

export class UsersClient extends Context.Service<
	UsersClient,
	RpcClient.RpcClient<RpcGroup.Rpcs<typeof UserRpcs>, RpcClientError>
>()('UsersClient') {
	static readonly layer = Layer.effect(UsersClient)(RpcClient.make(UserRpcs)).pipe(
		Layer.provide(AuthClient)
	);
	// Same service shape — swap the layer, not the call sites
	static readonly layerTest = Layer.effect(UsersClient)(RpcTest.makeClient(UserRpcs)).pipe(
		Layer.provide([UsersLive, AuthLive, AuthClient])
	);
}

it.effect('GetUser', () =>
	Effect.gen(function* () {
		const client = yield* UsersClient;
		const user = yield* client.GetUser({ id: '1' });
		expect(user.id).toBe('1');
	}).pipe(Effect.provide(UsersClient.layerTest)));

Signature: RpcTest.makeClient(group, options?: { flatten? }) with required context Scope | Rpc.ToHandler<Rpcs> | Rpc.Middleware<Rpcs> | Rpc.MiddlewareClient<Rpcs> — i.e. the handler layers, any server middleware layers, and any client middleware layers. Forgetting the client middleware layer is the classic confusing type error.

The test client's E is never: transport errors cannot occur, so tests exercise only your declared errors, middleware errors, and defects. To also test serialization and transport semantics, build a real client+server pair against NodeHttpServer.layerTest exactly as packages/platform-node/test/RpcServer.test.ts does.

RpcClient.makeNoSerialization (advanced)

The primitive under RpcTest: builds a client from a raw decoded-message channel and returns { client, write }, where you implement onFromClient (deliver messages toward a server) and call write with FromServer messages. Extra options over make: supportsAck (default true). Use it to bridge a client onto an exotic in-process channel; otherwise prefer RpcTest.makeClient.

---

Key Patterns

HTTP client service, end to end

// client.ts — UserRpcs comes from the shared contract module (effect-rpc-api skill)
import { Context, Effect, Layer } from 'effect';
import { FetchHttpClient } from 'effect/unstable/http';
import { RpcClient, RpcGroup, RpcSerialization } from 'effect/unstable/rpc';
import { RpcClientError } from 'effect/unstable/rpc/RpcClientError';
import { AuthClient, UserRpcs } from './contract.ts';

export class UsersClient extends Context.Service<
	UsersClient,
	RpcClient.RpcClient<RpcGroup.Rpcs<typeof UserRpcs>, RpcClientError>
>()('UsersClient') {
	static readonly layer = Layer.effect(UsersClient)(
		RpcClient.make(UserRpcs, { spanPrefix: 'UsersClient' })
	).pipe(
		Layer.provide(AuthClient),
		Layer.provide(RpcClient.layerProtocolHttp({ url: 'https://api.example.com/rpc' })),
		Layer.provide(RpcSerialization.layerNdjson), // framed → streaming rpcs work over HTTP
		Layer.provide(FetchHttpClient.layer)
	);
}

const program = Effect.gen(function* () {
	const client = yield* UsersClient;
	const user = yield* client.GetUser({ id: 'u1' });
	yield* Effect.logInfo('got', user);
}).pipe(RpcClient.withHeaders({ 'x-request-source': 'cli' }));

Resilient WebSocket client with reconnect hooks

const ProtocolLive = RpcClient.layerProtocolSocket({ retryTransientErrors: true }).pipe(
	Layer.provide(NodeSocket.layerWebSocket('wss://api.example.com/rpc')),
	Layer.provide(RpcSerialization.layerNdjson),
	Layer.provideMerge(
		Layer.succeed(RpcClient.ConnectionHooks)({
			onConnect: refreshAuthToken,
			onDisconnect: Effect.logWarning('rpc disconnected')
		})
	)
);

export const UsersClientLive = UsersClient.layer.pipe(Layer.provide(ProtocolLive));

Consume a streaming rpc with early exit and call-site retry

const firstFive = client.StreamUsers({ id: '1' }).pipe(
	Stream.take(5), // closing the stream sends Interrupt to the server
	Stream.runCollect,
	Effect.retry({
		while: (e) => e._tag === 'RpcClientError',
		schedule: Schedule.exponential('250 millis').pipe(Schedule.take(5))
	})
);

