Azure Service Bus API Essential Guide

What type of API does Azure Service Bus provide?

REST API

• Azure Service Bus provides a REST API for interacting with the service.
• The REST API enables operations directly on the Service Bus service, using endpoints like namespaceName.servicebus.windows.net.

API Types

• Azure Service Bus offers two main types of APIs:
  1. Azure Resource Manager APIs: For performing Resource Manager operations, with /providers/Microsoft.ServiceBus/ as part of the request URI.
  2. Service Bus service APIs: For direct operations on the Service Bus service.

Other API Options

• While the primary API is REST, Azure Service Bus does not natively offer GraphQL or SOAP APIs.
• However, it's worth noting that Microsoft has introduced a preview feature called "Synthetic GraphQL" that allows creating a GraphQL API based on existing HTTP (SOAP or REST) APIs.

Key Considerations

• REST is currently one of the most common API styles, especially in microservices architectures.
• REST supports multiple data formats, typically JSON and XML.
• The choice of API technology depends on factors like the project requirements, existing tech stack, and developer preferences.

Does the Azure Service Bus API have webhooks?

The Azure Service Bus API does not have native webhook support. However, you can use Azure Event Grid to create event subscriptions for Service Bus events.

Key points:

• Azure Service Bus is primarily designed for messaging and queueing, not for webhook-style event notifications.
• For event-driven scenarios, Azure Event Grid can be used in conjunction with Service Bus.
• Event Grid supports webhooks as one of the ways to receive events.

Events you can subscribe to with Event Grid for Service Bus:

1. Message arrival events
2. Auto-forwarding events
3. Dead-lettering events
4. Filter evaluation events

Best practices:

1. Use Azure Event Grid for webhook-style notifications related to Service Bus events.
2. Implement proper endpoint validation when using webhooks with Event Grid to ensure security.
3. Consider using Azure Functions, Logic Apps, or Azure Automation runbooks as event handlers for Event Grid events.
4. Be aware of the event publication patterns for Service Bus entities when using Event Grid.

In summary, while Azure Service Bus API doesn't directly support webhooks, you can achieve similar functionality by integrating Service Bus with Azure Event Grid, which does support webhook-style event notifications.

Rate Limits and other limitations

The Azure Service Bus API has several rate limits and quotas that apply to different aspects of its usage. Here are the key API rate limits and quotas for Azure Service Bus:

Namespace Limits

• Maximum number of namespaces per Azure subscription: 1000 (default and maximum)

Connection Limits

• Number of concurrent connections on a namespace:
  • Net Messaging: 1,000
  • AMQP: 5,000

Request Limits

• Number of concurrent receive requests on a queue, topic, or subscription entity: 5,000

Entity Limits

• Number of topics or queues per namespace:

  • Basic or Standard tier: 10,000
  • Premium tier: 1,000 per messaging unit (MU)

• Number of partitioned topics or queues per namespace:

  • Basic and Standard tiers: 100

Message Size Limits

• Message size for a queue, topic, or subscription entity:
  • Standard tier: 256 KB
  • Premium tier: 100 MB for AMQP, 1 MB for HTTP and SBMP

Filter Limits

• Number of SQL filters per topic: 2,000
• Number of correlation filters per topic: 100,000

Transaction Limits

• Number of messages per transaction: 100 (for both Send() and SendAsync() operations)

Other Limits

• Maximum number of messages deleted in DeleteMessagesAsync call: 4000
• Maximum number of messages returned in PeekMessagesAsync call: 250
• Number of virtual network and IP filter rules per namespace: 128

Key Points to Consider

1. These limits are designed to prevent abuse and ensure fair usage of the service.
2. Exceeding these limits typically results in exceptions or error messages.
3. Some limits vary based on the service tier (Basic, Standard, or Premium).
4. For the most up-to-date and detailed information, always refer to the official Azure documentation.

Best Practices

1. Design your application to handle rate limiting and quota exceptions gracefully.
2. Consider using the Premium tier for higher limits and better performance if needed.
3. Monitor your usage to ensure you're not approaching these limits unexpectedly.
4. If you consistently need higher limits, consider contacting Azure support to discuss your options.

Remember that these limits may change over time, so it's always a good idea to check the latest Azure documentation for the most current information.

Latest API Version

Based on the search results provided, here are the key points regarding the most recent version of the Azure Service Bus API:

Latest API Version

The most recent version of the Azure Service Bus REST API appears to be 2021-11-01 [2]. However, this information is from a StackOverflow post from 2022, so it may not be the absolute latest version.

Recent Updates

• As of May 21, 2024, Azure announced new enhancements to Azure Service Bus in public preview [4]. This includes a new feature for batch delete, allowing customers to delete messages on the service side from an entity or the dead letter queue in batches of up to 4,000 messages.

Client Library Version

• The latest version of the Azure Service Bus client library for .NET is 7.18.1, as of July 31, 2024 [3].

Key Points to Consider

1. The Azure Service Bus REST API is divided into two main categories [1]:

   • Azure Resource Manager APIs (with /providers/Microsoft.ServiceBus/ in the request URI)
   • Service Bus service APIs (with the public cloud endpoint namespaceName.servicebus.windows.net in the request URI)

2. The "Classic" or RDFE management APIs are obsolete and were retired as of November 1, 2021 [1].

3. Different domain names are used for different Azure clouds (e.g., Azure Germany, Azure China 21Vianet, United States government) [1].

4. The client library for .NET requires C# 8.0 and .NET Core SDK 3.0 or higher for full feature support [3].

Best Practices

1. Always use the latest stable version of the API or client library when possible.
2. Be aware of the different endpoints for various Azure clouds when working with global applications.
3. When using the .NET client library, take advantage of the new features in C# 8.0 for better performance and syntax [3].
4. Familiarize yourself with the key concepts of Service Bus, such as queues, topics, subscriptions, and the various client types (sender, receiver, processor) [3].

In conclusion, while the exact latest version of the REST API is not clearly stated in the search results, the most recent documented version is 2021-11-01. However, with the recent announcement of new features in May 2024, it's possible that a newer API version may be available. For the most up-to-date information, it's recommended to check the official Azure Service Bus documentation.

How to get a Azure Service Bus developer account and API Keys?

To get a developer account for Azure Service Bus and create an API integration, you'll need to follow these steps:

1. Create an Azure Account

If you don't already have an Azure account, you'll need to create one:

• Go to the Azure website (azure.com) and sign up for a free account.
• You'll need to provide some basic information and a credit card for identity verification (though you won't be charged unless you opt for paid services).

2. Set Up Azure Service Bus

Once you have an Azure account, you can create a Service Bus namespace:

1. Log in to the Azure portal (portal.azure.com).
2. Search for "Service Bus" in the top search bar and select it.
3. Click on "Create" to set up a new Service Bus namespace.
4. Fill in the required details:
   • Subscription: Choose your Azure subscription
   • Resource Group: Create a new one or select an existing one
   • Namespace: Enter a unique name
   • Location: Select your preferred region
   • Pricing Tier: Choose Basic, Standard, or Premium based on your needs

3. Create a Queue or Topic

After creating the namespace:

1. Navigate to your new Service Bus namespace in the Azure portal.
2. Click on "Queues" or "Topics" depending on your messaging needs.
3. Create a new queue or topic and configure its settings.

4. Get Connection String

To connect your application to Service Bus:

1. In your Service Bus namespace, go to "Shared Access Policies".
2. Click on "RootManageSharedAccessKey".
3. Copy the primary connection string.

5. Set Up Your Development Environment

To integrate with Azure Service Bus in your .NET application:

1. Create a new API project in your preferred IDE.
2. Install the necessary NuGet packages:
   • Azure.Messaging.ServiceBus
   • Newtonsoft.Json (if needed for JSON serialization)

6. Configure Your Application

1. Store the connection string and queue/topic name in your application's configuration file (e.g., appsettings.json).

7. Implement Service Bus Integration

Use the Azure.Messaging.ServiceBus package to send and receive messages. Here's a basic example of sending a message:

using Azure.Messaging.ServiceBus;

// connection string and queue name
string connectionString = "<your_connection_string>";
string queueName = "<your_queue_name>";

// create a Service Bus client
await using var client = new ServiceBusClient(connectionString);

// create a sender for the queue
ServiceBusSender sender = client.CreateSender(queueName);

// create a message that we can send
ServiceBusMessage message = new ServiceBusMessage("Hello world!");

// send the message
await sender.SendMessageAsync(message);

What can you do with the Azure Service Bus API?

Based on the provided information, here's a list of data models you can interact with using the Azure Service Bus API, along with what is possible for each:

Queues

• Send and receive messages
• Used for point-to-point communication
• Support for scheduled messages (delivery delay)
• Allows for message completion, abandonment, deferral, and dead-lettering
• Supports transactions and duplicate detection
• Enables FIFO (First-In-First-Out) message handling
• Supports batching and sessions

Topics

• Better suited for publish/subscribe scenarios
• Can send messages to topics
• Requires a subscription to consume messages
• Supports multiple parallel subscriptions
• Allows for message filtering and routing

Subscriptions

• Mechanism to consume messages from a topic
• Each subscription receives a copy of messages sent to the topic
• Can apply rules and filters to tailor which messages are received
• Supports durable and non-durable subscriptions
• Allows for shared and unshared subscriptions

Messages

• Can create various types of messages: text, bytes, map, object, and stream
• Support for message properties (both system-defined and custom)
• Can set message identifiers, correlation IDs, and other metadata
• Allows for message expiration (Time-To-Live)
• Supports content-type specification

Sessions

• Enables ordered message delivery
• Allows for session state management
• Supports session lock renewal

Dead-Letter Queue

• Store for messages that cannot be processed
• Allows for later inspection and reprocessing of problematic messages

Processors

• Abstraction for handling message reception
• Supports automatic message completion and lock renewal
• Enables concurrent execution of message handlers
• Provides session-aware processors for session-enabled entities

Senders and Receivers

• Senders allow for message transmission to queues or topics
• Receivers enable message consumption from queues or subscriptions
• Support for various message settlement options (complete, abandon, defer, dead-letter)

Transactions

• Enables atomic operations across multiple messaging entities
• Supports local transactions within a single entity

These data models and interactions allow for complex messaging scenarios, including reliable state transition management, hybrid cloud solutions, and enterprise-grade messaging patterns.