Fire-and-forget command with ambient tenant headers

const enqueue = (job: JobInput) =>
	client.EnqueueJob(job, { discard: true }).pipe(
		// declared rpc error is gone; transport errors remain
		Effect.catchTag('RpcClientError', (e) => Effect.logError('enqueue failed', e.reason))
	);

yield* Effect.forEach(jobs, enqueue, { concurrency: 8 }).pipe(
	RpcClient.withHeaders({ 'x-tenant': tenantId })
);

Worker pool with typed startup config

const WorkerClientLive = UsersClient.layer.pipe(
	Layer.provide(RpcClient.layerProtocolWorker({ minSize: 1, maxSize: 4, timeToLive: '30 seconds' })),
	Layer.provide(RpcWorker.layerInitialMessage(WorkerConfig, loadWorkerConfig)),
	Layer.provide(BrowserWorker.layer(() => new Worker(new URL('./rpc-worker.ts', import.meta.url))))
);

---

Common Mistakes

1. Importing from @effect/rpc. Gone in v4 — everything is effect/unstable/rpc. And import { RpcClientError } from 'effect/unstable/rpc' gives you a namespace; import the class from effect/unstable/rpc/RpcClientError.
2. Missing Scope for RpcClient.make. The constructor is scoped. Build clients inside Layer.effect(Tag)(RpcClient.make(group)) or under Effect.scoped — providing protocol layers alone will not discharge Scope.
3. Forgetting the client middleware layer. A group with a requiredForClient: true middleware needs Layer.provide(RpcMiddleware.layerClient(M, ...)) on the client (and in RpcTest.makeClient's context). The compile error points at an unsatisfied ForClient<M> requirement — provide the layer, don't cast.
4. Wrong codec/transport pairing. Raw TCP + layerJson corrupts framing — use layerNdjson/layerMsgPack/layerNdJsonRpc. Over HTTP, unframed layerJson buffers the whole response, so streaming rpcs stall until the request ends — use a framed codec. WebSocket alone is fine with any codec (the transport frames messages).
5. Mismatched client/server serialization. Both sides share one RpcSerialization choice; there is no negotiation. Garbled RpcClientDefect: Error decoding ... errors usually mean the codecs differ.
6. Reading mixed-case header names server-side. Headers.fromInput lowercases keys: send { userId: '123' }, read headers.userid. Same for withHeaders and middleware Headers.set.
7. Expecting discard: true to be error-free. It only removes the rpc's declared error; RpcClientError and middleware errors remain, and over HTTP the POST round-trip is still awaited.
8. Catching server defects with catchTag. Handler Effect.dies arrive as Cause.Die, not typed failures. Use Effect.sandbox/Effect.catchAllCause, and remember one server fatal defect can fail all in-flight requests on the connection.
9. Assuming requests survive a reconnect. A socket/worker failure fails every in-flight call with RpcClientError; after reconnect nothing is replayed. Add Effect.retry at call sites; retryTransientErrors: true only keeps requests pending across connection-establishment failures.
10. Passing retryPolicy to layerProtocolSocket. The layer only accepts { retryTransientErrors }. For a custom reconnect schedule use Layer.effect(RpcClient.Protocol)(RpcClient.makeProtocolSocket({ retryPolicy })).
11. Treating a flattened client like an object client. With flatten: true you call client('GetUser', payload); client.GetUser(payload) is not a function. Pick one shape per client.
12. Waiting for a queue value to signal end-of-stream. With asQueue: true, completion is Cause.Done in the Queue.take error channel, and the Dequeue lives in a Scope — closing that scope interrupts the request on the server.
13. Expecting a graceful interrupt over HTTP. The HTTP protocol drops Interrupt messages; interruption aborts the in-flight POST instead. Server handlers are still interrupted, but only when the connection abort is observed.
14. RpcSerialization provided to the worker protocol. Worker transports use structured clone — no serialization layer is needed (or used); RpcSerialization is for HTTP and socket protocols.
15. Wrong option key names on make. They are spanPrefix, spanAttributes, disableTracing, generateRequestId, flatten — there is no baseUrl, headers, or serialization option on RpcClient.make; those live on the protocol/serialization layers and per-call options.